A Detailed Guide to Capturing Video Game Footage on a PC

Cover double via

Start creating video game content! Learn the basics of video game capture, and take a look at the gear and software you’ll need to pull it off.

Capturing television game footage from an external reservoir or a personal computer is a simple process, and knowing how to record video crippled footage is the first step toward starting a video recording game YouTube channel. Plus, it ’ randomness besides fun to capture footage to show off to friends .
While professional television game streamers and YouTubers have expensive setups for record, it doesn ’ t take much to start. Some software and a computer are all you need to start recording game footage from a personal computer. A television capture card is besides necessary, but only when capturing footage from an external generator, such as a game cabinet .
Before you hit the record push button, do yourself a solid and look through this guide. You don ’ t need the fastest personal computer or the best television capture card, but there are some things you should know. And, if you ’ re stumped as to which software to pick, that ’ s an easy choice that I ’ ll cover in-depth.

Whether you want to record Apex Legends clips from your personal computer or record a Breath of the Wild speedrun on the Switch, the sections below have all the information you need .
( Heads up : This guide is for capturing video bet on footage on a personal computer, sol macOS users will have to sit this one out. )

Do You Have the Right PC?

Though you may be anxious to start recording after reading this article, I ’ d be derelict if I didn ’ triiodothyronine period out that not all PCs can handle appropriate footage .
Capturing footage can impact gameplay, causing bumble ( that ’ s when the framerate drops ) and crashes. When you record video game footage, the game and the recording software are both using the CPU and the GPU, though recording software largely draws on the former .
Games rely heavily on the GPU nowadays, but they distillery need the CPU. The video recording software uses the CPU to encode the recorded gameplay as it ’ mho happening. Those with a mighty CPU may not experience a drop in performance, but those with older or not-as-powerful CPUs may experience severe framerate drops, freezes, and crashes. sometimes, not having adequate CPU office may impact the recorded footage .
When I first started recording video recording game footage on my personal computer, I didn ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate know what I was doing, so I cranked the commemorate settings angstrom army for the liberation of rwanda as they could go. The game played finely, but when I looked at the footage, it was choppy and unserviceable. rather of playing back 60fps game footage, I was watching gameplay with a framerate of about 10fps. I have a pretty good CPU, but it couldn ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate handle playing a bet on at eminent graphics settings while besides recording at soap settings. I kept the game at the same settings, but I lowered the record settings, and it worked out fine .
You ’ ll have to strike the right balance of settings and operation when you record plot footage, but some PCs may not be up to the task. If your personal computer struggles to play a game at 30 or 60fps, then recording may be out of the interrogate. I can ’ triiodothyronine offer specific advice on which parts to upgrade since it varies by system, but if you ’ re having trouble, you may want to upgrade your personal computer, or at least your CPU .
Recording television plot footage from the like personal computer where you ’ rhenium playing the game is straightforward. There ’ second no need for any extra hardware, so you can keep your wallet tucked safely in your pocket — at least for immediately. To capture footage, you ’ ll only need software, and while there are many options, each of them executes the like basic task — they record whatever is being displayed on your monitor .
I like to use the recording feature of speech built into the Radeon Software that ’ s creditworthy for managing my AMD GPU, but it ’ s not available for everyone. Those who own an NVIDIA GPU, for example, have access to the GeForce Experience software, which has a feature called Shadowplay that ’ s responsible for capturing game footage. Windows has the Xbox Game Bar for video game get, and there are many others. therefore, rather of focusing on either one, and alienating either half of the personal computer population, it ’ sulfur better to go with Open Broadcaster Software, or OBS for short .
We ’ ve covered OBS extensively, and it ’ s a software used by many popular streamers and YouTubers for a few reasons. The chief argue to use OBS, however, is that it ’ south free. besides, because of its far-flung consumption, there are countless tutorials if you need help .
The software may look intimidating, and the UI leaves much to be desired, but the software is straightforward. other capturing software can only capture footage from the lapp calculator it ’ south installed on, meaning you can ’ thyroxine use it to capture anything but what ’ s being displayed on the screen. OBS is different — it can besides capture footage from an external reference ( with the avail of a video recording capture device ) .
As previously mentioned, I use the Radeon Software to capture personal computer game footage, and while it ’ randomness convenient, it ’ s not closely deoxyadenosine monophosphate versatile as OBS. Any PC drug user can download OBS and use it for diverse reasons, and the plan doesn ’ t tax the organization deoxyadenosine monophosphate much as others. If you ’ re plan on streaming or spicing up your Zoom television prey, learning how to use this exempt software is a must .
so, to start read, download and install the software. Though the UI looks uninviting, setting up a record preset international relations and security network ’ t complicated .

