Capturing gameplay videos

[BrendonLeCount]

Is there a downloadable utility, or a console command or something, that you need to use to capture gameplay video? For once google searches fail to turn up anything useful.

[Rabbit1251]

You could try this: How to make a video. I haven't used it...yet, but it is something that I've wanted to learn.

 

 

Rabbit

[pkleiss]

You can use FRAPS, but the free version will only allow you to make 30 second screen captures at a time. Plus they are saved as raw data and are HUGE. So you will need to edit them with something like Windows Movie Maker, where you can append clips together and save the whole movie in a format that will be much smaller - though still pretty large.

[BrendonLeCount]

A few spliced 30 second clips might work, but something longer would be better. I'm working on a mod that puts you in Liberty Prime's cockpit (I know, he's a self guided robot, but I've got a backstory in mind that explains it). With the running speed notched up a bit it's actually a viable alternative to fast travel, so I wanted to make a video for the description page where I run from the Republic of Dave to Rivet City, splattering stuff on the way. I'll give How to Make a Video a try first, since it seems to have everything.

 

It's a way's out yet, but I've got getting in, getting out, sound effects, and relative indestructability pretty well worked out, though I can't figure out how to make his booming footsteps stop when he becomes airborne, and the Liberty Laser fires from his Navel at the moment. He does spout random anti-communist rhetoric at the touch of a button, though.

[WoogieMonster]

A few spliced 30 second clips might work, but something longer would be better...

 

Xfire will record video as long as you need for free. But like FRAPS the files are huge and need to be edited. Clicking my name in my sig will take you to xfire and you can see examples of videos on my profile.

[BrendonLeCount]

Here's a clip, seems to be working ok. There doesn't seem to be any sound though. It's basically a suit of armor from gorow333's Monster Costume's mod, with the player's scale bumped up 400%. I also added sound, weapons, and some alterations to health - a crippled head kills you, and crippled limbs will leave you frozen in place, but beyond that you're almost invincible.

 

http://www.xfire.com/video/259d84/

 

*Edit - got sound figured out, its just a configuration setting.

 

http://www.xfire.com/video/259de0/

[WoogieMonster]

... http://www.xfire.com/video/259de0/

You need bigger opponents, spawn a behemoth and slug it out :yes:

 

Anyway, if you're going to use xfire to store the videos you make, you should know a couple things:

- your profile has a time limit of 10 minutes per video, anything longer than 10 minutes will not upload

- there are embed codes for your videos just like youtube

- people can and will write comments on your videos, so just keep in mind that not everyone on the internet is nice... or sane. But you can delete comments that bother you.

 

If you need any help with the xfire client itself, feel free to add me to your friends list, I'm no expert but I've used it long enough that I can help with most problems.

[evilneko]

Does xfire save the videos to your hard drive in a useful format?

[BrendonLeCount]

I think one of my first times using the GECK I put an albino radscorpion scaled up by about 500% near the Jury Street Metro Station. That would be great, as would a behemoth or MMM gargantuan. It broadcasted the Enclave station like it had swallowed a few eyebots.

 

XP-wise the Prime suit is horribly unbalanced, but for just getting around, the alternative is painless, unlimited teleporting anywhere on the map, so its kind of a trade off. I'm thinking that if I introduce him at a point when your character is high-level with most of the map discovered it won't be such a total cheat. Maybe right after you escort the scientists to the Citadel, or, alternatively, post-main quest line as a reward for bringing in supermutant blood samples and cameras.

 

10 minutes seems generous given the file sizes.

 

@ evilneko -

The How To Make A Video link above has instructions on how to make them usable, or at least uploadable to Youtube. I was able to play the MP4 versions in media player as they were, there's also an AVI that probably just needs codecs.

[WoogieMonster]

Does xfire save the videos to your hard drive in a useful format?

When you record a video it is initially saved as an insanely large AVI and if you upload it to your xfire profile it gets compressed / reformatted into a much much much smaller MPEG-4 and a copy of the MPEG-4 is also saved onto your drive.