Recording & Editing Gameplay

[Cre]

This guide will serve the purpose of educating new players, or those that are unaware, about the benefits of recording your gameplay of Asylum Altis Life. Throughout this guide I will recommend software, and configuration settings, from my own opinion and experience of recording gameplay here on Asylum. All links to the software recommended in this guide have been provided.

Spoiler

During your time on Asylum you will encounter people that will break the server rules. You may become involved in a situation where another player is accusing you of a rule break, and is threatening to report you. This is why recording is important!

Player reporting, exploit/bug reporting, ban appeals, and internal affair reports all go a lot more smoothly when you have some evidence to provide. Sufficient evidence for player reporting can be found here!

It's not all doom and gloom when it comes to recording, thankfully, and many people put their ability to record footage to other good uses. You can find many videos from Asylum players here on the forums. So why not join in with the many montages, and several "Arma 3 physics™" videos posted here?

Spoiler

Everyone has their reasons for the software they use, be it personal preference or hardware restrictions, I will list a few pieces of recording software that I have used along with my opinion on them. I personally use AMD Gaming Evolved - Plays.tv.

Nvidia Shadowplay:

Spoiler

My second graphics card was an Nivida GTX 760 and I discovered the wonder that was Shadowplay a few months after buying the card. Shadowplay, in my opinion, is the best and most simple of recording software. Setting up Shadowplay took me less than a minute and the results were great. I never experienced any drastic frame drops, and I never experienced any performance issues when running it. If I could still use Shadowplay then I absolutely would.

• +1: Great interface, simple to setup, never noticed it running in the background, the footage was always good quality.
• -1: Only available to Nvidia cards (GTX 650 and above)

A note regarding Shadowplay by Slittcer:

15 minutes ago, Slittcer said:

http://www.geforce.com/geforce-experience/gfe-beta

Get Nvidia share beta. Basically what's replacing Shadowplay very soon. Instead of everything being done from the experience panel, you use an in-game overlay that allows you to watch, edit and upload clips that you saved through "Share" directly from the overlay. Nice for quickly uploading a video while you're in-game. Editing part doesn't give you much other than trimming and editing title name but that's usually all I need for my videos.

RAPTR: AMD Gaming Evolved - Plays.tv:

Spoiler

When buying my latest graphics card I worried what I would do as an alternative for Shadowplay, but plays turned out to be quite the surprise. While it does not have as friendly of a GUI as Shadowplay does it certainly rivals Shadowplay under the hood. Much like Shadowplay I have not experienced any frame, or performance, issues while recording. The one thing I am disappointed about with Plays is the inability to configure recording settings while in-game.

• +1: No impact on games or performance, footage is good quality.
• -1: Interface isn't great, cannot change settings while in-game, audio/video sometimes lose sync due to container(.mp4)

Open Broadcaster Software (OBS):

Spoiler

I have attempted to use OBS a few times for local recording, and streaming, and have not had a great experience with it. While others have managed to fine tune their settings, I have been the one crawling many forum posts to find what setting I was missing. OBS often liked to drop the frames of the game I was recording. When OBS did work for me the quality of the video was always up to my vain standards.

• +1: Not hardware restricted, free & open source, footage is good quality.
• -1: The GUI burns my eyeballs, it's not the most compatible with AMD cards, requires some fine-tunning for local recording, often liked to stop responding.

Xsplit:

Spoiler

Way back when I had an XSplit licence I attempted to use the software for both recording and streaming, and I found it good for streaming over recording. XSplit always disliked local recording for me, and would often impact the performance of the game that I was attempting to record. Once OBS came around I quickly made the switch to it, and forgot about XSplit entirely.

• +1: Nice interface, decent quality.
• -1: Requires buying a licence, often impacted game performance.

 

Spoiler

Much like the section above I will be detailing software that I have used for editing my footage. I use both of the pieces of software I have listed below, as they are both exceptionally useful.

