Alex Needs Video Capture Software

AlexFili · #1 02-17-2012, 06:10 AM

Does anyone have a good piece of Video Capture software for the PC? I've tried using Fraps but I need something that lets me take longer clips. Are there no open-source alternatives for windows anywhere?

DarkHoodness · #2 02-17-2012, 06:25 AM

Pay for Fraps, it's £25 and worth it if you use it a lot. The open-source equivalents aren't that fantastic.

Crashpunk · #3 02-17-2012, 07:11 AM

Fraps is the best. Real cheap for the amazing quality videos you can record. Only problem with it is that it saves the files as really big ones. Seriously big.

AlexFili · #4 02-17-2012, 07:25 AM

Thanks for the advice. Also what about adding a commentary track?
I'm using Avidemux but it's really clunky and not at all meant for editing or merging audio tracks together.

MeechMunchie · #5 02-17-2012, 07:37 AM

There's a free version of Fraps, isn't there? And I mean a free version, not a "free" version.

DarkHoodness · #6 02-17-2012, 07:37 AM

Windows Live Movie Maker comes with Windows 7 - It's what I use. As much as I dislike it and wish I could afford Sony Vegas, it is powerful and does have basic editing functions. You can add one backing or commentary track alongside the audio of captured video.

Splat · #7 02-17-2012, 01:18 PM

*Split from here*

Crashpunk · #8 02-18-2012, 01:01 AM

What Games are you trying to record Alex?

Havoc · #9 02-18-2012, 02:25 AM

:

Thanks for the advice. Also what about adding a commentary track?
I'm using Avidemux but it's really clunky and not at all meant for editing or merging audio tracks together.

Use Windows Movie maker if you want limited options or acquire Adobe Premiere Pro from somewhere if you want more professional editing options.

Speaking of Fraps though, how can I make it record my own microphone input (USB Mic, so Fraps doesn't pic it up).

AlexFili · #10 02-20-2012, 01:10 AM

Trying to record footage of games like Minecraft, Fallout 3 and Mass Effect 2/3.
The problems I'm having at the moment are as follows:
Need a video editing piece of software that doesn't crash all the time or take an eternity to export video files (Windows Movie Maker always seems to do this for me).
Avidemux lets me edit video files quickly and exporting is very reliable. The only problem is audio is one or nothing. I can either swap in a MP3 track or keep the video's audio. I can't do both which is a bit annoying.

I definitely don't agree with companies charging a fortune for software. There's not enough justification for me to spend $300 on video editing software. If I had a job it'd be different but at the moment money is fairly tight.

There must be some way of adding vocal commentary to my videos somehow. Either by a piece of software which reads the avi file, or something on the internet side. Doesn't youtube or any other video hosting channel allow an extra vocal channel?

Thanks for all the advice and tips. I certainly didn't mean to derail the original thread this was posted in. I also don't mean to complain too much either, I'm very grateful for the amount of stuff I can do with free software on the net. It's just a shame that avidemux couldn't just do a little tweaking of their code and allow mixing of video audio and audio files (unless I just missed something).

Oh god, facepalm moment. I opened Avidemux, looked in audio and found this: Audio->Second Track (FACEPALM). Can't believe I never noticed that before. Oh well, problem solved. Or it would be, if it would work... which it doesn't. (sigh)

Chubfish · #11 02-22-2012, 07:26 AM

You'd still want to use fraps imo, and then you want to use Virtual Dub for editing simple edits, and if you want multiple tracks aka a voice over, you can do it in virtual dub but I prefer to use Sony Vegas for this kind of thing (older versions of Windows Movie Maker had multiple tracks too). As Havoc suggested, Adobe Premiere Pro is also great alternative, although I only use it to make video remixes but yeah it works.

Also, VirtualDub can compress video from Fraps. Get a good compression codec so you don't end up wasting alot of space. It isn't that hard to learn, either.

Havoc, you might want to use another piece of software to record your audio, like audacity, or alternatively, I have found that setting my PC to playback what I'm saying in the mic over the speakers/headset works and fraps will pick up the audio from it (play around with sound options or something).

MA · #12 02-22-2012, 03:47 PM

evenly spread whipped cream over the motherboard. decorate with sliced strawberries.

Phylum · #13 02-25-2012, 06:35 PM

Doesn't FRAPS give the option to record audio directly from an audio input?

"Professional" software like Vegas Pro is expensive because of the low turnover speed.

Crashpunk · #14 02-26-2012, 04:22 AM

Yes. It looks like this.