Fraps is a video recording program that allows you to record and playback video from your PC games. The program costs about $40 to download and can be done straight from the website (see link below.) You can also try a trial version, which lets you record 15 second clips. The version used in this step by step guide was 2.9.3 and used on Windows XP. You will also want to use a video editing program to help create your movies.
Instructions
1. Install the software it on your system. The setup is just like any other Windows installation and will guide you through the process. Create a shortcut for easy access.
2. Set up the settings on the program by opening the software. Under the tab "Movies," select the folder where you want to save your movies. Make sure that you have enough space on your hard drive for these movies because they take up a lot of space. After that, choose the hotkey that you will use for turn recording on and off. It is set to F9 by default. Then, you can choose whether or not to record sound by checking or clearing the box "Record Sound." You can also choose your sound device and inputs, but it will select them by default as well.
3. Look on the right side of the "Movies" tab. You will see the "fps" selections. You can set your movies to record at 25, 30, 50, 60 or a custom fps that you can input. If your computer is not that fast, you are only going to pull the frames per second that your computer can handle. Using Fraps while recording will take up more processor usage, so your fps level will drop below what it would be without Fraps recording.
4. Load up your game. During the game you will see a number in one of the corners of your screen. When it is yellow, it displays the frames per second at which your game is running. When you press the record hotkey, it will change to red and show you how many frames per second it is recording. This number may drop dramatically depending on your computer. The movies will record at the resolution to which you set your game.
5. Know that movies can only be recorded at about five minute lengths. Fraps will automatically have the file saved once it reaches its limit and then instantly record the next file. This means that you will not have to stop recording or playing to continue your movie. When you are done recording, press the hotkey button to stop recording. When you go to the folder where your movies are saved, you will see your files. You can play them in your media player (for example, Windows Media Player) to see how they came out.
6. Know that each file takes up to four gigabytes of space. Due to this, and because movies may be split into several files, you can use a movie editor to combine and compress the files. Windows Movie Maker is an easy program to use, and it's free from Microsoft, but compressing the movies can take a very long time and will also lower the resolution of your video.
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