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screen capture software

Started by airboy, September 05, 2012, 01:07:25 PM

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airboy

September 05, 2012, 01:07:25 PM
What screen capture software is available for PC games?

Are there any programs which are free and relatively user friendly?

I have a 1 year old Falcon Northwest Talon - so this is a pretty high end machine.

I'm thinking about Strategic Command WW1 Breakthrough and doing some reviews or AARs when it comes out.

eyebiter

#1
September 05, 2012, 01:12:32 PM
Fraps trial lets you do up to 30 second videos with a watermark
http://www.fraps.com/download.php

Haven't tried it but E.M. Game Capture supposed to allow videos, again with a watermark
http://www.effectmatrix.com/Game-Capture/index.htm

steve58

#2
September 05, 2012, 01:32:13 PM Last Edit: September 05, 2012, 01:44:47 PM by steve58
If you're just looking to grab single frames, and you're running Vista or Windows 7, check if your PC has the Snipping Tool.  Its simple, but does a pretty good job...
Government is not the solution to our problem—government is the problem.   Ronald Reagan
The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.   Thomas Jefferson
During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.   George Orwell  The truth is quiet...It's the lies that are loud.   Jesus Revolution
If you ever find yourself in need of a safe space then you're probably going to have to stop calling yourself a social justice warrior. You cannot be a warrior and a pansy at the same time   Mike Adams (RIP Mike)

TheCommandTent

#3
September 05, 2012, 01:53:20 PM
I paid for the full version of FRAPS and I am happy with it it so far.
"No wants, no needs, we weren't meant for that, none of us.  Man stagnates if he has no ambition, no desire to be more than he is."

MarkShot

#4
September 05, 2012, 02:00:54 PM
I use Snaggit from Techsmith which is payware.  But you can have it automatically adjust resolutions, compression loss, take just a portion of the image, add time & date info, etc...

For example, I was using the screen specific area capture while I was trading.  I was putting charts, orders, position screens onto DropBox (cloud server) so that I had continuity to cover fail over scenarios.  I was using Snaggit's area capture to control the screen portion captured to remove name and account information on some captures so that sensitive data did not end up in the cloud.  So, your options range from free and basic to pay and very configurable, I think.

steve58

#5
September 05, 2012, 02:08:53 PM
Quote from: MarkShot on September 05, 2012, 02:00:54 PM
I use Snaggit from Techsmith which is payware.  But you can have it automatically adjust resolutions, compression loss, take just a portion of the image, add time & date info, etc...

For example, I was using the screen specific area capture while I was trading.  I was putting charts, orders, position screens onto DropBox (cloud server) so that I had continuity to cover fail over scenarios.  I was using Snaggit's area capture to control the screen portion captured to remove name and account information on some captures so that sensitive data did not end up in the cloud.  So, your options range from free and basic to pay and very configurable, I think.

I can second SnagIt.  I use it for work (ver 9, but I think they're upto ver 11).  Its a great program, but like Mark said its payware.  They do have a free 30-day trial version.
Government is not the solution to our problem—government is the problem.   Ronald Reagan
The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.   Thomas Jefferson
During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.   George Orwell  The truth is quiet...It's the lies that are loud.   Jesus Revolution
If you ever find yourself in need of a safe space then you're probably going to have to stop calling yourself a social justice warrior. You cannot be a warrior and a pansy at the same time   Mike Adams (RIP Mike)

airboy

#6
September 05, 2012, 02:47:13 PM
All I need is screen captures.  Videos not necessary.

Will snippit work if the game is playing in full screen mode?

steve58

#7
September 05, 2012, 03:22:17 PM
Apparently...not.  Just gave it a try and no luck.  Works OK if a game is running in a window, but not full screen.  Way to go Microsoft.   Sorry for the false lead...
Government is not the solution to our problem—government is the problem.   Ronald Reagan
The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.   Thomas Jefferson
During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.   George Orwell  The truth is quiet...It's the lies that are loud.   Jesus Revolution
If you ever find yourself in need of a safe space then you're probably going to have to stop calling yourself a social justice warrior. You cannot be a warrior and a pansy at the same time   Mike Adams (RIP Mike)

Bison

#8
September 05, 2012, 03:26:24 PM
Airboy use the free FRAPS.  It works like a charm.  It's a one button push and it always captures the image.  For example the printscreen button captures about 1 in 20 shots for CMX2 games, FRAPS captures it everytime.  And the FPS benchmarking while unnecessary is a cool free feature to check out game performance on your system.  I use FRAPS to take the image and then paint, paintshop or paint.net to do my AAR artwork, i.e. draw squiggly lines on the image.

Bison

#9
September 05, 2012, 03:27:37 PM
Also what are your Falcon's specs, if I might ask?  I've been looking into their systems too.

TheCommandTent

#10
September 05, 2012, 03:28:49 PM
Quote from: Bison on September 05, 2012, 03:26:24 PM
I use FRAPS to take the image and then paint, paintshop or paint.net to do my AAR artwork, i.e. draw squiggly lines on the image.

That sounds alot like my "artwork" as well.  ::)
"No wants, no needs, we weren't meant for that, none of us.  Man stagnates if he has no ambition, no desire to be more than he is."

LongBlade

#11
September 05, 2012, 04:05:46 PM
I use Hypersnap. Sometimes it won't work with a game, but posting an issue in their forums usually leads to a fix in a couple of days.
All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

airboy

#12
September 05, 2012, 07:31:41 PM
Quote from: Bison on September 05, 2012, 03:27:37 PM
Also what are your Falcon's specs, if I might ask?  I've been looking into their systems too.

I bought a close to generic Talon desktop.  It is 3.5 gigahertz. 

The only major extra I sprung for was liquid cooling.  The loudest thing is the disk drive.  It is amazingly quiet.  My hardware geek friends all thought it was an impressive rig for the price.  I ran it through several hardware geek friends prior to purchase.

If you have the time, talent and energy to build your own system then you can probably come out ahead.  But my time is too valuable to build that skill set.

I have had it a year and like it more than any PC I have ever had.  This is my second Falcon.  I've also had 2 Alienwares (prior to being bought by Dell).  When I bought it the system specs for the price really pushed me to buy a Talon.  I don't play shooters or flight sims - so the absolute top cutting-edge performance was not very important.

MarkShot

#13
September 05, 2012, 08:02:04 PM
I've purchased 4 systems from Falcon. They build them well and have good tech support.

They've quieted them down greatly by using damping foam, and slow moving oversized fans.

I would buy from them again, but that would make no sense in Taiwan. My next gaming desktop will probably from a local shop that builds custom machines. For our other machines probably DELL or some domestic manufacturer like Acer or Asus. For the moment, I'll be shipping 1 MachV and 2 Talons. The cost between shipping and just replacing is a toss up, but they are all configured already. With relocating, I will have enough to do without having to replace 3-4 PCs.

Bison

#14
September 05, 2012, 08:05:36 PM
I'm very intrigued by the new tiki design, but the talon is what I've been considering.
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