Record to avi

[White_Owl]

Hi!
How can i record something to a video file, linke .avi or so? Is there an integrated record function? 'cause if i use fraps, the game speed goes down to half, its like slow motion;)
Thanks a lot!
White_Owl

[Agozer]

No, there is no integrated record function. If there was, you would have found it already.

AFAIK, FRAPS' shareware version caps the speed at 30, hence why it looks slowed down. Registered version does not have this limitation.

Unfortunately, I can't recommend many alternatives... Perhaps Camstudio is what you are looking for.

[Doomulation]

Or you can register FRAPS. It costs just a little penny.

[åsabo]

Try increasing the emus priority instead.

[Doomulation]

Said solution won't work because FRAPS is limiting the emu.
But if the case isn't so, then I should inquire as to your hardware because emulating AND recording at the same time is an expensive operation, whether you use an built-in recording or FRAPS.

[White_Owl]

Well, i think an Core 2 Duo E6300, 2GB and a Radeon 1900XT should do, schouldn't they?
So i agree, its because of the software. my warcraft 3 framerate goes down to 30 fps, too, when i use fraps, but theres no slomo;)

[nmn]

Well, If it goes to 30 FPS, you can do skipframe in your graphics plugin, maybe that will help.

[mudlord]

Well, i think an Core 2 Duo E6300, 2GB and a Radeon 1900XT should do, schouldn't they?

Reading frames from the backbuffer will always be slow. Which is exactly how FRAPS works. It hooks the functions used by the game/emu/application, and then captures framebuffer data, as well as audio. The actual saving is quite intensive, even on the best of systems (not sure about the new GeForce 8's)

[nmn]

We have a winner. lol.

If you want to have the best, fastest video capture, you'll need to use your video cards output ports to an input of some sort on your computer (perhaps a capture card) and then use recording software to record from the video cards output. (Though you may need to crop the video if thats easier and you have the space to keep the huge video, or better yet, use full screen ;) but there are some major complications to changing the res during a record, so you'd need a hot key to initiate recording, etc etc etc etc and now I'm just rambling on and on)

A very fast hard drive probably would come in use here too.

[Doomulation]

I just checked...
Registered FRAPS does indeed allow capture @ 60 FPS. I tried capturing Zelda @ 60 FPS @ 1920x1200. Indeed, my machine was just barely able to do it. But the problem with many games is that they do not run in 60 FPS. Zelda runs @ 20 FPS for example, despite what the counter says.
Are you sure that's not it? Many games are capped at 20/30 FPS due to the weak nature of the N64 architecture.
The hard drive was not the bottleneck. Emulation showed no idle processing power for the core, meaning all went to capture the video.

[White_Owl]

Thanks a lot, but all this seems strage to me, why can i capture a video from every game, but not from an emulator? Damn, i dont like this:( .
But thanks a lot for all your advices, guys! :)

[ethangilchrist]

Well emulation itself adds another layer to the whole process which will cause a host of issues you wouldn't otherwise have with a "straight" game.

[Doomulation]

It works perfectly fine for me with FRAPS. There's not much more complexity in capturing from emulators.

[mudlord]

why can i capture a video from every game, but not from an emulator?

You should be able to. PC games and 3D based emulator plugins use the same mechanisms when rendering, so FRAPS should have zero issue in capturing video data from emulated games.


There's not much more complexity in capturing from emulators.

Indeed, FRAPS does the same thing when recording from emulators as from recording from video games. All FRAPS needs to do is record the audio data and capture the video data from the video card's backbuffer.

[p_025]

Okay, people, way too many misconceptions about FRAPS here.

FRAPS is not limiting the framerate of what you're recording, it's only limiting the framerate of the video files it creates. The reason things are going so slow when you record is simply strain on the CPU or video card. Emulation itself is complex and can be pretty intensive on both those things, so it's no surprise that if you try to record the audio and visual information from the emulator simultaneously there will be a slowdown.

True, it's not much more complex to capture from an emulator, it's just grabbing the video info. But the power needed to render that stuff at all is what's so taxing.

[mudlord]

t's just grabbing the video info. But the power needed to render that stuff at all is what's so taxing.

Not to mention copying all that info from the video card backbuffer at the same time. :matrix:

[ethangilchrist]

Okay, people, way too many misconceptions about FRAPS here.

FRAPS is not limiting the framerate of what you're recording, it's only limiting the framerate of the video files it creates. The reason things are going so slow when you record is simply strain on the CPU or video card. Emulation itself is complex and can be pretty intensive on both those things, so it's no surprise that if you try to record the audio and visual information from the emulator simultaneously there will be a slowdown.

True, it's not much more complex to capture from an emulator, it's just grabbing the video info. But the power needed to render that stuff at all is what's so taxing.

Thank you. That's the idea I was trying to get across. Just didn't put it well enough.