Capturing video from PC games? Can it be done reliably?

[blurredvision]

As most of you know, UT2K4 was released this week for the PC. I've recently got started into working with Adobe Premier Pro and Encore DVD to start making my own gaming clips (heavily edited, of course, with music and effects). I've ordered a video capture device (should be here tomorrow) to help with vid capture of my console games, but I'm stumped as to whether I can do the same with PC games.

My question is, can I capture the video from a PC game into an .avi, .mpg, etc.? Is there a way I can take in-game video, and be able to edit it outside of the game itself? TIA

 

[SunnyD]

Originally posted by: blurredvision
As most of you know, UT2K4 was released this week for the PC. I've recently got started into working with Adobe Premier Pro and Encore DVD to start making my own gaming clips (heavily edited, of course, with music and effects). I've ordered a video capture device (should be here tomorrow) to help with vid capture of my console games, but I'm stumped as to whether I can do the same with PC games.

My question is, can I capture the video from a PC game into an .avi, .mpg, etc.? Is there a way I can take in-game video, and be able to edit it outside of the game itself? TIA

Yeah - it's called TV-Out and a VCR.

Or, if you want to make your system crawl, look at fraps.

 

[JonnyBlaze]

the best way i could think of is to use a second pc and capture card and capture the output from your video cards second output, set to clone mode.

fraps will capture video from games, but it kills your fps. i assume any other way that captures on the same pc will do the same.

JBlaze

 

[fs5]

can't you record demo's in UT2K4?

 

[blurredvision]

Originally posted by: fivespeed5
can't you record demo's in UT2K4?

You can, but I don't think they are playable outside of the game. I could be wrong, though.

 

[fs5]

Originally posted by: blurredvision

Originally posted by: fivespeed5
can't you record demo's in UT2K4?

You can, but I don't think they are playable outside of the game. I could be wrong, though.

you're probably right, but I was thinking just capture it as a demo and then you can run whatever video capture software afterwards.

 

[blurredvision]

Well, I just tried the fraps 2.0.0 demo, and I thought it worked great. However, the demo only records at half-size, so I think that leads some people into a false sense of what the final product will be.

I was running UT2K4 at 1024x768 with 2xQ AA and most deatils on medium, and my FPS dropped to around 25 or 30. This was, however, at half-size recording and only 1 bot on the map. It worked pretty good, though. I will test it out some more.