1. In the bottom left corner of the software, there’s a box named Scenes. Go ahead and click the + button on the bottom of the box.
2. A box will pop up, asking you to name the scene. Just give it a recognizable name for future reference such as Game Capture.
3. To the right of the Scenes box is another box called Sources. Click the + button on that box.
4. When the menu with sources pops up, select the one titled Game Capture.
5. A Properties box will appear. Click on Mode. Select either Capture Specific Window or Capture Any Fullscreen Application. If you just want to record the game, choose the former.
6. If you choose Capture Specific Window, a new dropdown menu will appear under Mode named Window.
7. The title of the game should appear in this dropdown menu, if it’s already open. If not, open the game, then return to the Properties menu to select the game in the Window dropdown.
8. Click OK to save your settings for the source, and the video game should appear in the OBS window.
9. Click on the Start Recording button on the bottom right side of the window, and click it again to stop the recording.

Those are the basic steps to begin recording gameplay on your personal computer, but OBS is full-bodied with features that allow you to do much more. You can set up a camera and read yourself as you play, and you can set up a microphone, excessively. For more on how to set up your camera, follow our guide .
The steps for capturing footage from an external source are elementary as well, but it ’ s entirely possible with a video recording appropriate device. You ’ ll have to spend $ 100- $ 200 for a decent television capture device, but it ’ south worth it if you want to capture footage from an Xbox, PS4, Nintendo Switch ( in pier mood ), and evening next-gen consoles releasing this fall. Below is all you need to know .

Recording Video Using a Video Capture Device

Video capture devices, such as Elgato ’ s HD60 S, exist in that Goldilocks zone of capture device price — not excessively expensive, not besides cheap, and with barely the right field amount of features for the price. Elgato is the biggest player in the capture device market, but they ’ re not the merely matchless. Video capture devices are external so that you can take it with you anywhere. Say, for model, you went to a friend ’ sulfur house and wanted to record some footage, all you ’ five hundred need to bring is the capture device, a laptop, and the HDMI cables .
To start recording, you first need to do a few things. For starters, it ’ second best to download the software for the video capture device. I don ’ thymine use the Elgato software on my calculator, but I ’ ve used it before, and it ’ s perfectly fine for recording footage. The very reason why you want the software is thus that the computer can recognize the device, which is how you ’ ll be able to record footage with OBS .

Setting up the Device

With the software installed and OBS open, it ’ sulfur time to set up your video get device .

1. Plug an HDMI cable from the source’s video Output port to the Input port on the video capture device.
2. If you want to use the device as a passthrough (which you probably do), connect an HDMI cable from the capture device’s Output port to a monitor.
3. Finally, the capture device should have a port that connects it to the PC. This final cable is what communicates with the computer and the software. On the HD60 S+, for example, there is a USB-C port.

Setting up OBS

With everything properly connected, all you have to do is create a raw generator in OBS, as we did above .

1. Open OBS.
2. You can create a new scene, but you don’t have to.
3. Click the + button in the Sources box.
4. Select Video Capture Device.
5. In the Properties menu, select your video capture device in the first dropdown menu.
6. If you want the audio to pass through to the desktop so you can listen and record at the same time, select Output Desktop Audio in the Audio Output Mode dropdown located at the very bottom of the Properties box.
7. Turn on your external source, which should output video directly to OBS.
8. Click OK to save your settings and exit the Properties menu.
9. Hit the Start Recording button.

If you experience any issues, make sure all cables are connected correctly in the right ports .

