How can I record gameplay at full fps?

[Lucandrake]

I've been at google for a while, I have 2 pc's next to each other and I was wondering if there was a way to hook them up so that one is dedicated to purely recording game play video while the other one is actually playing the game. I hooked up a KVM switch to both of them but can't seem to find anything online that would take advantage of that. It sounds simple enough yet I'm at a lost, I thought it would be as easy as starting up a recording program and hitting "record" but it just ends up recording the feed from the idle pc.

 

Help x.x.

[emsley]

No idea I used to use FRAPS for stuff like that but it really chews up your power.

[ken_cinder]

You can't magically record the game on the other PC with fairy dust and happy thoughts, that requires a capture card in the second PC taking the output from the one you're playing the game on.

 

You can't even capture it over a remote desktop session, as no RD is fast enough to process the framebuffer.

 

2 options

 

1: Local capture software like FRAPS or HyperCam

2: Capture card on another box

 

A KVM switch lets you control 2 PCs with 1 keyboard+mouse+monitor, nothing more.

[VT-Vincent]

This is a tough one, as Ken mentioned you need additional hardware to take in the input from the first computer. I was able to do this by using a Hauppauge HD PVR, an external HD component capture box. In order to do it the way I did, you'll need the following:

 

1) Source computer with a graphics card capable of outputting video via Component (in my case, it was a GeForce 7900GS)

2) Recording computer with a USB 2.0 port and a reasonably good processor (anything above a Pentium 4 should do)

3) The Hauppauge HD PVR capture box, or a different capture box that offers the same functionality.

4) An HDTV with component input to use as a monitor. You'll need this as the HD PVR is a hardware-based encoder and the feed you see on the recording computer will be delayed by 1-2 seconds. It's pretty much impossible to play a game like this.

 

Here is how the components are connected:

Source Computer -to- HD PVR (In) via Component

HD PVR -to- Recording Computer via USB

HD PVR (Out) -to- HDTV via Component

 

Unfortunately, there are a lot of caveats to doing it this way. One thing I've found is that the HD PVR is extremely picky about the resolution the computer is outputting. You can only expect this to work well if the computer is outputting either 720 or 1080. Any other non-HD resolutions will be completely hit-or-miss. Depending on your card, you may also have overscan issues where about half of an inch of the screen may cut off on each side. This kind of setup takes a lot of patience and trial-and-error testing.

 

Here is one of the videos I made using this method: http://www.youtube.com/vtemulation#p/a/u/2/mNRpANVtV0M

[Lucandrake]

Thanks for the info guys. I realize that recording my game play is outside my price range ftm, might take me a few months before I'm able to do it but instead of dropping triple digit moneys on a device that can capture what I need correctly I'd rather save up a bit more and build a new rig capable of doing what I'm asking from it with more cores and crossfire active.

 

O hey, the minecraft website is back up.

[emsley]

You can't magically record the game on the other PC with fairy dust and happy thoughts.

 

Can so!

[Inky]

seems like an awful lot of work to record gameplay. can't you capture it natively on the same PC?

[Lucandrake]

I can capture it from the same pc, the problem is my frame rate drops so low that it makes the game unplayable. I would have to sacrifice the game resolution (which I can't, the resolution its on now allows me to do certain things normally you wouldn't be able too), or play it at lowered skipped frame rate (which I also can't).

[ken_cinder]

Are you using a compressed format like DivX/XviD for your capture? That will DEFINITELY help kill your framerate as it's doing the compression on the fly.

 

If you have the hard drive space to do it, use uncompressed video. Then use something like VirtualDub to encode to a compressed format after.

[Lucandrake]

I was recording uncompressed, I wouldn't dare try to compress on the fly.

[Lucandrake]

Question, which one of these cards would better handle the act of recording and streaming live? With my current card (Diamond 5750 HD) it pushes the game to its limits, and the stream itself is a little laggy (Windows 7 Example) (WinXP Example). I need 60 FPS in-game, and need the stream to have better quality (although I am satisfied with its current output, the issue I'm having is in-game I'm having to adjust to the FPS drop making it harder to play sometimes).

 

So I plan on doing 2 things to help improve this, 1, get a new video card and down the line eventually crossfire it with my 5750. If the nvdia would better suit the stream however I can sell my 5750 (only 3 months old atm) and use both those monies to get two gt cards (the only problem I have with the gt series atm are the cores, with ATI and its 5XXX series hitting over 4 digits in this category I can't help but feel gooped with an nvdia, but I'm asking myself if its a worthy sacrifice for what I'm trying to do, since I know the nvdia cards still have faster ram).

 

So my budget is $200, here were the two I found on new egg...

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...2-878-_-Product

 

I figured since I'm already barely hitting the threshold of my card, I really don't need anything higher than 256 bits, it has 1120 Stream Processors and is a beast. A hefty upgrade from my current card and I'd figure it would be safer for me considering this machine was built to handle GW2 on release. I still plan on putting many hours into that game as soon as it comes out.

 

However when I asked my friend for his opinion, he pointed me out to this.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...0-433-_-Product

 

Nearly doubles the other card in bits going at 448. However I'm unaware of the difference it is from GDDR3 to GDDR5. My friend has always been a NVDIA guy and if he ever ran into one of their PR guys he would probably get hired in the sense of selling more cards. It also only has a measly 216 stream processors.

 

So I ask which would be my better bang for the buck? Since I have already a 5750 and can crossfire that to the other beast, right now I'm leaning towards the ATI, but I just want to hear from the other techies here that I'm making the right decision .