GeForce Share for recording machinima

[Friday Siamendes]

Have any SL machinima makers used Nvidia's GeForce Share feature (formerly Shadowplay) for recording? Share is designed to record high-motion gameplay at 4K with minimal impact on fps.

Add-on software like Fraps, Movavi, Screenflick etc. can produce seriously jerky recording at resolutions above 1080. Better recording utilities could bolster SL's viability as an animation/movie platform. 

Please share any experiences with GeForce Share - thanks!

 

[Chic Aeon]

I turned off all the GeForce add ins as they were hampering other parts of my system so cannot report on that. 

I can say that I have been using Fraps for  seven years with no issues typically recording (from way back then even) at 1600. Of course one needs to have decent fps rates on the SIMS before recording no matter what screen capture software you use.

I will say that while Flashback Express is great for recording tutorials from software programs (Blender for me) it will NOT do a good job inworld as its top recording speed is 10fps. So very limited on what it can record smoothly. 

Happy that Share is working well for you though and hopefully for others.

[Friday Siamendes]

30 minutes ago, Chic Aeon said:

I turned off all the GeForce add ins as they were hampering other parts of my system so cannot report on that. 

I can say that I have been using Fraps for  seven years with no issues typically recording (from way back then even) at 1600. Of course one needs to have decent fps rates on the SIMS before recording no matter what screen capture software you use.

I will say that while Flashback Express is great for recording tutorials from software programs (Blender for me) it will NOT do a good job inworld as its top recording speed is 10fps. So very limited on what it can record smoothly. 

Happy that Share is working well for you though and hopefully for others.

I also used Fraps extensively without problems at 1080. It's encouraging that Fraps gives you good results at 1600. I have talked to a couple Fraps users who get jerkiness as they raise resolutions. System differences and SL settings can play a role too. And yes, as you say sim performance has to be good in the first place. 

My Mac recorders, like most screen recorders, don't offer the low-render settings that reduce the Fraps system load while recording (although the Fraps codec produces huge raw files). I could upgrade my old custom PC and return to Win/Fraps/Share, but only if the effort and $$$ deliver a high-res solution. 

There's always iClone/Daz and Blender, with no recording overlay to worry about - but I hate learning curves!

Thank you Chic!

[Chic Aeon]

Agreed that systems can make a huge difference. While I have a fairly hefty (over a year old now so certainly not the newest and brightest) I have had good results on lesser machines with Fraps. You CAN set your recording speed within FRAPS so that could be someone's problem. You can't actually record much of anything below 15fps but you CAN play with your own viewer settings to get the FPS up (like lowering draw distance for example). 

Here are my current computer specs for anyone that might be wondering  -- now or in the future :D.

 

Firestorm 5.0.1 (52150) Dec 10 2016 14:44:37 (Firestorm-Releasex64) with OpenSimulator support
Release Notes

Release Notes

CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-5820K CPU @ 3.30GHz (3298.07 MHz)
Memory: 16286 MB
OS Version: Microsoft Windows 10 64-bit (Build 14393)
Graphics Card Vendor: NVIDIA Corporation
Graphics Card: GeForce GTX 980/PCIe/SSE2

Windows Graphics Driver Version: 21.21.0013.7653
OpenGL Version: 4.5.0 NVIDIA 376.53

RestrainedLove API: (disabled)
libcurl Version: libcurl/7.47.0 OpenSSL/1.0.1i zlib/1.2.8
J2C Decoder Version: KDU v7.8
Audio Driver Version: FMOD Ex 4.44.61
LLCEFLib/CEF Version: 1.5.3-(CEF-WIN-3.2526.1347-32)
LibVLC Version: 2.2.4
Voice Server Version: Not Connected
Settings mode: Firestorm
Viewer Skin: Firestorm (Grey)
Font Used: Deja Vu (96 dpi)
Font Size Adjustment: 0 pt
UI Scaling: 1.4
Draw distance: 184 m
Bandwidth: 2200 kbit/s
LOD factor: 2
Render quality: High-Ultra (6/7)
Advanced Lighting Model: Yes
Texture memory: 2048 MB (1)
VFS (cache) creation time (UTC): 2017-2-12T4:2:35 
Built with MSVC version 1800
Packets Lost: 375/1,812,925 (0.0%)
May 20 2017 14:33:05 SLT

[Friday Siamendes]

Wow - a sleek chic machine

[Jackson Redstar]

I've always used FRAPS as well. I shoot at 1920x1080. anything about mid teens fps you can get decently smooth footage as long as the camera isn't moving too fast. not many Im aware of shoot over  1080 - Foxie at Go Productions does I know