Recording Video Using a Video Capture Card

Video capture cards are good, in many ways, because they ’ re installed directly onto the motherboard, which improves constancy and speeds up data transfer .
capture cards use the PCIe interface to connect to the calculator via the PCIe slot, making it the fastest means to transmit the footage to the CPU for encoding. A television capture calling card is always connected and powered, which makes the unharmed process much more comfortable, and since it fits within the computer, no excess quad is required .
once the video recording card is installed onto the motherboard, setting up is a breeze. Just connect an HDMI cable from the Source to the Input port of the television card and connect another HDMI cable from the video card ’ second Output port to a monitor to view the video coming directly from the generator .
When I ’ thousand recording footage from an external generator, such as my Genesis Mini ex post facto comfort, I play the crippled through OBS. The rotational latency from the game console to OBS is sol insignificant that I don ’ thymine feel it ’ s necessity to purchase a second monitor. If you have two screens and want to record and monitor the footage on one and play the game on another one, that ’ second ticket .
Follow the above scout to set up your video recording wag to record with OBS, as you ’ ll need to add the television capture batting order as a newfangled reservoir .

Which Settings to Tweak for Recording

typically, the settings that change resolution, frames per second, and bitrate are the most important, but everybody ’ s action is unlike.

The Output pill of the Settings menu is where you can make big and small changes to the recording serve. At the top of the Output check is a dropdown labeled Output mode that defaults to the bare choice. however, you can choose the Advanced option that provides a batch more settings .
For most people, the Basic option is the best, and this where you can select the recording path of the file — i, where the charge saves to once the read is finished. You can besides make changes to the file type and the recording quality .
The Advanced pill is where you can delve into the minutia of the recording process, but I tend to stay away from most settings. While most of the Advanced pill settings hurt my genius, it ’ mho worth knowing about bitrate, solution, and framerate because they make the biggest impact. once you understand the concept, it ’ sulfur easier to make changes .

Bitrate

The one thing that I do recommend change is the bitrate, which you can do in the dropdown labeled Target Bitrate. Bitrate affects the quality of the television. Recording a video recording in HD with low bitrate can create a miss of color and a loss in acuteness. Setting the bitrate excessively high incrementally improves the video quality at the cost of file size. It ’ s a reconciliation act, pitting quality against memory .
I played Hyper Scape the other day, a new Battle Royale plot from Ubisoft that ’ s presently in assailable beta, and I recorded my gameplay at three different bitrates : 10, 20, and 30Mbps .
At 10Mbps, the timbre of the footage was a lot better than I expected. The deviation in quality was noticeable, particularly between 10 and 30Mbps, but not so much that it was like night and day. If anything, it was more like sunrise and click .

After seeing all the footage and comparison, I ’ ve made the realization that 10Mbps is more than enough. Recording at a lower bitrate keeps file sizes gloomy, without sacrificing besides much quality .
I compared two of the video recording, which were both twenty minutes long and recorded with the same settings, except the target bitrate. The 10Mbps video had a file size of 1.41GB, while the 30Mbps television was more than twice as big at 4.21GB. certain, the 30Mbps video may look slenderly good, but the difference in quality doesn ’ thymine warrant the massive file size, particularly in the long-run as video game files accrue on your hard drive .
I recommend starting at 10Mbps, and, if you feel like it lacks timbre, make incremental changes until you find the sweet spot. YouTube recommends a bitrate of between 8 and 12Mbps for uploading 1080p files. There ’ sulfur no motivation to record video recording with a bitrate of 30Mbps if you ’ re entirely going to downscale the bitrate to 10Mbps when you export to YouTube .
Another bitrate-related mount worth considering is whether to choose between ceaseless bitrate ( CBR ) or variable bitrate ( VBR ) encoding under the Rate Control Method set. constant bitrate is more stable, but according to Encoding.com, it “ limits the visualize choice in most cases. ” however, variable bitrate encoding “ allocates a higher bitrate to the more complex segments of media files and lower bitrates to the simple segments. ”

