[tutorial] Best way to record BFH

Hello,

I spent 4 hours yesterday to set-up recording the game, so I wanted to make this tutorial to help others do it much more quickly. To any Fraps users out there wondering why bother, recording according to this tutorial will get you no fraps lag whatsoever, 20 times smaller files and ability to record mic audio in a separate track for live commentaries. I will post all the download links at the end of the tutorial.

For recording, use the program Dxtory. It is a paid program, with a free trial that will suffice for recording hackers etc. If you're planning to record a lot, it is well worth buying.

First thing in the program you should set-up your recording location in the "folder" tab, here's how mine is set-up:

You can test the speed of the hard drive your recording folder is in by clicking the benchmark button in front of the folder. With Fraps you need about 140 MB/s speed to record in 1080p. but with Dxtory and the right codec, I could record 4k resolution on my modest HD. Nothing else interesting here, so let's move on to the "movie" tab.

Movie tab is where most of the crucial settings are located. We want to use the x264 codec which will allow compression of the files using x264. With fraps a 2 minute file in 1080p and 30 fps takes about 10 GB, with the x264 codec it takes 200 MB. The x264vfw codec doesn't come with Dxtory, but I will put download link along with instructions how to install it at the end of the tutorial.

Along with the codec setting, you can set the resolution you want to record in, either relative to your monitor/game resolution (percentage setting) or as a set pixel size. So, for example, if you want to play at 1080p, but record in 720p to save disk space and have faster upload to youtube, you can do it here. You can also set the framerate of the recording. I recommend using 30 fps if you will be uploading to youtube, as that is what youtube shows videos in, even if you recorded at 60 or more fps. If you want to do slow-motion in a video editing software later on, feel free to use higher fps.

Here's how my settings look like:

Then the x264 codec settings themselves, accessed by the pen icon next to the codec selection. These took me the most time to figure out, as with the default settings, pushing record dropped my in-game framerate to 20 or so. With my new settings, I can play at steady 100 fps while recording. I suggest you just copy my settings, unless you really know what you're doing. Only thing you should change is the circled out threads number. Set this to the amount of threads your processor can handle. ie. 4 for an intel i5 and 8 for an i7.

EDIT: I found a fix to sluggish performance on Sony Vegas Pro with videos done this way. Add "--keyint 1" without the quotes to the extra options box.

The last thing we'll look at is the sound panel. I haven't done much here myself, other than changed the format Dxtory records in to MP3 (again, to keep file sizes smaller). But here you can add more sound sources that will be then recorded to their separate tracks. So, for example, you'd want to live commentary, you would click on the green plus symbol and add your mic there. The fact you can record it separately from game audio is great, as you can then change levels later. Say your commentary is close to inaudible and game audio is on blasting high, you can fix that, unlike with fraps, where there's nothing you can do. Or you can mute yourself for a second without affecting the game audio, if you say something really stupid or make a weird noise.

Here's what the sound panel looks like:

Download links

Dxtory: http://exkode.com/dxtory-downloads-en.html

x264 codec: http://komisar.gin.by/

You want the x86 vfw version, even if you have 64 bit operating system. Just install the codec, and then start dxtory and the codec will be available in the drop-down menu. CLI-version will not work.

LAME MP3 encoder (allows to record audio in compressed mp3 format):

http://www.free-codecs.com/download/lame_acm_codec.htm

Installation is straightforward for 32 bit systems. For 64 bit Windows, read the txt instructions inside the rar file or search for "lame acm install" on youtube for a video instruction. Once you've installed it, start Dxtory and the codec will be available in the sound panel.

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