Adobe Premiere Pro:

Spoiler

When I was first searching for a good video editing package I was selecting between After Effects and Sony Vegas. And yes, before it is pointed out, After Effects is not good for general video editing, which I soon found out! For a while I attempted to use Sony Vegas, which worked well, but I disliked the UI and how difficult it was, at times, to find certain options. A friend introduced me to Premiere Pro and I have been using it since. Premiere Pro is easy to use, it has a friendly UI, and the many presets that are included are more than perfect for the kind of work I do.

• +1: Great interface, easy to use, many presets for several things, the result is always good, useful for making gifs
• -1: Need to buy a licence (), not always useful for quickly cutting a long video.

Handbrake:

Spoiler

Originally when I started using handbrake it was to sync the audio and video of my footage from plays. The desync occured due to the mp4 container that plays uses, and handbrake easily resolved this by rendering the video in a constant framerate instead of a variable framerate. When I started to use Handbrake more and more I discovered it was conventional for very quick cutting and rendering. It's as simple as selecting a video, putting in the start and end time, then render the video. Because I record 14 minutes of footage at a time Handbrake became very useful for cutting those 5 minute RDM videos.

• +1: Free, easy to use, good interface, very good for quick cutting, good amount of options to choose from when rendering.
• -1: Can be a touch confusing to begin with.

 

Spoiler

In this section I will be detailing the options and settings I selected for both Shadowplay and Plays.tv. Most of these options and universal between the applications that I have listed above, but may require some fine tuning for your rig.

RAPTR: AMD Gaming Evolved - Plays.tv:

Spoiler

Plays.tv Window:

Spoiler

• Highlight Clips: On
• Session Video: Off
• Capture highlight keybind: Alt + F9 (This can be changed in options > hotkeys)

General Tab:

Spoiler

• Length of recording: 14 Minutes (I use anywhere between 10-20, but anything 15+ on Plays.tv turns into 720p, and I'm very vain about my 1080p. So 14 it is!)
• Total Storage Space: I left this as default, this is used for if you want Plays to start recording any session of game you start, which I personally do not want.
• Enable webcam: Off - Enable Microphone: On (100%) - Enable game sounds: On (100%) - I should note that Plays will record your default microphone device, which you can change in your windows sound options.

Quality Tab:

Spoiler

• Preset: Custom
• Max Bitrate: 50 Mb/s (Higher bitrate = Higher quality and larger file sizes. Lower bitrate = Lower quality and lower file sizes. 50 Mb/s is the max, and as mentioned before I am very vain about quality.)
• Max Framerate: 60 fps (Who doesn't like 60 fps?)
• Max Video Resolution: 1080p (Who also doesn't like 1080p?)
• Optimize videos for upload and sharing: Enabled

Folders Tab:

Spoiler

• Game Video Recording Directory: My AMD Gaming Evolved application is on my SSD (C:), but I record to my HDD (E:)
• Temporary Game Video Directory: Same answer as above.

 

Nvidia Shadowplay:

Spoiler

• Mode: Manual and Shadow
• Shadow time: 15 minutes (I use anywhere between 10-20)
• Quality: Custom - Resolution: 1080p, Frame rate: 60 fps, Bit rate: 50 Mb/s (Higher bitrate = Higher quality and larger file sizes. Lower bitrate = Lower quality and lower file sizes. 50 Mb/s is the max, and as mentioned before I am very vain about quality.)
• Audio: In-game and microphone
• Allow desktop capture: Enabled (You can find this option in the Nvidia GeForce Experience preferences tab. Very useful setting, I recommend enabling it. It will record your desktop if you alt-tab, if that is something that bothers you.)

Spoiler

Handbrake:

Spoiler

Video Tab:

Spoiler

• Video Codec: H.264
• Framerate (FPS): Same as Source - Constant Framerate (This helps fix any audio/video desync from containers like .mp4)
• x264 Preset: Very Fast
• The other x264 settings can be changed as you desire, I leave them as default.
• Quality: Constant Quality - 20
• Avg Bitrate: N/A

Cutting your footage:

Spoiler

• Watch your footage and mark down your start time, and your end time.
• Open the footage into Handbrake by clicking "Source" in the top left, and selecting the "File" option.
• The dropdown marked "Chapters" by default, change it to "Seconds"
• Enter your start time in the first text box, and your end time in the second text box.
• Choose the output location for your video under "Destination"
• Set Container to MP4
• Confirm the duration of your timestamps, and confirm you have made all the correct adjustments to your video tab setting.
• Click "Start". Rendering time will depend on the length of footage, and the options you have chosen.

