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In due course a new forum will be available to help support newer CamStudio versions.
Sorry for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience.
Comments
You didn't say, but I'd imagine you are trying to record a game full screen in 32-bit color.
Try these optimizations first:
http://screencasttutorial.org/02/optimizing-your-pc-for-camstudio-12
Then use Xvid or DivX or FFMPEG codecs instead of CamStudio Lossless Codec 1.4, any of which would work better for full-motion screen captures.
CamStudio Lossless Codec 1.4 is intended for screens like slideshows or program screens where there is not a lot of change happening over time.
Also, lower capture rates lower file size - see this article:
http://screencasttutorial.org/18/best-settings-for-camstudio-to-sync-audio-and-video-28
The fewer frames you capture per second (higher capture-frames-every settings), the smaller your file size will be. You'll have to find a comfortable file size to playback rate/CFE ratio that you can be happy with through experimentation. That article lists the best setting combinations that can also ensure good audio/video sync.
Let me know how things improve for you!
Terry
capture frames every 50 milliseconds & playback rate 20 frames/second and timelapse is max!
Well, those are perfect settings, then! :-)
Are you set to the 16-bit color? 32-bit increases file size substantially.
Also, the audio setting can make the file large. Although I record mono (microphone) at 44.1 kHz, I later compress the audio using VirtualDub (with audio set to full processing, video set to direct copy mode) and the LAME encoder installed to make the audio mp3 format (64 or 32 kbps mono). That often shrinks the file size a lot.
Let me know what your screen's color setting is set to - that's the only other thing I can pin-point right now as a possible video issue.
Terry
No need to download anything else.
Right click on your desktop display and select "Properties" (or in the control panel, select "Display Settings")
Go to the settings tab.
There you should see a drop-down similar to the one in XP that is shown in the video mentioned above:
http://screencasttutorial.org/02/optimizing-your-pc-for-camstudio-12
In future postings for technical help, it is always helpful for us to know what operating system you are using, I should add, and any other settings you already have. During this exchange it should now be obvious to you on how many points you expected me to be able to read your mind! ;-)
Mono uses one less channel, so it should be half as large as stereo in the audio portion, of course.
Terry
"Right, ok my operating system is windows 7 and i have found out how to change it to 16bit but it wont effect my computer will it? effect it in a big way i mean "
No, other than to make the video card run faster. Very gradual gradients may exhibit some banding effects in certain photos - for those, switch back to 32 bit color for viewing, then switch back to 16-bit for day-to-day use, I'd say!
Terry
and which is better? PCM or Microsoft ADPCM ?
and which is better? PCM or Microsoft ADPCM ? "
Yes. And allow your computer to work faster!
16-bit video usually uses 5 bits (32 brightness levels) for red, 6 bits (64 brightness levels) for green (because our eye is more sensitive to green), and 5 bits again (32 brightness levels) for blue. So, 32 X 64 X 32 equals the famous "65,536 colors" you often hear about. Some Macs use 5 bits for each (for 32 X 32 X 32 = 32768 colors) and then uses 1 bit for an alpha channel. You most likely use the first type, however.
32-bit color is actually 24 bit color, plus an extra 8 bits for an "alpha" channel. Thus, 32-bit color is using 8 bits (256 brightness levels) for red, 8 bits (256 brightness levels) for blue and also 8 bits (256 brightness levels) for green's brightness, so it is actually 24-bit color with the added 8-bit alpha channel included. I understand that some video card's transparency effects are dependent upon the 32 bit mode, as those 8 of the 32 bits are being used to describe an "alpha" channel that describes the levels of transparency. If you are not using transparency effects (and you shouldn't be during recording, though the effects may be captured, but it is slowing everything down), then using the 32-bits is even more wasteful. You only need to see 256 levels of RGB when doing demanding graphic image manipulation in Photoshop or other image manipulation programs, and you generally do not even need to actually SEE that (only have the math being done at that resolution... big topic there... don't get me started!) The 5-6-5-0 bit depths at 16-bit color are plenty adequate for general use.
I doubt that did anything but make the waters even more murky, but that is the truest answer I could give to you! :-)
PCM (which stands for "Pulse Code Modulation") is GENERALLY SPEAKING the same as 16-bit "CD" audio (as most people use it, though it is available in 8-bit format as well - see below), and it is the standard, having no compression at all - every snapshot, from silence to the loudest waveform burst, is represented by a full 16-bit "word". It will exhibit the highest audio-portion file size. It records audio into the .wav format into a linear stream of samples.
"Because these must be stored as finite-precision digital numbers, the data is truncated to either 16-bit PCM or 8-bit PCM, commonly called 8- and 16-bit samples. 16-bit data has more resolution, so the digital waveform sounds better. 8-bit PCM has less resolution, causing audible hiss in the waveform. It also requires less disk space. " - from Microsoft: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/89879
Microsoft ADPCM (which stands for "Adaptive Delta Pulse Code Modulation" - a mouthful!) allows other bit depths and sample rates to be selected, and uses only 4 bits per sample (audio snapshot), but can move these 4 bits around to represent differing volume levels (the delta part moves the "sector" being represented by the 4 bits up and down as a range of volume levels being represented). The fewer the number of bits, the less information. The lower the sample rate, the fewer "snapshots" per second are taken of the audio, and so the less information again. You pick what combination sounds acceptable. However, "Because the Windows Sound System hardware only understands 8/16-bit PCM, the computer must compress and decompress the ADPCM into/from PCM, which requires CPU time." - from Microsoft: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/89879 So, if being done "on the fly" as you record, it will slow down your computer. That said, a more powerful CPU may be able to handle this load without causing any lagging of the audio vs. video at all. (Also from the Microsoft site: "ADPCM stores the value differences between two adjacent PCM samples and makes some assumptions that allow data reduction. Because of these assumptions, low frequencies are properly reproduced, but any high frequencies tend to get distorted. The distortion is easily audible in 11 kHz ADPCM files, but becomes more difficult to discern with higher sampling rates, and is virtually impossible to recognize with 44 kHz ADPCM files.")
I generally always use the "Use MCI for Recording" checkbox being selected (which records using the system's native PCM method); I live with the large, 16-bit audio file produced, and use VirtualDub ( http://virtualdub.sourceforge.net/ )to compress the audio after making my video before I upload it to YouTube. (Have Video set to "Direct Copy Mode" and Audio set to "Full Processing", then pick your compression - I use LAME, which is a free download: http://www.free-codecs.com/download/lame_acm_codec.htm ).
Terry
Best Color Depth? 16-Bit Color Vs. 32-Bit Color Explained!
http://screencasttutorial.org/16/best-color-depth-16-bit-color-vs-32-bit-color-explained-135
and
PCM or Microsoft ADPCM? Which is the Best Audio for Screencasting?
http://screencasttutorial.org/54/pcm-or-microsoft-adpcm-which-is-the-best-audio-for-screencasting-139
Thanks for bringing this up jakesymo!
Terry