I can't recommend Open Broadcaster enough. Incredibly frame rate friendly, very high quality, and you can record without streaming.  The saved file size is based on the quality level.

 

I suggest Handbrake which is a free, open-source video transcoder. Quite easy to use, fast, simple, won't install bloatware.

 

https://handbrake.fr/

 

 

Dave, RockOla - thank you for you recommendations. I appreciate it. They will be included in my research.

 

Mike

I use Debut ... works great.

I use Debut ... works great.

Blimey! So many choices - I see I'm going to be busy!

 

Thanks everyone.

 

Mike

That I didn't know Mike, thanks for the heads up. We are still using FSX but might come over to the dark side in the future.

Hi,

 

No problem capturing a large video file with audio and, yes, I do start FRAPS first before P3D. The problem is absent video on playback.

 

Have had a response from the author who is suggesting a codec problem. More specifically he is suggesting that there is another codec/filter pack installed on my laptop that is trying to handle the Fraps video. He goes on to recommend I identify the codec responsible and uninstall it. Apparently codec packs like K-Lite and CCC are known to be implicated. However neither is relevant here. He points out that if using players like VLC to play back my captured videos I should be aware that this media player software has been designed to use it's own set of custom codecs, it will not use the specific codec that Fraps installs on the system.

 

He suggests I try Windows Media Player (despite my having told him that it has failed to deliver the goods) or VirtualDub which apparently will interact with the FRAPS codec directly.

 

I guess I'm up against it with no easy way out. I'll look around for a decent record and streaming tool that isn't likely to be hampered by such issues - should be fun!

 

I've turned up the following so far which seem to have earned good reviews:

Action, D3DGear and Bandicam. Bandicam may be a non-starter as it introduces substantial lag issues during capture. Otherwise it appears to perform very well.

 

Thanks for trying to help.

 

Regards,

Mike

Virtualdub is the best. I prefer bandicam to fraps because with fraps I get enormous sound synch errors and it's a pain to do anything. Most people use vlc so if you can view it in that you're ok.

I have tried many of them because my monitor is an 1440p monitor. OBS is the only that worked for me without my CPU taking too much of an hit.  AMD Raptr doesn't list Prepar3D as an application it can monitor. I ran some test this morning. Not only was the video quality was decent but I didn't notice any stuttering while playing.

Unfortunately 'ShadowPlay' is not supported by the GTX 580M. I have 2 and upgrading is not really a realistic proposition, nor do I feel it to be necessary....yet.

 

Mike

 

Hello,

 

there is a chance that you could get shadowplay to work. I once tried it on my 750M in mx MscBook Pro. There is a workaround check google.

Hello,

 

there is a chance that you could get shadowplay to work. I once tried it on my 750M in mx MscBook Pro. There is a workaround check google.

 

 

Hi MJ,

 

The workaround works a treat in that the Shadowplay control panel appears and seems to function.... up to a point:

 

However, that's as far as it goes. Sadly I am unable to record anything. Tried changing the hot key for recording as <Alt> is an issue in P3D. Still no joy.

 

For a moment there I thought fantastic, but it was not to be.....ah well, never mind.

 

Thanks anyway.

 

Mike

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Vololiberista ,fogboundturtle

 

Many thanks for your input. Your comments and suggestions have been noted.

 

I've been trying 'Open Broadcaster Software' which does work, but the video captured is very stuttery with lengthy pauses. Must be an incorrect setting somewhere. This is all pretty new to me so the learning curve is quite steep.

 

MIke

 

 

Hi MJ,

 

The workaround works a treat in that the Shadowplay control panel appears and seems to function.... up to a point:

 

 

Hello Mike,

 

did you tag the "allow desktop capture" function of shadowplay or do you have any other game running on your system? Shadowplay was designed to capture nativ full screen only but nVidia implemented the desktop feature. By default it is off so you have to switch it on to capture P3D2. See here

 

 

 

Hello Mike,

 

did you tag the "allow desktop capture" function of shadowplay or do you have any other game running on your system? Shadowplay was designed to capture nativ full screen only but nVidia implemented the desktop feature. By default it is off so you have to switch it on to capture P3D2. See here

 

Hi MJ,

 

Sadly that option is not available to me:

 

 

I guess NVIDIA have stone-walled me on this one unless, of course, they allow Shadowplay to function on older cards in the future. Probably not going to happen. However, I note it is still in Beta so you never know :Whistle:

 

Test driving ''ACTION'' by Mirillis and I must say this is showing great promise. Installed it last night (30 day free trial - fully functional) and, boy, it's so easy to use. Captured a stutter-free video within minutes of installing - very intuitive and uncomplicated - right up my street. Better not say any more until I've had time to test it further, but this could turn out to be the one. Not that expensive either.

 

Regards,

Mike

Hi,

 

I've successfully recorded a nice 15 minute video using the 30 day trial version of ACTION! Nothing fancy, just a short flight over a nice snow covered landscape demonstrating some impressive cloud formations using ORBX Weather Theme 5 and PrecipitFX rain. The 4GB+ AVI file converted to an 803MB MP4 file using the following settings in Pavtube HD Video Converter:

 

h264

1280x720 (same ratio as original 1920x1080 recording)

Medium Quality

30 FPS

 

Three questions:

 

1. Are the settings and subsequent MP4 file size reasonable if the intention is to upload to YouTube?

 

2. Am I breaching any terms of service if the video displays an advert for the ACTION! software? I presume this would be removed once I buy a licence and formally activate the product. Wading through YouTube's TOS really leaves me none the wiser.

 

 

3. Apart from mentioning that the Sim was P3D v2.4, is it necessary to mention the use of A2A's C172 Trainer, ORBX, PILOT's FS Global, REX and OldProp Solutions Inc. products all of which enhance the sim's appearance?

 

Thanks.

 

Mike