Recording Game footage on an iMac?

ehMax · Jun 18th, 2009, 01:26 PM

I want to play a game on a Mac, and record footage of that game play, and trying to figure out the best solution.

Two I have come up with, but haven't tried out are:

- One iMac play game, and mirror video out through Mini DVI to S-Video adapter. Hook S-Video up to Canopus ADVC-55 video converter (S-Video to FireWire), then Firewire to second iMac, which record the video footage into Final Cut.

- Other idea, can a program like Snapz Pro run on the same machine that the game is playing and be powerful enough to run and capture really good frame rate?

Any other ideas? The main iMac playing game will be iMac 20" 2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4GB Ram, 256MB Video.

MrNeoStylez · Jun 18th, 2009, 01:54 PM

vnc2swf - Screen Recorder

Mac Video Screen Capture: Mac Options For Capturing A Video of Your Screen Free Mac Blog

No experience with them, but i figure you can try a few different things

ehMax · Jun 18th, 2009, 02:04 PM

Found one FAQ on Snapz Pro website.

I am having problems recording a game in full screen mode - what can I do?
Last Updated Apr 12, 2007

Snapz Pro X 2 should be able to record most games.

In the Movie settings palette, click on the disclosure triangle, and then check the Smoother (but more CPU-intensive) video capture checkbox. This setting causes Snapz Pro X 2 to directly access VRAM all of the time, which does indeed use up more CPU power, but it will allow it to record movies of games that write directly to the screen.

You normally want this option off, because it affects the performance of the video capture, but for some games, it is the only way to record from some games. Unfortunately, there is not a way for us to auto-detect when it needs to be used, so we had to put it in as a user-settable option.

You would also want to use this option to record things like the various MacOS X window animations to get the smoothest video.

If you are still unable to capture from that game, try playing in Windowed mode. Some games take over the screen completely when played in full screen mode, not allowing Snapz Pro X 2 to even draw the palette let alone capture the video.

MrNeoStylez · Jun 18th, 2009, 02:15 PM

if only FRAPS worked with MAC's

Jun 18th, 2009, 02:37 PM

Camcorder in front of the screen? That's a sure-fire way, not the best quality but you don't need special software and you won't drop frames

ehMax · Jun 18th, 2009, 02:47 PM

	Quote:			Originally Posted by mguertin
	Camcorder in front of the screen? That's a sure-fire way, not the best quality but you don't need special software and you won't drop frames

Thought about that, but hoping not to have to go that route.

MrNeoStylez · Jun 18th, 2009, 02:48 PM

play it on a PC using Fraps :P and say its a mac :P

ehMax · Jun 18th, 2009, 02:54 PM

	Quote:			Originally Posted by MrNeoStylez
	play it on a PC using Fraps :P and say its a mac :P

Could do it with bootcamp and not be lying.

No... want the real Maccoy.

MrNeoStylez · Jun 18th, 2009, 03:00 PM

DAMNIT MAX im a GAMER!!