Create Your Own ‘Best Of’ Playing Moments
GameCam is one such software- it’s shareware-that enables real-time recording of a game (for DirectX 7, 8, 9 and OpenGL games) with incredible ease. The videos are stored in MPEG-4 format (.avi). Audio is available only when you purchase the software-it’s $24.95 (Rs 1,100). Capturing screenshots as JPEGs is also possible.
Recommended system requirements are Windows XP, a DirectX-compliant video accelerator card with 32 MB or more of onboard memory, 32 MB of RAM in addition to the game’s requirements, and a 1GHz (or above) CPU.
Step 1. Download And Installation
GameCam v1.2 is available at www.gamershell.com/news/ 13956.html.
Run the setup file and follow the simple installation procedure until you’re prompted to install the Windows Media Player codec. This step is not crucial, as your PC may already have a few of them installed and you may want to skip this installation. But it’s recommended that you continue to install the codec.
As Windows Media Component installation begins, remember to choose ‘Upgrade newer components only’. In later steps, you will be prompted to choose the required components for installation.
Step 2. Setting Up A Profile And Changing Preferences
Access GameCam through the Start Menu, right-click the icon that now appears in system tray to view a pop-up menu with the following options: Profile Manager, Preferences, Launch, Register, About and Close GameCam. Of the above-mentioned options, only Profile Manager and Preferences help us set the GameCam.
In the Profile Manager, a game’s executable file can be added as a profile by clicking on the ‘New Profile’ button.
A profile can be renamed as you like, leaving the ‘target path’ intact. Repeat this step to add more profiles (games). A slider is provided just beside the profile list to adjust the quality of video capture.
‘Hot Keys’ settings can be viewed by clicking on its button which is placed just next to the video quality slider.
[R] is the default hotkey for video recording. It is recommended to change this since some games will need the key when playing.
Click on the ‘Advanced’ button to open ‘Advanced Profile Settings’ that displays GameCam’s basic settings. If the version is not registered, some of the options are disabled. For instance, video format is restricted to AVI although the registered version can also record in WMV format. Video Quality, Base fps (frames per second) and video frame size can be changed to your liking.
CVR (Cached Video Recording) allows you to record a particular victorious moment or classy gameplay while recording is On. It is a timed recording, by which you can view that unbelievable gameplay as a separate recording, saving you the trouble of searching through a big game video.
Right-click the system tray icon for GameCam and choose ‘Preferences’ to modify the path to which the record-ings are to be stored.
To change the directories for ‘Videos’ and ‘Screenshots’, click their respective buttons.
Videos and screenshots for games will be stored in separate folders making them easier to find.
Step 3. Playing And Recording
To start playing and recording, return to the system tray icon of GameCam and use the left-click to view the game profile list. Choose the game you want to play from this list.
GameCam will load the game and also provide a preview window at the bottom right of the screen. The preview window helps you keep track of recording and other settings such as audio On/Off and the fps. Use the hotkeys to start and stop recording, to enable CVR and to capture screenshots without affecting the gameplay.
If you can’t recollect the hotkeys, just hit [F1] key to view them.
To capture game video or a screenshot using GameCam, you must run the game through GameCam only.
There you go… you’re are all set to display your victorious moments of how you fragged your friend in a multiplayer match-up. Show your competitors your mettle!