First off, I'm new at this whole "video making" thing, too -- I'm NOT one of the experts on the subject.
I downloaded FRAPS first, since from what I've read, FRAPS is still the "industry leader" in video game recording and I've seen where several forum regulars swear by it. Unfortunately, the officially licensed "free trial version" only lets us make 30 second videos -- which might be enough for some people to decide if they want to buy the "full version" but so far, I don't want to. The videos FRAPS makes also takes up A LOT of hard drive space, IMHO -- anywhere from 1.1 to 1.4 GB for a 30 second clip.
Someone I play with regularly told me about a similar program called Bandicam -- the trial version makes ten MINUTE videos, with a slightly larger "watermark" in the top center of the screen. I had to putter with Bandicam a little longer than I did with FRAPS to get it to record the in-game sound, but it's doing a fine job for what I want it to do, which is making souvenir movies of my characters, costumes, and battle sequences. The files are a little bit bigger -- 1.3 to 1.9 GB -- but that's for TEN MINUTES of video!
Camera position: I'm told by friends that I have a sort of unique playstyle, especially among scrappers. I like to see as much of the battlefield as I can, and use my scroll wheel to zoom out, the right button for "camera up and down" (both are the normal "stock settings") and I use one of the "side buttons" on my mouse for "camera rotate." I've been doing it it that way for years, and it's sort of as if my characters have a camera-bot floating over their heads. I don't even think about automatically "rotating away" if and when I get trapped against a wall or corner and the camera starts to automatically zoom back in to "first person view."
I'm not sure how much help that part will be -- I guess I'm lucky that I've been doing it that way for so long -- but it's making my videos fairly watchable.
Hope that helps!
"But it wasn't anything some purples and oranges and lots of screaming in fear couldn't handle." -- Werner
30 level 50's: 12 scrappers, 7 other random melee types, 11 blaster/blapper/support squishies, two accounts, and a TON of altitis since 4/28/04
Hi,
While I still plan to write letters and hope and wish that NCSoft will sell the franchise to a community-owned group (well, maybe that I win the lottery and they sell it to me), I'd like to spend the time I have left preserving my characters and some in-game fun as best as I can.
What's the best way to record full video in-game? Is Fraps still the tool? (I'd love to record some full team play!)
Also, do you have any secrets for changing and fixing camera position?