Steam Community :: Video :: TestRun, Video Edition: Game Recording Comparison I (FRAPS,DXTORY,BANDICAM,PLAYCLAW) HD

TestRun, Video Edition: Game Recording Comparison I (FRAPS,DXTORY,BANDICAM,PLAYCLAW) HD

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The Game Tips And More Blog presents a side-by-side comparison of some game recording programs, the codecs they utilize when recording (at various quality settings) and the disk space usage for each. File sizes are shown on the right (Batch segments of video). Even though YouTube loses some data in recompression, it is suggested to watch in Full Screen, 1080p HD, in order to see the differences more clearly.

For full details of this TestRun, see the main blog article at:
http://gametipsandmore.blogspot.ca/2012/10/testrun-video-edition-fraps-vs-dxtory.html

For this TestRun, the game used is Minecraft. Yes, MC isn't exactly 'high-end-tessa-shadow-bump-mipped', but that's the point. Without taxing the CPU/GPU extensively, more of the power can go towards recording and getting the most 'bang-for-the-buck' from the game recording apps. Also, the sharp edges and movement of groups of pixels, along with solid colors and dark areas, are a good test of compression and will bring out any artifacts that the contending codecs might sweat out.

Recorded with:  Fraps, Dxtory, Bandicam, Playclaw
Resolution:  Slightly higher than HD @ 1920x1096, (Maximized Window @ 1920x1200 Desktop with doubled taskbar), resized to fit into 1920x1080 (1080p HD) video rendered as final video output for upload
Recording Time:  10 seconds or 300 frames, attempt made to record from same location for each segment
Recording Size:  Varies, sizes are included in the video for each recording segment
Codecs utilized:  MPEG, MJPEG, UTyuv422, FRAPS1, various quality settings for all

In general, the recorded segments in the video comparison are shown in order of largest disk space usage per second to the smallest.

Here is the 4x4 (16-Video/Codec) comparison key (it is in order of largest file size produced to the smallest):

A - Dxtory High Quality w. Compression
B - UT video codec YUV 422
C - Dxtory Medium Quality w. Compression
D - Playclaw NoCompression [Trial Version Limited Quality]
E - Fraps FullSize
F - Dxtory Low Quality w. Compression
G - Bandicam MJPEG Quality100
H - Playclaw LowCompression [Trial Version Limited Quality]
I - Fraps HalfSize
J - Bandicam MJPEG Quality80 'Vegas/Premiere/Pinnacle' setting
K - Bandicam MJPEG Quality60
L - Playclaw MJPEGcompression (6 threads) [Trial Version Limited Quality]
M - Bandicam MJPEG Quality40
N - Bandicam MPEG-1 Quality80 'Default' setting
O - Bandicam MPEG-1 Quality80 'YouTube720p' setting
P - Bandicam MPEG-1 Quality80 'HalfSize' setting

For more information and analysis of the testing that was done, see the full article at:
http://gametipsandmore.blogspot.ca/2012/10/testrun-video-edition-fraps-vs-dxtory.html

[Playclaw, at the time of this testing, was Trial Limited in it's Quality capability. As of June 2013, this no longer seems to be the case. Therefore, it will be re-included in an upcoming TestRun of multiple game recording applications]

For general Game Recording Tips (no matter what program you use to record with), see our article here:
http://gametipsandmore.blogspot.ca/2012/05/tips-for-game-recording-currently-text.html

See you in the games!

Music by
Munenushi
http://www.youtube.com/munenushi

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