ASK & DISCUSS INDEX

10 years, 10 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin

If you save a game 'movie' you probably actually record the metadata to recreate the game as opposed to a frame-by-frame raster render - so there's no way to get it out as it doesn't actually exist as such.

If it's a PC game, you could either use screen capture software, or if the PC has an HDMI out to play the game through your TV, that would be your capture stream if you can find a HDMI-anything bodgebox - maybe something like this http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Elgato-Game-Capture-HD-PVR-Gaming-Recorder-for-XBox-One-PS4-PC-Mac-H-264-HDMI-TV-/121284242599?pt=AU_Components&hash=item1c3d1aaca7 which is made for the job?

10 years, 10 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin

Cheaper option http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1080P-HDMI-to-AV-3-RCA-Composite-CVBS-S-Video-Converter-Adapter-PS3-SKY-HDTV-DVD-/261571301987?pt=UK_Computing_Sound_Vision_Video_Cables_Adapters&hash=item3ce6dd5263 then you're back out into traditional composite plus stereo, and you'll have some vintage kit that'll handle that for sure.

10 years, 10 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin

Fraps looks like good screen capture, and by far the easiest option if he'll entertain it!

10 years, 10 months ago - Dan Selakovich

I thought about going out of the computer to my camera, put inputs are lacking. Did a little research and found that camera inputs are rare to discourage piracy. The DV deck seems an option, but I don't think he'd spend the money on a rental.

I'm not sure how the Hard drive capture would work exactly, as there is no export function on the game, and screen capture between a high def version of the game and screen capture uses up too much HD space. (An incredible amount!).

10 years, 10 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin

It's not meant to be easy, Dan ;)

Do you really need it to be HD? I ask as you're going to need some chunky kit to do it I suspect as the whole point of the HDMI spec is to prevent HD capture (if a step on the chain isn't compliant, the image downgrades to standard def), so you'll need to capture from the video card/screen capture then transcode it down.

Is the footage genuinely required in HD? People sometimes overspec inadvertantly. For instance if the result is YouTube or playing on a TV in the back of shot, SD is enough. And for SD capture, you can get horrible USB or better FireWire 400 capture devices from under a tenner.

Other than that, I'm out!

10 years, 10 months ago - Dan Selakovich

Thanks, Paddy. That was my conclusion too! BUT how does one go about going out of the computer (USB or Firewire) to a hard drive for the actual game footage? Nowhere within the game is there an export feature, no way to "drag and drop" a captured recorded "movie" (a movie within the game is a section that you can record while playing, which you can play back anytime you want. The game creates a file, but how in the world do you get it from one place to another?).

It seems to me, his only option is screen capture.

Thanks so much for giving this some thought!

Dan

10 years, 10 months ago - Dan Selakovich

I'll pass this along. Thanks, paddy!

Dan

10 years, 10 months ago - Dan Keating

I'd also suggest FRAPS.

10 years, 10 months ago - Dan Selakovich

Thanks you Chris and Dan. I'll pass this along. Fraps certainly seems the way to go.

10 years, 10 months ago - Chris Payne

Really need more info to go on. The usual method used by Machinima creators is screen capture - www.fraps.com will capture at any resolution/framerate and encode as it goes. Yes it is demanding, but modern gaming PCs should be able to handle a 720p capture.

Alternatively, http://www.moviestorm.co.uk is a tool designed for authoring Machinima with a lot of purchasable content packs. You can script the "actors" actions using built-in animation libraries and record lines for them to lip-synch to. The result can be exported to video when it's finished.

10 years, 10 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin

Depending on the system, my first instinct says do it in hardware - effectively TiVo it. If standard definition is OK for now, why not run it through a DV deck for instance? Or you can get hard drive recorder/capture devices inexpensively.

10 years, 10 months ago - Dan Selakovich

I think I finally talked him into Fraps! Thanks everyone!