A question about video creation/capturing/editing

[ncc1701e]

I've been using fraps but I find that fraps records flights in fragments 3.98GB at a time. Im then left to rejoin these fragments to have a single file for which I use freemake but it creates choppy resulting videos whereas I've verified the original video fragments straight from fraps aren't choppy. If I am not doing anything wrong, I'd like to know what some of our other forum members are using in terms of capturing/editing software to make the beautiful videos on this forum.

 

Thanks

[JimboG]

Hi there,

 

I used the Fraps registered edition application to capture my in-XP footage shown in my first two videos here:

 

http://www.youtube.com/user/jamescgillies/videos?view=0&flow=grid

 

I then used Camtasia Studio to edit together the collated footage, create call-outs and so on. It (Camtasia) is also capable of capturing your raw Windows desktop footage (seen in the first of the two videos above).

 

Camtasia will also export the finished project out to HD YouTube-ready files that you can then upload to YouTube at your leisure.

 

The thing to bear in mind with capturing with Fraps is that purely to keep up with the amount of data that is generated by 3D applications (especially if you are going to capture at HD resolutions) there is no time / resource left over to also encode/compress the video down to a more manageable size - this is why you get 3.98GB files in pieces. This gives you the most flexibility (assuming you have the disk space) during post-production using something like Camtasia.

 

At the time I made those videos I had recently bought an OCZ Vertex 3/4 (can't remember which!) plugged into a 3GB/s sata connection on my MB and it kept up no problem. (Full HD, full 30fps)

 

I hope this gives you something to go on.

 

Cheers

 

James

[ncc1701e]

Thanks for the advice JimboG. Does Camtasia studio join your fraps video fragments into a single file?

[JimboG]

Hi,

Yes it does. Or more accurately what it does is to let import all the Fraps files into a project library and then from there you can drag them into a timeline and edit the content just like you would do with a peice of video editing software - treat Camtasia as such.

The exported project file will be a single (and compressed) file. For example, one of my videos is 17 mins long, which was a ridiculous 40-50gb of Fraps files, which ended up as a 285Mb HD .mp4

I hope this makes sense.

Cheers

James

[ncc1701e]

I see. Awesome. What codec do you use or do you get to choose that in Camtasia Studio? And which version of Camtasia Studio?

[JimboG]

Hi,

Good question on the codec, I did have to download one as out-of-the-box neither Windows or Camtasia can will do H.264 (MP4) - I chose to use the Xvid codec as it did the trick, was free, and didn't install a load of extra crap I didn't need or pressure me into using or buying anything else. Worked a treat, Camtasia was able to use it no problem. (And no watermarks or anything like that)

The version of Camtasia I am using is 7.1 - which I believe is the latest. It's a great product, I've been using it on and off for years - but this is the first time I've used it to create personal videos, and the first time using it with Fraps - but I think you'll agree that the results speak for themselves. Everything you see in those videos was done using Camtasia. Took a couple of night works for both videos.

Hope this helps.

Cheers

James

[ncc1701e]

Hi,

Good question on the codec, I did have to download one as out-of-the-box neither Windows or Camtasia can will do H.264 (MP4) - I chose to use the Xvid codec as it did the trick, was free, and didn't install a load of extra crap I didn't need or pressure me into using or buying anything else. Worked a treat, Camtasia was able to use it no problem. (And no watermarks or anything like that)

The version of Camtasia I am using is 7.1 - which I believe is the latest. It's a great product, I've been using it on and off for years - but this is the first time I've used it to create personal videos, and the first time using it with Fraps - but I think you'll agree that the results speak for themselves. Everything you see in those videos was done using Camtasia. Took a couple of night works for both videos.

Hope this helps.

Cheers

James

Thanks for all the awesome and helpful info James. By the way, reading your signature and comparing to mine almost makes me want to upgrade

[JimboG]

Hi there,

No problem, glad to help. And for what it's worth, I liked your signature layout so used it as the basis for my own. I've just been through an upgrade process over Christmas last year and my upcoming birthday, so this is why it looks new and shiny! The GPU will be next n a few months time, once I've saved up my pennies!

Cheers

James

[ncc1701e]

Im glad you liked the layout of my signature. Im a huge fan of simplicity and was thinking best to just put it all in one line. I was looking at some of the Camtasia tutorial videos on Techsmith's website and got the impression that it can only output to a maximum of 720p. Is this right or am I mistaken that Camtasia cannot output 1080p?

[JimboG]

Hi,

 

You can definitely export to 1080p - here's a YouTube video using Camtasia on Windows that shows how to do it, very simple:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bgr9uv1TRtI&feature=youtube_gdata

 

And to preempt - my imported Fraps files were something like 1680 x 1050 to start with... so you can import and edit with files bigger than 720p - you just need to set you canvas size appropriately. (Camtasia Studio 8 might even have these presets right out of the box)

 

I would suggest downloading a trial and having a look for yourself, it is excellent and well worth the price. The evaluation is fully-featured and lasts for 30 days.

 

Good luck!

 

Cheers

 

James

[ncc1701e]

Ok thanks for the video, I'll check out the trial version. Thanks again for all the help.

[Keith Smith]

I use DXTory (a utility from Japan) to do lossless 1080p video capture (9GB/min), then edit in Sony Vegas Studio.

[ncc1701e]

JimboG, what settings in Camtasia video/audio have you come to like that produce the right balance between quality and file size. Obviously if the intent is YouTube one would want 1080p but have you come to like a particular bit rate/framerate which I guess is what is adjusted by the quality slider control just before the rendering step in Camtasia. What about audio bit rate?

[JimboG]

Hi there,

I think I used something like 80% on the quality slider when exporting my videos, and as for the audio I don't recall making any changes to the default HD profile that was in Camtasia because for me 720p output for YouTube is sufficient - how ever my audio input consisted of 128kbps .mp3 for the commentary, captured by Fraps and Camtasia where appropriate and the background music I dropped into the timeline afterwards.

The output file for the "Aircraft Acceptance to Takeoff" was about 285Mb for 17 minutes of footage, this should help give a good rule of thumb.

In summary, try 80% quality and see if that is going to cut it for you. (And I rarely select 1080p on YouTube as a viewer, even with a 12Mb connection to the Internet it's just a bit too slow to buffer for my liking.)

I hope this helps.

Cheers

James

[ncc1701e]

I see. Thanks much.

[ncc1701e]

I just now had the time to fully watch your videos James. Very well done, excellent quality.

[JimboG]

Hi,

No problem at all! Thanks for the compliment!

I uploaded another one to my channel on Saturday for some fun called "Jumbo Chicken" - which is in essence a teaser for the upcoming WorldTraffic add-on for X-Plane.

Cheers

James

[ncc1701e]

Wow! I had no idea of this plugin being in the works. Simply amazing! You are correct, this is a game changer indeed!