ACS - Hypercam Capture Test
Merry Crimmas to y'all.
Below you'll find some information I discovered while trying several recording programs. It's not much, but if you have recording issues and/or wish to record videos yourself, consider checking.
And ya, I'm also venting my frustration by writing the ridiculous amount of attempts I tried before getting this to work.
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Since my old computer is, well, old (got it third hand, to give you an idea), I got myself a new one. Very good hardware, but its big flaw is that it came with that horror called Windows 8.
Stupid, stupid W8. For what it's worth, it IS usable, but it ruined many programs, and nearly none of the new features are useful. I'm giving it a chance now, until I lose all my patience and shove Windows 7 in it. If you can, avoid. If you can't, avoid. If desperate, then maybe.
---Lots of blablabla below---
ACS is the big victim of Windows 8. It can't freaking maximize it. Alt-Enter, F4, the maximize button, nothing works ; it glitches out, sometimes hides part of the screen, and the taskbar and top bar remain. In addition to being annoying, most programs CANNOT RECORD UNLESS YOU'RE FULL SCREEN.
Using Lunaport to make Replays doesn't solve this, because ultimately Lunaport runs ACS to play them.
I decided to play ACS in windowed mode and try to record just the window.
- Until now, I used Fraps to record everything. It still works for other programs, but not for ACS because it must be maximized.
- So I did an internet research and downloaded MSI Afterburner. From my tests, it seems just as good as Fraps (and it's free, take note!). But it ALSO can't record unless full-screen. Still, I'm considering replacing Fraps by it.
Oh, and note that Afterburner is not just for recording, it can also overclock your computer. I didn't try it, and please don't either unless you're REALLY sure what you're doing.
- Tried CamStudio. It failed, but I don't remember why.
- Tried Hypercam. Got the 64 bits version since I've Windows 8 64 bits. Hypercam is actually the first record program I tried years ago, and it was really, really horrible.
To my shock, it works fine now! I think you need a powerful computer for it. This video was recorded with Hypercam, even the sound (after many attempts).
It's not perfect, though. First, the installation files asked to install 4 or 5 shit programs before finally installing Hypercam. Be careful what you click ; you don't want it to install annoying (hopefully not malicious) programs.
Then, Hypercam works, but it's set to record at 10 FPS. That's... stupid. I set it to 30.
But then what. The video is not recorded well ; some parts are sped up during playback, which desyncs the sound and the video badly. The solution was awkward :
Unchecked "Show Rectangle around recorded area" and Checked "make this rectangle blink". I have no idea why this works.
If that fails, try setting "0" for "Key frame every X frames" and "Uncompressed" for "Video Compressor". The latter made this video a massive size, 11 GB, so be wary.
I also needed to enable Stereo Mix is Control Panel's sound section. Why it was Disabled, I don't know.
So FINALLY, recording with Hypercam worked. Right now it's the only method I have of recording programs that aren't full screen ; therefore the only way I can record ACS. I actually recorded while playing ; didn't use a Replay. So Hypercam does not cause lag, provided your computer is powerful enough of course. On the topic, my new one is a quad-core 3.2 GHz, for reference.
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So now that I got this working, I can return to more important stuff. I've got plans for Hubert.