Resolution and Framerate

For resolution, I tend to record at 1080p because it ’ s the standard these days. If your personal computer struggles with gambling and recording simultaneously, it might be better to step down the recording resolution to 720p. Those with beefy PCs may want to record at 4K, but that ’ s unnecessary unless the game is being played at 4K resolution .
even then, recording, editing, and uploading 4K footage is a different animal all in all, and, in my opinion, it ’ second barely not worth it. The percentage of people who can watch 4K footage is growing every year, but it ’ south still a smaller consultation compared to 1080p .
Regarding framerate, you may have heard that 24fps is the standard for film because it more close resembles how the human center perceives movement, and I agree, but recording crippled footage is different .
The gold standard for personal computer games, these days, is 60fps, though personal computer gaming snobs will tell you that numeral is closer to 144fps. The truth is that the human eye stops noticing after a certain framerate, and 60fps provides equitable adequate frames per second to make gameplay appear satiny, buttery smooth .
When you ’ re recording crippled footage, go with 60fps if you ’ ra playing a plot at 60fps. If anything, you can always insert the 60fps recorded video recording into a 24 or 30fps editing timeline, but make certain you don ’ t incidentally slow down the footage. And, if your computer struggles with play and commemorate at 60fps, change some gorge around or lower the recording framerate to match gameplay .
I recorded the Hyper Scape gameplay above at 1080p 60fps, and I exported with the same settings. With a higher framerate, the gameplay looked politic, even when running, sliding, shooting, and rise. Setting the framerate lower would ’ ve created besides much blur, which would ’ ve resulted in bleary, choppy video. You ’ ll comment that there are some dropped frames in the television, but that ’ randomness because the game is in beta distillery and had nothing to do with the record process .

Streaming to Twitch via OBS

Setting up a basic stream won ’ t take long if you ’ ve already set up a recording fit in OBS. Follow the steps above to create a picture and add sources. Everything is the lapp except, rather of hitting the record button, you ’ ll snap on the Start Streaming button .
Before you start streaming, you ’ ll need to create an report on Twitch and create a profile. Once you ’ re done, heading back to OBS and open up the Settings menu to link Twitch to OBS. In the Settings menu, open up the Stream tab, and blue-ribbon Twitch in the Service dropdown. Back on Twitch, open the Creator Dashboard and click on Channel, which is located under preferences. There, you ’ ll find your stream key, which you ’ ll necessitate to copy/paste into the Stream Key box in the Stream check of the OBS settings menu .
The stream key connects OBS directly to your Twitch bill, indeed when you click on Start Streaming, your setting on OBS will appear on Twitch .

What You Need to Know About Bitrate for Twitch

There are not as many settings to tweak on OBS when it comes to streaming, but you ’ ll want to pay attention to bitrate. Twitch recommends not exceeding 6000Kbps because it ’ s besides high and may prevent viewers with slower internet connections from watching your current. Rather than alienating viewers, it ’ second best to set a lower bitrate .
Twitch says that for non-gaming channels streaming with a resolution of 720p, it ’ s potential to set a bitrate of 1500Kbps without impacting double quality. To stream games at 1080p, however, Twitch suggests setting the bitrate starting at 4500Kpbs, but you can increase the bitrate, if necessary, to improve video recording timbre .
Something else you should know about bitrate is whether to set the rate restraint method to constant bitrate or variable bitrate. Twitch recommends using CBR, which, as the mention suggests, maintains a changeless bitrate throughout the stream. Twitch says that setting a variable star bitrate drops the visualize quality during slower portions of the flow, such as when the game is paused. In the end, selecting the rate control method is up to you, but Twitch knows what they ’ re talking about. It is, after all, their platform .
To change the bitrate and rate see method acting, head to the Output tab of the Settings menu and click on the Streaming yellow journalism. Select the Advanced choice in Output Mode to specify bitrate and rate control .
Stay tuned in the approach weeks for a deep dive into streaming. We ’ ll go over PC hardware for an ideal stream, accessories, and how to improve on a basic stream .

Download OBS and Record

Recording gameplay and using OBS is nothing excessively hard, but the best way to learn is by doing. Play around with the software and record any gameplay. You ’ ll finally settle on the ideal apparatus for your system. Remember, you don ’ t need the best personal computer on the market to start recording television plot footage, but there ’ s constantly room for improvement.

If you feel like your calculator could use an upgrade to record and play video games, possibly it ’ s time to start looking at parts. You don ’ t have to build a raw personal computer to record television game footage, but a new CPU or more RAM can ’ t suffering. Check out our personal computer parts guide to get up to speed on the latest hardware .
As you accumulate television game recordings, you ’ ll want to edit the video and upload them to YouTube. It ’ s entirely natural. But rather of relying on the crippled ’ south sound recording, why not set a music track in the background to set the tone ? PremiumBeat has a short ton of royalty-free music for all kinds of creators and projects — we even have a playlist created specifically for video recording game contented .
Cover image via Gorodenkoff .

source : https://meopari.com
Category : How To