PC video recording software?

So, my boyfriend wants to start recording PC games he's playing and his thoughts, etc... So, I tried looking for free PC video/audio recording software, but not knowing the first thing about this sort of stuff, I couldn't really find much.

I come to you guys: Does anyone know of PC video recording software? If so, does it record audio as well, or will a separate program need to be running? Does the program have editing features (if not, it's not a problem)? I'm not worried about how much processing power it uses or any of that.

Thanks in advance!

Originally Posted by: gaiages

So, my boyfriend wants to start recording PC games he's playing and his thoughts, etc... So, I tried looking for free PC video/audio recording software, but not knowing the first thing about this sort of stuff, I couldn't really find much.

I come to you guys: Does anyone know of PC video recording software? If so, does it record audio as well, or will a separate program need to be running? Does the program have editing features (if not, it's not a problem)? I'm not worried about how much processing power it uses or any of that.

Thanks in advance!

i personally use fraps. it is an excellent little program. it isn't free, but you can find it for free floating around the net if you know where to look. and for editting i use camtasia, also not free (but same circumstances apply here) and you can upload the video straight from camtasia to a few video hosting sites like youtube.

Hmmm, I'll let him know; he knows where to look for stuff like that, I think. fraps records the audio as well, though, right? :o

It depends, does he just want to record videos, edit them, then upload to Youtube? Or does he want to do "livestreams"? If livestreams are the intent then I'd suggest a program like XSplit. It's not free anymore, unfortunately, but the most user friendly one I've found for streaming. It can also record the video/audio for later if you want. But if you just want to record then really Fraps is the de facto choice, but there are others too (I just don't know them).

Originally Posted by: masteroftheclaw

It depends, does he just want to record videos, edit them, then upload to Youtube? Or does he want to do "livestreams"? If livestreams are the intent then I'd suggest a program like XSplit. It's not free anymore, unfortunately, but the most user friendly one I've found for streaming. It can also record the video/audio for later if you want. But if you just want to record then really Fraps is the de facto choice, but there are others too (I just don't know them).

I think he wanted to do something more like a Let's Play: Record him playing the game and his thoughts while playing it, then upload it all later. I don't think he wants to do it live, but I'll suggest both to him and see what he thinks. Thanks. :3

Originally Posted by: gaiages

Originally Posted by: masteroftheclaw

It depends, does he just want to record videos, edit them, then upload to Youtube? Or does he want to do "livestreams"? If livestreams are the intent then I'd suggest a program like XSplit. It's not free anymore, unfortunately, but the most user friendly one I've found for streaming. It can also record the video/audio for later if you want. But if you just want to record then really Fraps is the de facto choice, but there are others too (I just don't know them).

I think he wanted to do something more like a Let's Play: Record him playing the game and his thoughts while playing it, then upload it all later. I don't think he wants to do it live, but I'll suggest both to him and see what he thinks. Thanks. :3

i would definitely suggest fraps then...there is a sound capture setting, and he would just have to check multichannel instead of stereo to get it to record his voice also. it records all the sound that comes from / goes into his computer.

Fraps is good but there is essentially two problems with it. The first is how much memory it takes, it's insane. It goes into the gigabytes after about 45 seconds. The second is how it lags computers badly. It'll capture great HD quality, and good sound quality, at the cost of frame rate.

Originally Posted by: Seelad

Fraps is good but there is essentially two problems with it. The first is how much memory it takes, it's insane. It goes into the gigabytes after about 45 seconds. The second is how it lags computers badly. It'll capture great HD quality, and good sound quality, at the cost of frame rate.

true....it does......that is not a problem for me, but if it is, there is always DXtory as an alternative

Originally Posted by: Seelad

Fraps is good but there is essentially two problems with it. The first is how much memory it takes, it's insane. It goes into the gigabytes after about 45 seconds. The second is how it lags computers badly. It'll capture great HD quality, and good sound quality, at the cost of frame rate.