 

Adobe Premiere Pro:

Spoiler

Cutting your footage:

Spoiler

• Create a new project with the default setting.
• Drag your footage into the Timeline and make your required cuts using the Razor Tool (Shortcut key: C) - (I will not be going into a tutorial on how to use Premiere, as I may give anyone who uses Premiere in their career a heart attack from how terrible I am. Google and Youtube are great resources for learning the basics)
• Watch your edited footage through to ensure you have made the correct cuts.

Settings and Exporting:

Spoiler

• Go to File > Export > Media
• Match Sequence Settings: Untick
• Format: H.264
• Preset: Youtube 1080p HD
• Export Video: Enabled, Export Audio: Enabled
• Width: 1920
• Height: 1080
• Frame Rate: 60 (This can be changed by unticking the box at the right hand side)
• Field Order: Progressive
• Aspect: Square Pixels (1.0)
• TV Standard: NTSC
• Profile: High
• Level: 4.2 or 5.0 (I commonly stick to 4.2)
• Render at Maximum Depth: Enabled
• Bitrate Encording: VBR, 1 pass
• Target Bitrate: 16
• Maximum Bitrate: 16
• Use Maximum Render Quality: Enabled

A note regarding Adobe Premiere Pro by Buckwalter:

1 hour ago, Buckwalter said:

If I can make one suggestion, for premiere, beginners would probably have an easier time working with clips in the source palette and then inserting into the timeline pre trimmed. Also using Adobe Media Encoder presets is definitely easier for someone who doesn't have much experience with encoding. 

 

Quote

12/02/2016 (DD/MM/YYYY):

• Guide created.
• Post regarding Premiere Pro by Buckwalter added to OP.
• Post regarding Shadowplay by Slittcer added to OP.

 

Edited February 12, 2016 by Creic

[Jaylen Sarrett]

+1 very nice guide.

i use videopad video editor/shadowplay, it's decent for both editing and exporting, will export videos straight to youtube, you can uninstall and
reinstall when the free trial ends, and you can do this over and over...

that gets kind of annoying though, i might try out handbrake.

Heres a link to videopad if anyones interested

http://www.nchsoftware.com/videopad/

 

Edited February 12, 2016 by Jaylen Sarrett

[CyanogenCX]

Great guide for beginners! A recommendation I have if you want to use a great, free, simple program, use Freemake Video Converter. 

It allows you to crop videos easily, join them, introduce transitions, all sort of stuff just by clicking a few buttons. The UI is very friendly, and it is easy to pick up.

I HIGHLY recommend it if you only need simple video editing and no fancy stuff. Combining it with audacity etc makes it easy to make montages.

Here is a picture of all the formats you can convert your video to. Along with cropping and joining videos, you can also easily change the settings you want your video to have:

Edited February 12, 2016 by CyanogenCX

[Buckwalter]

Nice guide. If I can make one suggestion, for premiere, beginners would probably have an easier time working with clips in the source palette and then inserting into the timeline pre trimmed. Also using Adobe Media Encoder presets is definitely easier for someone who doesn't have much experience with encoding. 

Just something to consider adding. Anyway great guide man. 

[Cre]

Just now, Buckwalter said:

Nice guide. If I can make one suggestion, for premiere, beginners would probably have an easier time working with clips in the source palette and then inserting into the timeline pre trimmed. Also using Adobe Media Encoder presets is definitely easier for someone who doesn't have much experience with encoding. 

Just something to consider adding. Anyway great guide man. 

I shall add this in, thank you!

Edited February 12, 2016 by Creic

[The Boss]

Needed a new recording program.

Decided to try out Plays.tv

Only thing is mine looks much different from yours.

hmmmmm

 

[Cre]

1 minute ago, The Boss said:

Needed a new recording program.

