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[knucracker]

Here's another one (little known):
bb flashback from Blueberry software.

It works great for things like flash games where you run in a air window or a browser.  The express version is also free.  I just recently used it and I recorded and exported without compression.  Then I used the also free 'MPEG StreamClick' to encode the movie as an mp4.

At that point I moved it to a mac and used iMovie (iMovie 'free', mac not).  Not being much of a mac user I made my way through it.

[BrixxieBee]

Try camtasia, but make sure you have the k-lite codec pack. In fact, anything will work as long as you grab the codec pack.

[Abhinavc]

Hi,

Try http://www.zdsoft.com/ and http://www.techsmith.com/camtasia.asp. They both work fine.

Regards,
Abhi

[supershigi]

Recently someone recommended Camstudio to me as well and it did the trick.  It's not super fancy or anything, but I just needed something basic so it worked fine.

[JustRadek]

I use FRAPS myself, and I've never had too many issues with it. It has all the features I want from a video capturing software without over complicating things.

The FPS can chug a bit at times, but one little trick I found is to record 10-20 seconds of the game (usually in a paused mode but still running in the background) so that the processing load can balance itself. That way you have a higher chance of smoothly capturing the problematic segments and then simply trim the clip when doing post-editing.

[Akari]

I use FRAPS wherever possible since it provides the most solid recording - plus the lossless recordings are easy to work with afterwards.

I've also tried Camtasia but it tends to be quite terribly slow and not really well suited for in-game recording.

For processing the videos I just generally use AviSynth and encode the video with x264 using something like x264 --preset slow --crf 22. I also convert audio to AAC with neroaacenc and then finally mux to MKV which can then be uploaded to YouTube or whatever.

Also, free tip: If your game footage has lots of stuff going on and you're going to upload the video to YouTube, I recommend blurring the video beforehand. It increases the quality on YouTube quite notably.

Other things to note about YouTube is that it automatically decimates videos to 30fps, so if you record your game footage at 60fps it's a good idea to decimate it beforehand to save some bandwidth and encoding time.

[BrixxieBee]

Cam Studio with the the k-lite codec pack works wonders. You just will need to find the right set of options. It's important you get the k-lite codec pack though. I recorded this with that setup...

[Akari]

K-Lite is bad and you shouldn't use it. If you need a codec/filter pack, get Combined Community Codec Pack instead.

[StudioFortress]

Question: can anyone here recommend something that works with Vista x64? I've been using CamStudio, but regrettably it hasn't been updated to accommodate Vista x64's finicky new requirements for sound drivers, so I can't capture audio with it.

Recording sound doesn't work for me either, but does from microphone. So I just plug my audio out into the microphone and play in silence. However the audio always starts to go out of sink after a few seconds.

[AuthenticKaizen]

if someone records with camstudio i recommend to use the TechSmith Screen Capture Codec. (its free and offers good results. its also from the camtasia developers)

[raiten]

Does anybody know how to get FRAPS working with Flash? Apparently it only works for stuff that goes through the graphic card or some techno mumbo-jumbo like that. I was gonna use Camtasia instead but it says "free trial", so I guess it isn't really free?

[raiten]

I'm trying out Camtasia now but can't find any information about changing the framerate output? It seems stuck at 15 fps whatever I do, can anybody give me a helping hand?

[AuthenticKaizen]

I'm trying out Camtasia now but can't find any information about changing the framerate output? It seems stuck at 15 fps whatever I do, can anybody give me a helping hand?

how to change the framerate for camtasia

record the screen->tools->options...
a window appears:

1.) click on the "Video" tab

2.) choose "Manual"

3.) screen capture rate 30 (or above)

4.) Click on "Video Compression"

5.) Choose "TechSmith Screen Capture Codec"

6.) Click "Configure"

7.) Turn the slider completely to the left for best quality.

8.) click "OK"



if you decide to upload the video to youtube:

1.) choose produce video as...

2.) then select HD
(now a window appears asking if you are sure->click ok)

3.) click again on HD on the drop down menu and then select "Add / Edit Preset..."