 

Firestorm 5.0.1 (52150) Dec 10 2016 14:44:37 (Firestorm-Releasex64) with OpenSimulator support
Release Notes

CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4790 CPU @ 3.60GHz (3672.24 MHz)
Memory: 16326 MB
OS Version: Microsoft Windows 10 64-bit (Build 14393)
Graphics Card Vendor: NVIDIA Corporation
Graphics Card: GeForce GTX 970/PCIe/SSE2

Windows Graphics Driver Version: 22.21.0013.8205
OpenGL Version: 4.5.0 NVIDIA 382.05

 

[Chic Aeon]

I typically shoot at 1600. I guess I never said that. I started long ago at 1600 and just stuck with it. While recording at higher frame rates and higher resolution gives you a better video file to send to someone or view yourself, but the time it gets compressed by the various online services I can't see much reason to make larger files -- IF online is your end game :D.

 

I also sometimes record full screen which is 2560 or whatever for me, but that isn't with Fraps but for tutorials where I am trying to get the screen to be as clear as I can. 

 

I guess I want to add something here. While a smoking machine -- or a few steps down -- is very NICE, you can make some really good videos at lesser resolutions and even slower framerates simply by being clever and creative. There is a certain amount of power that you have to have -- and that I didn't when I was just out of the pod here. But after that minimum is met, skill can take you a long way. So just keep working on it. 

Edited May 22, 2017 by Chic Aeon

[Jackson Redstar]

14 hours ago, Chic Aeon said:

I typically shoot at 1600. I guess I never said that. I started long ago at 1600 and just stuck with it. While recording at higher frame rates and higher resolution gives you a better video file to send to someone or view yourself, but the time it gets compressed by the various online services I can't see much reason to make larger files -- IF online is your end game :D.

 

I also sometimes record full screen which is 2560 or whatever for me, but that isn't with Fraps but for tutorials where I am trying to get the screen to be as clear as I can. 

 

I guess I want to add something here. While a smoking machine -- or a few steps down -- is very NICE, you can make some really good videos at lesser resolutions and even slower framerates simply by being clever and creative. There is a certain amount of power that you have to have -- and that I didn't when I was just out of the pod here. But after that minimum is met, skill can take you a long way. So just keep working on it. 

True, a high end machine ain't gonna solve SL's problem. It helps keep up ok frame rates with everything on, that's it. Most weddings I shoot I am good still to get 11-15fps, sometimes a bit more. You can always switch to a night time windlight and switch off shadows, since nobody will notice them missing like that, and that can help fps. or, lower from 'ultra' to High can help a good amount with sacrificing very much quality at all

[Chic Aeon]

The problem is that everything looks SO MUCH prettier with shadows - LOL. I bought a whole new machine long ago JUST to have shadows :D.  But yes, if you can do "night" then that certainly helps. Shadows and DOF are both very power hungry little machinima devils. 

[Paul Hexem]

Although I don't usually record SL, do a lot of recording and streaming of other games, and for me, FRAPS was always junk. NVidia Share gave much higher resolution, higher FPS, and an overall better experience. 1080, 30 FPS recordings while the game is getting 60+ FPS has always been a breeze with Share.

[Friday Siamendes]

On 6/1/2017 at 9:47 AM, Gadget Portal said:

Although I don't usually record SL, do a lot of recording and streaming of other games, and for me, FRAPS was always junk. NVidia Share gave much higher resolution, higher FPS, and an overall better experience. 1080, 30 FPS recordings while the game is getting 60+ FPS has always been a breeze with Share.

Hi Gadget, Radeon is stepping up as well with enhancements to its Crimson/ReLive feature, which records up to 2160p. I have the impression that a lot of SL machinima makers are not gamers (that's true in my case). Share and ReLive are marketed to the gaming community. Thanks for sharing your experience.  

Edited June 13, 2017 by Friday Siamendes

[Friday Siamendes]

And a bit more information from Gamers Nexus. This video adds FRAPS to its comparison of the Radeon and Nvidia screen recording utilities. It clarifies up/downsides for FRAPS:

FRAPS minimizes gameplay impact with a super-low-compression codec, but the downside is HUGE files that can challenge even SSD write speeds.

ReLive and Share/Shadowplay, optimized by the GPU designers, minimize gameplay impact by putting most of the load on the GPU and producing much smaller files in H264. This has implications for editing and rendering too.

Gamers Nexus channel 

 

Edited June 13, 2017 by Friday Siamendes