Settings for a good screenshot and video Capture

Rupe Wilson · Dec 28, 2012

Hi guys im just wondering what is used to make a good screenshot and video capture..
so what do you use and what are your settings
I use a licenced version Fraps for screen shot and video and have tried clicking things but I don't really know what im doing
so my questions are

I have the nvidea inspector, do you have any specific setting used in that for gtl
what is the best image format for a screenshot in fraps
what are your setting for for the video capture in fraps to get a 720p HD vid on youtube

But please feel free to post other software used to do the same job with setting used to help us all along
i do use the windows live movie maker to edit from fraps and upload to YouTube and have also on my other pc wondershare converter and editor .. these I can work my way through but it its poor quality to start with its hard to improve.

Ross McGregor · Dec 29, 2012

Remember to save your movie in moviemaker 'for high definition display'. Then you can use a program such as 'handbrake' to convert the large .wmv file into a smaller .mp4, which is quicker to upload. But firstly, make sure you're recording the vid with fraps in full-size.

It shouldn't matter too much which file type you save your screenshots with, i just use the in-game screenshot taker. (F12) If you go into your .PLR you'll find that you can map a key so that you can 'free look' with your mouse, which makes screenshots a bit easier to take, but you can't move the camera freely as in other sims unfortunately. (someone could surely make a hack for this though)

Rupe Wilson · Dec 29, 2012

hi Ross all i get with the f12 screenshot ingame is a small chequered black and grey screen no picture. Its saved as a TGA..

Ross McGregor · Dec 29, 2012

TGA is correct, not sure why you're getting the black & grey. Should be around 6mb per pic. I'm using 1920x1080, dx9, 3x ant-alisasing, and full gfx settings with the digi download. No matter anyway, fraps will do the trick just fine.

Rupe Wilson · Dec 29, 2012

I matched your setting and still no viewable picture with F12
As you say never mind I got fraps..
maybe has something to do with the unlock cheat ...

Ross McGregor · Dec 30, 2012

Shouldn't be as i've got the unlock cheat in my install. And XD. No idea what could be affecting it, but at least you have a back-up.

Senad Subasic · Dec 30, 2012

Rupe Wilson said:
I matched your setting and still no viewable picture with F12
As you say never mind I got fraps..
maybe has something to do with the unlock cheat ...

What are you using to view the picture? I know I can't see it with IrfanView, but opens up just fine in Photoshop. Try that, or GIMP, or whatever you're using.

Rupe Wilson · Dec 30, 2012

Im using gimp and net paint.. as I can save to tga I assume I can also view them
ive tried other programs even a conversion one but nothing it must be something in the game that's no taking the capture correctly.. but im ok with fraps.. just one of them anomalies..

Senad Subasic · Dec 30, 2012

I think it's much more likely that your image editing software can't open it properly.

Upload one of the tga files somewhere, and I can check with Photoshop.

Rupe Wilson · Dec 30, 2012

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/115891207/GRAB_000.TGA

Tim Ling · Dec 30, 2012

that link doesn't work for me mate. It just opens an "about:blank" window in Chrome, which hints that the file is corrupt. Just use fraps for screenshots.

Knut Omdal Tveito · Dec 30, 2012

Rupe Wilson said:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/115891207/GRAB_000.TGA

I just get a blank picture too when I try to open that picture in Gimp. Completely transparent. Strange...

Tim Ling · Dec 30, 2012

As for video settings, I'm using Premier, and I don't know how that differs from Movie Maker.

For FRAPS I use full size screen capture @ 30fps. Sound capture settings are record Windows sound in stereo. These settings are very dependent on your system though, being a geek my pc is very over-specced

If you have a 2nd HDD, set your video to record there (unless that's where GTL is installed)

When exporting my video from Premier, I use the H.264 codec as it already has a YouTube preset. I know there is a program I used before, which will convert an avi for YouTube much faster than Premier did. It may this one http://www.virtualdub.org . I got the link for it from RD, but I'm really not sure.

Rupe Wilson · Dec 30, 2012

And the strange thing is i can view other tga files,
but even if a take a screen shot on my other pc which has gt legends on it and try yo view the picture on this pc by copying the file onto this pc and then view it i have the same problem. i cant even view it on the second pc ive just installed gimp on second pc.. but can view other tga files..

i like my wondershare converter and editor so thats what i use most of the time, it also has numerous outputs preset for and custom uploading and a specail link to youtube also very quick upoloading..
it was more about getting a good quality to work with in the first place..

Neil Gault · Dec 30, 2012

Rupe Wilson said:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/115891207/GRAB_000.TGA

opens fine in photoshop but it is a hell of a size of file

Rupe Wilson · Dec 30, 2012

Thanks Neil. and the picture quallity..

its all a bit strange

just been reading that gimp has problems with certain tga files..

Rupe Wilson · Dec 30, 2012

I can now view the tga file with this and save to another format TGA VIEWER

Senad Subasic · Dec 30, 2012

Yes, it's not just one single .tga file to rule them all, plenty of settings within 'em that might not work well in all image viewing/editing software.

Senad Subasic · Dec 30, 2012

For what it's worth, when I was doing RBR videos, the game was running in 1920x1080, I recorded with Fraps in half size (540p), 50 fps, and edited and rendered as 720p in Sony Vegas. Ended up being 30-40 MB per minute, if I recall correctly.

Example: