VirtualDub - Alternative to FRAPS

The original "How-to" is here: GeneralAdmission.com



I made the switch from FRAPS to VirtualDub Game Recording last night. First off, VirtualDub is free, so there's no paying or finding a free torrent for it, second... although it takes a while to set it up, the benefits outweigh the losses in my opinion.



There are a few programs that you have to download to make VirtualDub work effectively, but besides that, it's not that hard to set up. The biggest benifit of VirtualDub:



Your computer will record at whatever FPS you choose (Let's say 30 FPS), however in-game, you will still be running at your max FPS possible.




For example, if you choose to record at 30 FPS on FRAPS, FRAPS will reduce you from 60 FPS (if your computer is good enough to run WoW at that), and force you to stay at 30 FPS. Personally, this bugs and irritates me, so I decided to make the switch last night.



There are some drawbacks, such as having to set certain settings every time you open the program(s) up, and really not knowing when you're recording because there is no indicator (was easy to tell with FRAPS, my FPS dropped from 60 to 30).



It's all explained in his guide. I would highly recommend checking it out. I found my smoothest recording to be at 1680x1050 (my monitor can run larger than that, but I lost a lot of frames in recording). It also makes desktop recording much simpler if you're into recording what's on your desktop or browser :p.



I'll have a blog post later with a video that I recorded on VirtualDub and did some small edits.
 
i gotta check this out. the main reason i dont like frapsing is because of the fps drop. ty :>
 
I think the idea of Virtualdub came from guys who played FPS games, such as CS:S, and they couldn't stand having their FPS drop from like... 200 to like 30 when FRAPS was running. The method works just as well for WoW it seems :).



When I recorded at 1920x1050, I maintained 60 FPS in WoW, but the recording itself was terrible, dropping to 1680x1050 solved that problem.



It is a little bit of work to set it up each time (and even more the first time you use it), but I think it's worth it. Plus at my resolution, my recording were more compressed than they would be in FRAPS.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Top