Decided to try out Plays.tv

Only thing is mine looks much different from yours.

hmmmmm

 

Indeed! All references to Plays.tv in my post are written as "AMD Evolved Gaming - Plays.tv" As the version of plays that I use came with my graphics card software package. All the options suggested in my post, however, should be universal to all versions of Plays.tv. If you have any questions specifically about the version of Plays you're using then I'll be glad to assist!

Edited February 12, 2016 by Creic

[The Boss]

1 minute ago, Creic said:

Indeed! All references to Plays.tv in my post are written as "AMD Evolved Gaming - Plays.tv" As the version of plays that I use came with my graphics card software package. All the options suggested in my post, however, should be universal to all versions of Plays.tv. If you have any questions specifically about the version of Plays you're using then I'll be glad to assist!

What's the difference between "My Session video" and "Video capture" that you can see in my last SS?

Edited February 12, 2016 by The Boss

[Cre]

Just now, The Boss said:

What's the difference between "My Session video" and Video capture?

Session video is a feature that will automatically begin recording your gameplay when Plays detects that you have opened a game. Video capture, like Shadowplay, will record in the background and highlight 10 minutes of the gameplay when you press your chosen keybind.

[The Boss]

Just now, Creic said:

Session video is a feature that will automatically begin recording your gameplay when Plays detects that you have opened a game. Video capture, like Shadowplay, will record in the background and highlight 10 minutes of the gameplay when you press your chosen keybind.

So it will record in the background, but will not save the 10m of play unless I press the keybind (such as when I get rdm'd vdm'd ect) ?

[Cre]

Just now, The Boss said:

So it will record in the background, but will not save the 10m of play unless I press the keybind (such as when I get rdm'd vdm'd ect) ?

Correct. To save your footage you must press the keybind. If you get RDM'd/VDM'd then press the keybind once you are dead and you have the 10 minutes leading up to, and including, the RDM/VDM.

Edit:

Also, to add, the version of Plays.tv I am using comes with Raptr. If you want the specific version that I have shown in the guide above you can find it here: http://raptr.com/download - But all options should be universal across all version of Plays, as mentioned.

Edited February 12, 2016 by Creic

[The Boss]

Just now, Creic said:

Correct. To save your footage you must press the keybind. If you get RDM'd/VDM'd then press the keybind once you are dead and you have the 10 minutes leading up to, and including, the RDM/VDM.

Sounds awesome, always hated having 2 hours of nothing to edit out for a 5m clip.

Sorry for all the questions, I just wanted to make sure I had it set up correctly. I previously used OBS, but it impacted my FPS too much to reasonably use it at any sort of high quality. 

I'll let you know how it works. Thank you!

[The Boss]

1 minute ago, Creic said:

 

Edit:

Also, to add, the version of Plays.tv I am using comes with Raptr. If you want the specific version that I have shown in the guide above you can find it here: http://raptr.com/download - But all options should be universal across all version of Plays, as mentioned.

I'll just use the one I already downloaded, was just curious if you had a more recent or up to date version because it looked so different

[Cre]

3 minutes ago, The Boss said:

Sounds awesome, always hated having 2 hours of nothing to edit out for a 5m clip.

Sorry for all the questions, I just wanted to make sure I had it set up correctly. I previously used OBS, but it impacted my FPS too much to reasonably use it at any sort of high quality. 

I'll let you know how it works. Thank you!

 

2 minutes ago, The Boss said:

I'll just use the one I already downloaded, was just curious if you had a more recent or up to date version because it looked so different

Good luck! If you have any trouble with the version you downloaded then I'd suggest the raptr version as an alternative (Raptr version allows up to 20 minutes of recording time). If there is anything else you are curious about then feel free to drop another post or PM.

You can also manually record with plays using ctrl + ;

Edited February 12, 2016 by Creic

[The Boss]

Just now, Creic said:

 

Good luck! If you have any trouble with the version you downloaded then I'd suggest the raptr version as an alternative. If there is anything else you are curious about then feel free to drop another post or PM.

