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Asking about frame rate and smoothness of CamStudio with various codecs

edited December 2010 in Support
Hi CamStudio experts,

I tried all of the codecs with CamStudio the other day... I installed the MSU codec, but it produces an AVI file that seems to be choppier than what the other codecs produce... it seems like it is playing with every other frame missing compared to the other codecs that work.

The CamStudio codec and the stock Microsoft codec seem to produce identical results, but the CamStudio codec produced an 83 MB file while the stock Microsoft codec produced a 32 MB file for the exact length of video with the exact same content.

Any of the other codecs produced no results or inferior results.

But I notice that even that video produced with the Microsoft codec still looks a bit choppy, but still a little smoother than trial video files that the “Screen-O-Matic.com” method produced.

I am using the default Video Option settings in CamStudio 2.0 of "200, 5, 200", "Auto Adjust" is not checked and the slider control is set at "Max Framerate" with the "Microsoft Video 1" codec and the "CamStudio Lossless Codec v1.4".

Version 2 of CamStudio was recommended to me because it is not a beta version.

Is the video quality (meaning the smoother frame rate) with "paid" software better and smoother because those are better, paid versions of desktop video capture software?.. I'm looking at samples of "NCH Debut" for $59.95 for example... or am I just missing something with the use of CamStudio?

Thanks for any input,

digiday

Comments

  • Try to use one of the recent betas with CamStudio Lossless Codec v1.5 . I personally noticed that 1.4 picture is not as sharp.
    What are you trying to record? Gameplay? Office activity? For office stuff, camstudio codec usually gives the best results for both quality and size.
  • Hi mlt,

    I went with the v2.0 of CamStudio by recommendation of an industry programmer... about half of the user reviews on the 2.5 beta version that I read were written by frustrated users on cnet... the other half were good, so I decided on v2.0.

    Does the Lossless Codec v1.5 work with v2.0?... if so, where can I download that?

    I'm not having any problem with sharpness... this isn't my issue... the resolution looks quite good with any of the 3 codecs that worked for me... frame rate, meaning playback smoothness is what I was referring to in my post.

    I am recording some Photoshop samples showing various layer composite actions... these codecs are fine for that, but I'm also working with some moving Google map tour imagery that could be smoother... I've seen smoother results with NCH Debut Pro, not the free version... I'm wondering if I can achieve that sort of smooth result with CamStudio.

    Thanks,

    digiday
  • mltmlt
    edited December 2010
    I wouldn't recommend either 2.0 or 2.5. Give a try to one of the 2.6 betas, namely build based on source code revision 294 (r294). Photoshop lessons should work just fine. I hope you'll like button clicks highlighting and zoom. Unfortunately CS is still missing keys visualization that would be useful for showing ctrl, alt, shift keys in photoshop session. I'd be personally interested in Gimp lessons :-) I'm an awful user.
  • Since I use Photoshop at home and it is a vital part of my profession and personal passion, I do know about and am able to use GIMP, since it is very similar... below are two URLs for GIMP instructions and tutorials... note that for GIMP there is a separate installer for it's built-in help system... the webpages at the URLs below are good for online manuals, but there seem to be no actual PDF instructions for GIMP as there are with Photoshop and others...

    http://docs.gimp.org/2.6/en/

    http://www.gimp.org/docs/

    But I'd still like to be able to find out if CamStudio is capable of a smoother result via better frame rate or however that is accomplished... does CamStudio 2.6 somehow have a faster, smoother frame rate capability?

    Thanks,

    digiday
  • Here is the 720p HD video I posted in another thread a while ago http://vimeo.com/16306560 . I recorded it with camstudio codec 1.5. Note that I reduced fps with ffmpeg to make output video smaller, but I still think 15(?) fps should be enough. Originally, I believe, it was 100,10,100... or maybe 200,5,200 in settings.
  • Hi mlt,

    I can see by your test video that the motion of your video is smoother that the results that I'm getting... I am using the default Video Option settings in CamStudio 2.0 of "200, 5, 200", "Auto Adjust" is not checked and the slider control is set at "Max Framerate" with the "CamStudio Lossless Codec v1.4".

    Is your video with the v2.6 beta achieving a smoother result because of the slightly newer 1.5 codec?

    The only sample that I have of something that I recorded with v2.0 and the 1.4 codec that is posted so far shows some Photoshop layer composite actions, so it is difficult for you to tell the smoothness of the smoothness since Photoshop images things with a bit of a choppy video refresh rate anyway... or whatever you call it... but here is the link so you can get an idea...

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9GJ-j6QOhg&hd=1

    Please see if you can tell me if the result that I'm getting is choppier than your sample because of the 2.6 beta version and the 1.5 codec that you used compared to what I used.

    Thanks,

    digiday
  • edited January 2011
    By the number of times that this website has been offline lately, I figure you must have done something that pissed-off WikiLeaks... yuk, yuk.

    But I'm still wondering what happened to mlt... I'm still having problems with the choppy frame rate that CamStudio is producing.

    Are you in there someplace mlt?

    digiday
  • edited January 2011
    digiday,

    Greetings to another Photoshop enthusiast!

    I noticed you are sticking with the old default settings: "I am using the default Video Option settings in CamStudio 2.0 of "200, 5, 200", "Auto Adjust" is not checked and the slider control is set at "Max Framerate" with the "CamStudio Lossless Codec v1.4"."

