making youtube videos

veryunsure

My son wants to make video for youtube to show clips of moves he makes on PC games.

He says that he needs software called FRAPS to do this (at a cost of £25).

I have googles this and can't find anything independent about it.

Has anyone got any suggestions or alternatives?

I am happy with what he wants to do and the fact he is discussing it with me;just want help on doing it in the safest and cheapest way.

jaydeeuk1

FRAPS is a good piece of software, probably the most used for taking 'live' gameplay videos.

I think xfire is good free alternative. Theres also one called wegame which is free too and looks good. Never heard of it before though.

Lil306

veryunsure wrote: »

My son wants to make video for youtube to show clips of moves he makes on PC games.

He says that he needs software called FRAPS to do this (at a cost of £25).

I have googles this and can't find anything independent about it.

Has anyone got any suggestions or alternatives?

I am happy with what he wants to do and the fact he is discussing it with me;just want help on doing it in the safest and cheapest way.

In my opinion

FRAPS
Great software, it does "live" recording, so doesn't do ANY compression. Takes up huge amounts of disk space, around 4gb for 5 mins of video, so if he does a huge gaming session make sure he has plenty of space. Automatically creates a new file when max file size reached. Creates files in .avi format, great for editing. Resource intensive (fast PC definately recommend)

GUNCAM
Great software. Like fraps, except it has built in compression, supports different output compressions (xvid, divx, avi, etc) and cheaper (about £10). Disk space usage is better. Can limit max filesize

Downside - It doesn't automatically create new files when max file size reached, it just stops recording

I personally use Guncam, although I hate it because it doesn't have an auto-create new file feature when max file size reached

So I had to create huge files so I didn't forget to record (20gb+) when doing PVP movies, and they ended up becoming corrupted and uneditable

If Guncam editors, can create it so it works like FRAPS (new files @ max) then I'd recommend it without a doubt.

Guncam also leaves a watermark, but it's cheap to buy

Personally I'd recommend guncam, it's cheaper. If he can remember to rerecord his footages when they hit max file sizes (you can set auto sounds to notify you)