Free Recording Gameplay Programs

Hi everyone,

Thought I'd do a really quick video to go over how to record your gameplay. Why record your gameplay? Well, even if you don't want to post to YouTube or whatever, you can use it on a personal level to review your games, which can help you spot issues you have and work to improve them.

There are many recording options, some paid and some free. Personally, I find the free options more than adequate for my simple needs. You can watch the below video as a brief overview of 2 free recording programs, or you can continue on further with more specific details, as well as some options for the next step, video editing.




Some of the main things you'll want to customize when you load up a program include the following:

• Save Location: This is a duh, but make sure you know where the files will be stored. If you work off of multiple drives, you may have preferences for drive used.
  
  
• Hotkeys / Recording Type: Some programs can be set to automatically start recording anytime you're in a game. I personally find this a poor option, because it takes up a lot of space very quickly with non-actual gameplay, but if you're forgetful, this can be convenient. I prefer to use manual start/stop recording with a hotkey combo.
  
  
• Resolution: Unless you're extremely picky, your best choices are likely either 720p or 1080p...either will provide a generally sharp video. Keep in mind that higher resolutions mean larger files.
  
  
• Frame Rate / FPS: some programs give you options to record at various frame rates. YouTube supports up to 60 FPS. Higher FPS means larger files. Also...if you do choose 60 FPS, make sure that your computer is running your game at 60 FPS or higher, otherwise it's a bit pointless.
  
  
• Bitrate: Basically, it's the amount of info stored per unit of time. This, along with resolution and FPS, plays a role in both the quality and size of a video. Thus, it's important to choose a high enough bitrate so you don't degrade the video quality, but low enough so you're not taking up 100 GB with a 30 minute video =)
  
  Here are YouTube suggestions. However, I think that 1080p @ 60 FPS should be set to at least 20 Mbps for higher quality. For 720p @ 30 FPS, I've read as low as 2.5 Mbps, up to 10. YMMV...and keep in mind that if you're doing streaming, the individual streaming programs have their own limits, which are often quite low.

Free Recording Programs

• GeForce Experience: it's the one I currently use. This is one where, obviously as far as I know, can only be used if you have an NVIDIA graphics card.
  
  
• Plays.TV is another option that I've used in the past. It's tied somewhat into Raptr but should work standalone.
  
  
• OBS Studio has been used by Bernardozomer. I don't know anything about it, but check it out.

Video Editing Programs

If you want to handle editing (cutting video, etc.), you usually need some software for that as well. I barely touch this aspect, being very lazy with my videos these days, but it can be nice to cut out unnecessary/dead space (like, after dying and waiting to respawn).

• I use Windows Movie Maker.
  
  
• Bernardo uses Wondershare Filmora. Other suggestions from him are Media Composer | First and DaVinci Resolve.
  
  
• If you're a Mac user, you're on your own, though I think iMovie should work just fine. It's free for newer Macs. Final Cut Pro is another general option (but is $300!!!).
  
  
• And, if you've never messed with it, YouTube has their own editor that you can use after you've fully uploaded your video.
  
  Anyway, hope this is helpful!

You rock, Bran!

Really helpful for those starting out

I'm going to be playing around with the build in GeForce one today, now that I have my new computer.

I used to use Action! to record, and it worked really well. Amazing recording and was easy on my outdated graphics card. It's paid, but worth it.

OBS Studio (free) is a great progam to record your screen too.

Talking about video editing, I personally like to use Wondershare Filmor, but I hear that Avid First is pretty good too. Da Vinci Resolve is also a good option.

@Authorize/Bern, thanks!

FYI added some further information to the original post.

OBS is one of the most used programms I believe specially for streaming