    Please cease this behavior at once! ;-)

    This setting is pushing your processor as hard as possible, and no way is your processor likely to be able to achieve such a high capture and playback rate! This setting is only useful for seeing what the maximum capture and playback speed you can pull off might be - but it steals processing power away from your application, and if that is a motion-intensive app like Google Maps, for instance, or a game, then you will experience choppiness.

    Good settings for the "Capture Frames Every" and "Playback Rate" result in a result of 1000 when the two are multiplied together if you want the best sound synchronization to take place as well. My favorites are

    CFE PBR
    100 10
    50 20
    40 25


    These result in plenty smooth-enough playback without pounding your processor into a mess of debilitated bits.

    I have found that settings for the "Set Key Frames Every" work fine between 20 and 30. I usually have it set the same as the Playback Rate setting. This settng affects the fine-grained-ness of the "seek" function when you click on the playback software's slider to jump to a location in the video. It does more than that, though! A "Key Frame" in this case is a COMPLETE frame screen capture, followed by this number of data grabs (based on the CFE setting) that only store which pixels have CHANGED since the last "Key Frame" was captured, or at least that is how I have been led to understand it. Thus, it can affect file size dramatically. Higher settings here allow for smaller file sizes if many of the frame's pixels don't move (as with slide shows), but also can create dismal "seek" performance when using the "jump to" slider in the playback software. Find your balance!

    Let me know how you fare. Sorry everyone has seemed to be on extended Holiday leave at the moment. After quite a brain-scattering relocation, I'm finally settling into my normal routine again(...and plan on doing some new Photoshop Tutorials myself! Visit my http://terrybritton.com website to see those! Please share where you have your own posted!)

    Terry
  • Hi Terry,

    I didn't notice I had any replies until just now... I don't get any email notifications from this forum.

    I will give your setting recommendations a try... that must be part of my problem... I was just going with the default settings since I didn't know any differently and I thought the defaults would be right.

    digiday
  • Great! I look forward to hearing about your results.

    Terry
  • Hi Terry,

    I am setting my CamStudio settings according to your recommendations... do you have a preference that is best for whether or not the "Auto Adjust" box is checked and what the "Max Framerate" slider should be set to?

    Also, when I tried recording desktop audio previously with this version 2.0, it did not record the audio... do you have any recommendations for fixing that?

    Thanks again,

    digiday
  • digiday,

    You'll probably enjoy the articles and videos I've assembled at my just-revamped website.

    http://screencasttutorial.org/

    There are answers to most of your questions there. Also, utilize the search function here at this forum - searching with "comments" selected typically turns up the most results. Please let me know if you find either of these lacking! I'm happy to answer any of your questions, but you'll find my site has acted as a compendium where I've placed much of the information shared here.

    Terry
  • Thanks Terry,

    This looks like a great resource.

    I was asking about the other settings because in some tests that I was just trying, I'm still getting a pretty choppy result from CamStudio... and there doesn't seem to be to much of a drain on my CPU and RAM during the recording or the playback by looking a desktop resources monitor gadget that I have.

    I was considering posting a couple of comparative videos to display my problem results if that would be of any interest to you or anyone.

    Also, while WMP will play CamStudio AVI files from both the "Microsoft Video 1" codec and the "CamStudio Lossless Codec 1.4" for playback testing, QuickTime will only play the CamStudio AVI file made with the "Microsoft Video 1" codec and it gives an error message when trying to play the test video made with the "CamStudio Lossless Code 1.4"... not sure why that is.

    Anyway, I'm still having some pretty choppy looking desktop video results... by my guess, the videos that I'm getting with my original settings and the new settings from your recommendations appear to be about 2 frames per second in their playback... the ones with my original, CamStudio default settings even appear to be a slight bit smoother than the test videos that I made with the new settings... but just barely.

    Thanks for the link to your nice webpage and resources,

    digiday
  • edited January 2011
    Digiday,

    What kinds of video are being captured that look choppy? And at what settings? I'm getting best results with 100/10 lately.

    Please do be aware that CamStudio Lossless is not intended for video having a lot of motion in it, by the way. h.264 is the way to go there.

    I've done Photoshop vids where certain operations made for choppy results, even though there was little movement. (Copy/Paste operations, opening files, heavy I/O operations involving writing to the hard drive). Still, the sharpness of CamStudio codec has always been very good compared with any others, and my audio sync has stayed solid.

    The Quicktime issue is not good news. Try using VirtualDub or AnyVideoConverter to change the codec and container to mpeg4/h.264 and see if that resolves the problem. http://www.virtualdub.org/ AnyVideoConverter http://www.any-video-converter.com/products/for_video_free/ I've also uploaded vids in private mode to YouTube and then downloaded their conversion (which is h.264 mp4) before I learned of VirtualDub. That may work better than VirtualDub for large vids, but I haven't done a comparison.

    Just musing here early in the morning before coffee! Let me know what you come up with and keep me posted! :-)

    Terry
  • edited January 2011
    digiday,

    Take a look at this post I just found by Nick concerning using CamStudio with Quicktime.

    http://camstudio.org/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=272

    Would you test this approach and let me know if it works for you? I won't have time to do anything with it until mid-week.

    Also, this post may be of interest to you:

    http://camstudio.org/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=492

    Terry
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