How do people get video from computer games?

[MikeMoss]

HI

I'm not sure where I should ask this but someone here might know the answer.

I have seen video extracted from video games and edited together to make short films. As both a video and computer game enthusiast I thought I might like to try this using Premiere.

What I need to know is how do people extract the video from the game to start with? I suppose there must be some kind of program to do this but I don't have a clue.

Thanks for the help.

Mike

 

[Akribie]

There are three main ways that I have used.

1. If the game offers recording facilities, use that and then (usually) do a CODEC conversion into something compatible with Premiere.

2. If you graphics card allows, record the video-format output on a VCR/in-enabled camera.

3. Video a flatscreen computer monitor using a video camera.

I have found No2 the more convenient than No1, whilst No3 risks quality problems.

 

[MikeMoss]

HI

I have found the answer.
There is a program called FRAPS that you can download that captures the video directly from the game.

Just hit a hot key and it starts recording at a preset resolution and frame rate.

I have tried it out and it works great.
The video is as clear as the original and the movement is smooth.

So if anyone wants to do this check it out.
You can download a test version for free.

Mike

 

[Akribie]

Thanks for that. Not heard of FRAPS.

 

[MikeMoss]

Hi again

I've been playing around with this and it works great.
I guess I'll spring for the $37 and get the full version.

This could be worth it just to make videos showing people how to do things. I have a friend who is always e-mailing my and asking how to figure out things in various computer games.

Here is a link to the web page.

http://www.fraps.com/download.php

Mike

 

[Akribie]

i'm not so sure about the proprietary CODEC. There are many other products that capture screen activity - Camtasia and HyperCam being just two that I have used.

The thing that caught my eye about FRAPS was the high claimed frame rate and its emphasis on game recordings.

I shall be staying with my existing software, but it is useful to know that FRAPS s out there if ever I run into limitations.

 

[MikeMoss]

HI

This is aimed at gamers and 3D applications it doesn’t seem to run outside a 3D environment. It can't capture video from a regular aplication such as Photoshop as far as I can see.

I haven’t tried capturing at anything over 30fps since that's the norm for computer video anyway. I don't know why anyone would want the capture at 100fps.

My game (I've been trying this in WOW) runs at about 45 to 50fps most of the time.
I have been doing the capture at half screen size (I'm running at 1920 by 1200) and the files are very large when captured.

I'll check out those other programs you mentioned now that I have gotten interested in this. I never messed around with capturing video from the screen before.

Mike

 

[DanielSmith1840]

first you need to captured the game screen to videos and then edit the vidoe in premier .
here are two articles about it
Video Capture
Game Capture