Fraps

xMorwrath · 01-19-2009, 12:25 AM

I've recently built my own computer and I wanted to start frapsing some material for a guild-movie we are going to make. My problem is that I'm a total noob when it comes to how to get the best outcome

My speccs are:
4gb ram
GeForce GTX 260
3Ghz
using a 22" widescreen

What would you guys advice me to set the settings on?

Morw

RopeDrink · 01-19-2009, 08:04 PM

First of all, if you've an external drive or a secondary drive, assign FRAPS so that it saves the recorded footage in there, NOT on your C: Drive.

Second, before you start using FRAPS I'd greatly suggest getting an overall idea of the FPS setting first.

Load up FRAPS and enter the game, make sure you have FRAPS option to show your game's FPS in one of the corners (Don't worry, it'll never record the numbers when you do FRAPS footage, nor will it be saved in screenshots, unless you use PRINT SCREEN + Copy/Paste, which you won't).

So, you've done that, and it says you have a steady 40FPS while not recording, good good. Press your record button and see just how much the FPS goes down (Probably wont on a beast of a computer, but just make sure). My GFX card isn't too great, so my FPS remains in arounds up to 50 in small instances (Arena) but will stick as low as 15 in Dalaran, for example.

If you've set FRAPS to record at an FPS level higher than the FPS you actually have, I've found that it can cause a few more slowdown issues - Example, having FRAPS set to record footage at 60FPS whilst your computer can only manage 15 in a busy zone sometimes has problems. Not a major problem but something to keep in mind. The key to smooth FRAPS'ing is getting synergy between the FPS your computer has and the FPS you have while recording. Best results I get are setting FRAPS to 30FPS Max recording because thats the steady medium of my computer, and isn't too much of a hog. Bear in mind, when recording at a lower FPS level than your computer, your FPS during recordings WILL go down to the level you set in FRAPS, so don't go setting it to record at 30FPS if your computer can indeed push out more than that (40/50/60 etc).

Recording for me seems a lot smoother when I've set the Max Recording Framerate to 30, because in most cases the max FPS I'll squeeze out in busy zones is in arounds 30. So mess with that a bit until you're happy.

By default, recording at Half-Size allows you to retain FPS while recording due to it taking less memory, however unless you play on a monsterously high Resolution, then the recordings will not only be small in size, and small in picture, but they'll be fuzzy and blurry looking if you want to use that footage to compile into a movie of a bigger resolution than the result you have.

Example, recording at Half-Size using 800x600 obviously means your movie will be 400x300 and vastly smaller in filesize. However editing it and ballooning it back to 800x600 afterwards = Blur galore. Not good. See also above pointer regarding FPS synergy. If you record at Max Size then a slow'ish computer will suffer in terms of FPS whenever you start recording. It's helped when the FRAPS'd footage is saved onto a different drive than your C

rive, but may still cause issues, so be sure you're happy with your gaming resolution as well.

I've never really noticed any problems wether 'Recording Sound' is on or off.

Don't know if that really answers any of your questions, but keep them in mind if you find the need to tweak some features due to FPS inbalance.

01-19-2009, 12:25 AM	#1
xMorwrath Initiate Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 1	Fraps I've recently built my own computer and I wanted to start frapsing some material for a guild-movie we are going to make. My problem is that I'm a total noob when it comes to how to get the best outcome My speccs are: 4gb ram GeForce GTX 260 3Ghz using a 22" widescreen What would you guys advice me to set the settings on? Morw

01-19-2009, 08:04 PM	#2
RopeDrink Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 47	First of all, if you've an external drive or a secondary drive, assign FRAPS so that it saves the recorded footage in there, NOT on your C: Drive. Second, before you start using FRAPS I'd greatly suggest getting an overall idea of the FPS setting first. Load up FRAPS and enter the game, make sure you have FRAPS option to show your game's FPS in one of the corners (Don't worry, it'll never record the numbers when you do FRAPS footage, nor will it be saved in screenshots, unless you use PRINT SCREEN + Copy/Paste, which you won't). So, you've done that, and it says you have a steady 40FPS while not recording, good good. Press your record button and see just how much the FPS goes down (Probably wont on a beast of a computer, but just make sure). My GFX card isn't too great, so my FPS remains in arounds up to 50 in small instances (Arena) but will stick as low as 15 in Dalaran, for example. If you've set FRAPS to record at an FPS level higher than the FPS you actually have, I've found that it can cause a few more slowdown issues - Example, having FRAPS set to record footage at 60FPS whilst your computer can only manage 15 in a busy zone sometimes has problems. Not a major problem but something to keep in mind. The key to smooth FRAPS'ing is getting synergy between the FPS your computer has and the FPS you have while recording. Best results I get are setting FRAPS to 30FPS Max recording because thats the steady medium of my computer, and isn't too much of a hog. Bear in mind, when recording at a lower FPS level than your computer, your FPS during recordings WILL go down to the level you set in FRAPS, so don't go setting it to record at 30FPS if your computer can indeed push out more than that (40/50/60 etc). Recording for me seems a lot smoother when I've set the Max Recording Framerate to 30, because in most cases the max FPS I'll squeeze out in busy zones is in arounds 30. So mess with that a bit until you're happy. By default, recording at Half-Size allows you to retain FPS while recording due to it taking less memory, however unless you play on a monsterously high Resolution, then the recordings will not only be small in size, and small in picture, but they'll be fuzzy and blurry looking if you want to use that footage to compile into a movie of a bigger resolution than the result you have. Example, recording at Half-Size using 800x600 obviously means your movie will be 400x300 and vastly smaller in filesize. However editing it and ballooning it back to 800x600 afterwards = Blur galore. Not good. See also above pointer regarding FPS synergy. If you record at Max Size then a slow'ish computer will suffer in terms of FPS whenever you start recording. It's helped when the FRAPS'd footage is saved onto a different drive than your Crive, but may still cause issues, so be sure you're happy with your gaming resolution as well. I've never really noticed any problems wether 'Recording Sound' is on or off. Don't know if that really answers any of your questions, but keep them in mind if you find the need to tweak some features due to FPS inbalance.