This might be a stupid question, as I don't have much knowledge of video capturing and editing other than the basics. 

Would OC'ing my GPU allow me to capture at higher bit rates, or does it rely more on the CPU?

 

EDIT:

I only ask because my cpu is locked, and won't allow me to OC it.

Edited February 12, 2016 by The Boss

[Cre]

17 minutes ago, The Boss said:

This might be a stupid question, as I don't have much knowledge of video capturing and editing other than the basics. 

Would OC'ing my GPU allow me to capture at higher bit rates, or does it rely more on the CPU?

 

EDIT:

I only ask because my cpu is locked, and won't allow me to OC it.

I believe it relys more on the CPU. The best thing you can do is to play around with the software and find what bitrate balances the best between a good recording and no performance impact. I was getting great recordings (in Arma and WoW) with an i5-2500 (not a K, was also locked at 3.3 but managed higher with hyper-threading) and a GTX 760 (no OC) at 50 Mbps. I made an edit to my previous post with some more information just in-case you missed it, if you already knew... then, fantastic!

Edited February 12, 2016 by Creic

[Slittcer]

http://www.geforce.com/geforce-experience/gfe-beta

Get Nvidia share beta. Basically what's replacing Shadowplay very soon. Instead of everything being done from the experience panel, you use an in-game overlay that allows you to watch, edit and upload clips that you saved through "Share" directly from the overlay. Nice for quickly uploading a video while you're in-game. Editing part doesn't give you much other than trimming and editing title name but that's usually all I need for my videos.

[Cre]

Just now, Slittcer said:

http://www.geforce.com/geforce-experience/gfe-beta

Get Nvidia share beta. Basically what's replacing Shadowplay very soon. Instead of everything being done from the experience panel, you use an in-game overlay that allows you to watch, edit and upload clips that you saved through "Share" directly from the overlay. Nice for quickly uploading a video while you're in-game. Editing part doesn't give you much other than trimming and editing title name but that's usually all I need for my videos.

This shall also be added to the OP!

[The Boss]

After playing for a few hours, Plays.tv has much less fps impact (basically none) and the quality is a thousand times better then OBS.

[Cre]

Just now, The Boss said:

After playing for a few hours, Plays.tv has much less fps impact (basically none) and the quality is a thousand times better then OBS.

Enjoy, friend!

[Poltergeist]

This is a good guide. Good job, idiot.

 

Have a photo of Stratis, OG stratis, before it all went to hell.

[The Boss]

Is it possible with plays.tv to only record my mic when i press a hotkey? I couldn't find anything in the settings so I figured it couldn't hurt to ask.

Don't want the community to hear me wacking it during bank

[Cre]

Just now, The Boss said:

Is it possible with plays.tv to only record my mic when i press a hotkey? I couldn't find anything in the settings so I figured it couldn't hurt to ask.

Don't want the community to hear me wacking it during bank

Only option available is a keybind to mute your microphone, but it is a toggle not a push-to-talk. So to answer it simply: No, there is no PTT for Plays unfortunately.

[Bolton]

Definitely a good topic to cover, considering how often and how useful recording is on these servers. Sadly, despite it being roleplay, and despite there being whitelisted slots, it seems as if we can RARELY trust anyone these days. IE when yer own brothers try to get you on stuff you didn't do. SMH.

[Zens]

I've been recording gameplay for a long time and I used to have many of the same issues you had. A friend introduced me to a software called "Snagit". It has a built-in editor and it is easy to trim and apply a few effects to your videos if you want to. It doesn't take up too much memory, and I've accidentally left it running for 30 hours at a time and it takes no more than 2 minutes to process that much film.

 

It does cost money, but the free trial lets you keep renewing it a few times to get up to a year and a half of free usage, and just google "Snagit cracked code" and it's easy to find codes for PAID snagit.

 

I've been using a cracked code for about a year now and snagit is by far the best recording choice if you want something simple.

 

Hope I helped someone at least

(P.S., you need to make your Arma display settings on "Fullscreen Window" instead of "Fullscreen" if you want Snagit to record it, otherwise it'll just record your desktop.)