4.) Click "Edit"
(on the next window leave everything the same since MP4 is the best choice...simply click next)

5.) choose the right resolution for your video (if you recorded the game at 640x480 and leave it here on 1280x720 you will get a stretched result cause the aspect ratio is different...
once you have uploaded your video yotube compresses it again therefore you might increase the resolution in order to get a somewhat better quality.

for example if you recorded your game at 800x600 you might choose 1024x768 in order to get 3 quality options on youtube (360,480 and 720 HD).
if you choose 800x600 you can only select between 360 and 480.


moreover:
when the camtasia 30 day trial is over and you dont want to buy it you can use the freeware alternative camstudio in order to record your flash games in the future.

if someone records with camstudio i recommend to use the TechSmith Screen Capture Codec. (its free and offers good results. its also from the camtasia developers)

[raiten]

Thanks Kaizen, though we must be using different versions because there's no "video" tab on mine (and I wasn't able to find anything labelled "manual" elsewhere either). I'm fine with not being able to capture 30 fps though, I slowed the game down to 15 fps and then choose to play it at 200% speed. Problem is, none of the codec options I get when I try to "produce" the movie allow more than 15 fps, not even doing it manually...

[AuthenticKaizen]

Thanks Kaizen, though we must be using different versions because there's no "video" tab on mine (and I wasn't able to find anything labelled "manual" elsewhere either). I'm fine with not being able to capture 30 fps though, I slowed the game down to 15 fps and then choose to play it at 200% speed. Problem is, none of the codec options I get when I try to "produce" the movie allow more than 15 fps, not even doing it manually...

They have released Camtasia 7 recently and therefore 6 isn't available anymore.
I still use Version 6 cause the price tag for updating is not worth it for me since stuff already works.
 
(I just searched for a solution for the framerate problem via google but i didn't found anything...
well i will give the the demo a quick look in the next few days.
Hopefully i will find out how to increase the framerate) 

[AuthenticKaizen]

Thanks Kaizen, though we must be using different versions because there's no "video" tab on mine (and I wasn't able to find anything labelled "manual" elsewhere either). I'm fine with not being able to capture 30 fps though, I slowed the game down to 15 fps and then choose to play it at 200% speed. Problem is, none of the codec options I get when I try to "produce" the movie allow more than 15 fps, not even doing it manually...

They have released Camtasia 7 recently and therefore 6 isn't available anymore.
I still use Version 6 cause the price tag for updating is not worth it for me since stuff already works.
 
(I just searched for a solution for the framerate problem via google but i didn't found anything...
well i will give the the demo a quick look in the next few days.
Hopefully i will find out how to increase the framerate)  

i just tested the camtasia 7 demo.
heres a step-by-step guide:

start camtasia

click "record the screen"
click "tools"
click "options..."
choose "inputs" tab
change screen capture frame rate from 15 to 30 (or more)
click "video settings..."
click "configure..."
move slider to the left to  "faster compression" (best video quality)
now close the 3 open windows by clicking 3x "ok"
done.


after you have recorded your game you may edit it to your liking.
after that you click "produce and share"
click the drop down menu to choose "HD"
click the drop down menu again to choose "Add / Edit Preset"
click "Edit..."
click "Next"
click "Flash Options"
click on the Frame Rate drop down menu and choose 30 instead of Automatic
click on Encoding Mode and choose Quality instead of Bitrate
move the slider from 50% to 60%
click "OK"
change the video size from 1280x720 to the appropriate size of your game.
click "Next"
click "Done"
click "close"

choose "HD" from the drop down menu again.
click "Next"
give your video a name and choose a path where you want to save it.
click "Done"
thats it->your video will be rendered.

[raiten]

Cheers Kaizen,

I raped the HD settings and I think I got it to work   Thanks a lot!

[AuthenticKaizen]

Cheers Kaizen,

I raped the HD settings and I think I got it to work   Thanks a lot!

Good to know that it worked

Also:
Nice to see Action Turnip on the IndieGames Blog... Congrats! 

[Arcadeous]

for Flash games I'd recommend "swf to video converter pro". It captures flash movies (including games of course) along with the sound and in higher quality than TechSmith's software.

[supershigi]

I was also wondering if any of you were able to get fraps to work with flash...