That is a problem that is impossible to avoid if you want quality. If you want HD quality, you have to have a computer that can handle it without lagging your game. As for the file size, it is because it is uncompressed raw footage. It is already hard enough on your computer as it is, so compressing the video as you are playing is just not viable. The simple solution is to compress the footage yourself when you are done and then it is a normal file size. Any windows computer comes with Windows Movie Maker, just open the file there, and hit save file. That file will then be a compressed video.

FRAPs is what most people use for your situation, gaiages.

Originally Posted by: pongsifu

Originally Posted by: Seelad

Fraps is good but there is essentially two problems with it. The first is how much memory it takes, it's insane. It goes into the gigabytes after about 45 seconds. The second is how it lags computers badly. It'll capture great HD quality, and good sound quality, at the cost of frame rate.

That is a problem that is impossible to avoid if you want quality. If you want HD quality, you have to have a computer that can handle it without lagging your game. As for the file size, it is because it is uncompressed raw footage. It is already hard enough on your computer as it is, so compressing the video as you are playing is just not viable. The simple solution is to compress the footage yourself when you are done and then it is a normal file size. Any windows computer comes with Windows Movie Maker, just open the file there, and hit save file. That file will then be a compressed video.

FRAPs is what most people use for your situation, gaiages.

this.

I seriously don't understand Fraps. Even the most ultra-high-HD-1080p Blu-Ray movies have less than 100MB per minute of video, while Fraps insists on having over one GB per minute. Is it trying to make it look better in the video than when playing the actual game or what?

Fraps is recording raw picture data at your chosen resolution on the fly at 60 frames per second (or whatever fps you set it to). That amount of data doesn't come for free. Other files have the privilage of being compressed. For example, using virtualdub (a free video editing program) I can compress a 1-2gb newly produced fraps file into a 10's or 100's of mbs using the Xvid codec. Various codecs will apply varying amounts of compression at varying qualities, Xvid is just one of the best for size to quality in my opinion.

Fraps could do this but it would require compression also on the fly which would strain your computer enormously, and you already need a beefy computer to record without significant lag anyways.

Originally Posted by: WolfgangKoimbra

I seriously don't understand Fraps. Even the most ultra-high-HD-1080p Blu-Ray movies have less than 100MB per minute of video, while Fraps insists on having over one GB per minute. Is it trying to make it look better in the video than when playing the actual game or what?

Even if you record at the worst possible settings, the footage will be huge, because that isn't why it is so large. It is large because it is uncompressed.

Originally Posted by: WolfgangKoimbra

I seriously don't understand Fraps. Even the most ultra-high-HD-1080p Blu-Ray movies have less than 100MB per minute of video, while Fraps insists on having over one GB per minute. Is it trying to make it look better in the video than when playing the actual game or what?

i just use camtasia to render and upload it to youtube. you can still upload in 720 or even better. my laptop doesnt have big screen tho, so i cant to better than 720 =P

I'm a big fan of Camtasia after you make the video you can then compress it to an internet friendly format like FLV. Other users are correct in that you'll need a lot of horsepower to record without lag. I use a 2x Geforce GTX 560 (SLI) setup on one monitor. When doing non-recording I run three monitors, however you can't really do three monitors and record with only two video cards (that aren't top tier cards).

I use OBS for all of my recordings. It's a bit of a pain sometimes, depending on the update, but otherwise a very good program for capturing footage.

I mean OBS is the standard entry program for free isn't it?

You can import your settings into Streamlabs which is very easy to use to record, streamlive on twitch or Youtube and all that jazz that goes with it.

I recommend OBS (Open Broadcaster Software) it's the best recording software I ever used and it's free.

For editing I recommend VEGAS Pro (you can get it cheap on humble bundle sales) or Wondershare Filmora.

For converting I recommend Movavi Video Converter.

I learned about OBS through this thread (thanks!) and find it a great fit for my needs on Windows, which admittedly are very basic ("see, this is how I replicate the bug", "look at this cool feature").

A bit off topic but if anyone is looking for a very basic "record bug" tool I recommend "peek" on Linux, very intuitive handling, small file sizes, no audio.

I use OBS