I recorded my very first video with Bandicam, which seemed functional enough. But I was hoping there might be better options out there. If you're an avid youtuber, what program do you prefer to record with and why? I'm especially interested in cheap/free options with gentle learning curves.
Youtubers, which recording program would you recommend?
- Thread starter Katrinya
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I don't YouTube myself, but my brother does and he certainly used to use Fraps (not sure what he uses these days as I haven't spoken to him lately). This seemed to work fine, but did result in having massive files, I know he does have several 2TB external HDD set aside just for recording.
FRAPS all the way. It DOES generate massive files--however, the reason for this is it's outputting totally uncompressed .avi files. Once you process it and/or upload it to YouTube it'll be compressed, which results in a much more manageable file size. Unless you have a penchant for keeping your raw footage around, you can just delete that when you've got a more compressed version--I use Microsoft Expression Encoder for either (a) recording stuff FRAPS doesn't do a very good job of recording and (b) compressing/encoding my raw footage into more manageable formats and file sizes.
I'd also vote for FRAPS.
Its very easy to setup & it lets you record from a mic at the same time so you can talk during your videos.
Its very easy to use to here's how you use it.
1. Start your game.
2. Start FRAPS.
3. Switch back to your game & you shoudl see a Yellow Frame rate in one of the corners ( you can change it's location in the settings ) this lets you know that Fraps is going to record that window.
4. Press F9 and the yellow frame rate should change to RED to let you know its recording.
5. Record your gameplay.
6. Press F9 to stop the recording.
It has a limited use ( only records a few seconds i think) free version you can try. The full version only cost 37 $USD
I'd recommend downloading the free version to make sure your computer system can handle playing a game and recording at the same time.
You can find FRAPS at http://fraps.com/
Its very easy to setup & it lets you record from a mic at the same time so you can talk during your videos.
Its very easy to use to here's how you use it.
1. Start your game.
2. Start FRAPS.
3. Switch back to your game & you shoudl see a Yellow Frame rate in one of the corners ( you can change it's location in the settings ) this lets you know that Fraps is going to record that window.
4. Press F9 and the yellow frame rate should change to RED to let you know its recording.
5. Record your gameplay.
6. Press F9 to stop the recording.
It has a limited use ( only records a few seconds i think) free version you can try. The full version only cost 37 $USD
I'd recommend downloading the free version to make sure your computer system can handle playing a game and recording at the same time.
You can find FRAPS at http://fraps.com/
I use Kazam Screencaster, but then, I run Linux, so FRAPS isn't an option for me. Having said that, it's absolutely free to use, can output in just about any codec you want (with built-in FFMPG hooks). Simple, easy to use, you can cap framerate, capture windows, whatever you want to do.
Can you clarify what you mean by "processing"? Are you referring to video edits, or simply encoding the video in a different format? What format would you consider a good candidate for manageable file sizes?
On the subject of video edits, is it generally better to do a lot of post-recording editing, or just stop recording when you're doing something that won't make for good tv? When I watch Direwolf20's videos, I get the impression that he edits them heavily, but maybe he's just really good at deciding when to stop recording. I'm too much of a noob to be able to tell. But I've always appreciated that he never clogs up his videos with mundane or repetitive tasks, and I'd like to emulate that aspect of his style.
I record everything, then edit later - you never know what sort of funny/interesting footage you may get. I've said multiple times "I wish I had been recording!" but never "I wish I hadn't recorded that". It adds time/work, for sure, but you can give yourself "hints" at certain points in the recording so you know what to look out for at cut points while editing (I jump multiple times in place for example, or type a message on screen which is easy to see when scrolling through a video).
To anyone recording- what program are you using to record, what framerates are you getting with/without recording, what's the bitrate of the video you are getting out, and what resolution are you recording in?
Without recording I get 120+ FPS.... but i have a killer system ( Alienware )
In FRAPS I have the frame rate capped at 30 FPS to help keep the file size down.
the resulting videos quality is just fine for my taste.
I then use Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.5 to edit & encode the files over to H.264 to reduce the file size even more, uploading several gigs to YouTube is a very time consuming process
In the end i get HD quality on YouTube
You are welcome to check my channel if you want to see the quality FRAPS & adobe can do : http://www.youtube.com/techstacklp
In FRAPS I have the frame rate capped at 30 FPS to help keep the file size down.
the resulting videos quality is just fine for my taste.
I then use Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.5 to edit & encode the files over to H.264 to reduce the file size even more, uploading several gigs to YouTube is a very time consuming process
In the end i get HD quality on YouTube
You are welcome to check my channel if you want to see the quality FRAPS & adobe can do : http://www.youtube.com/techstacklp