Video resources

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Note: As of Second Life 1.20, File menu > Start/Stop Movie to Disk has been removed because it was unreliable and there are better 3rd-party tools, including free ones. See VWR-2096 for details.

This page provides a list of video-recording resources with anecdotal experiences so that you can know about and use them!

Please add your knowledge and experiences to this page.

Movie recording programs

Most of these have demo versions you can try out. There's a variety of applications on the market, but to record Second Life's on-screen action correctly, a program must have OpenGL support (it usually says in the features).

Multi-platform

Free

• Jing Project (PC & Mac) - Captures SL but at very slow framerates; limited by only exportng to SWF. More experiences needed, please try it and add yours here! Kevin Jarrett has a review.

Windows

Free

• CamStudio
• Taksi - Sometimes cited as an open source alternative to FRAPS.
• WeGame.com - Relative newcomer that includes both the software and a site to host the videos on. Very easy encoding and uploading process. Torley likes WeGame.

Commercial

Torley Linden's recommended settings for Fraps

• Camtasia (US$299) - On the expensive side, but its strength is it can record both Second Life and standard Windows applications. It has a great lossless codec which is useful for recording relatively static content with lots of flat color — for capturing inworld footage, use a codec like DivX instead.
• Game Cam (US$24.95, Lite version is US$9.95) - Torley tried this briefly and found it to be buggy and reduces FPS considerably — YMMV, see how it works for you.
• Game Recorder (US$39)
• Fraps (US$37) - This is possibly the most popular video capture utility. With low CPU usage and a mature history of development, it's used by a number of notable Residents to make machinima. One disadvantage is that it doesn't have high compression options, so whatever you record will consume a lot of disk space and need encoding later. Torley Linden used to use this (before switching to Camtasia) to record raw material for Video Tutorials and video bug reproductions. Note that while it will capture the default cursor, it won't capture click action icons (the ones in the build tools' General tab, under "When Left-Clicked").

Mac

Free

• Capture Me - Originally a screen capture program for still images, now can also record MPEG-4 videos (no sound) up to 60 seconds.

Commercial

• iShowU (US$20)
• Screenflow (US$100) - Has some very nice features, like an easy picture-in-picture mode for your iSight or other webcam, but only runs on Leopard (10.5) and lacks more advanced editing capabilities.
• Snapz Pro X (US$69) - Generally regarded as the Mac equivalent of Fraps in terms of its popularity with Residents, it's a tad on the pricey side but very elegantly-designed.

Linux

Free

• glc - glc is an ALSA & OpenGL capture tool for Linux [1]
• Xvidcap - Known to work for SL machinima on Linux.
• RecordMyDesktop - audio and video capture to full quality Theora --Allen Kerensky 13:15, 22 May 2008 (PDT)
• Instanbul - nice stop start button, easy to work, low quality Theora --Allen Kerensky 13:15, 22 May 2008 (PDT)
• Yukon - a front-end to seom --Allen Kerensky 13:15, 22 May 2008 (PDT)

Tips 'n' tricks

• Try installing a comprehensive codec pack for more options when compressing footage for distribution.
• 30 FPS (Frames Per Second) is a common, smooth rate for smooth video capture — this can be lowered later in a video editor. 25 FPS conforms with the PAL standard and is easier to achieve under poor performance conditions.
• Most video capture programs support a hotkey to start/stop recording. View your gestures list inworld via Edit menu > Gestures, and select a hotkey combination that doesn't conflict with your gestures.
• Sizer can be used to resize the viewer to resolutions not listed in File > Set Window Size.
• Use a capture resolution suitable for the method of delivery. For example, web videos (uploaded to YouTube and such) tend to be smaller, both in dimensions and filesize, than videos meant to be downloaded to desktop and played. See QuickTime Tutorials for more info.
• Use the Debug Settings Client > Rendering Features > UI to toggle the visibility of the user interface (useful when making machinima)
• Recording footage to hard disk that Second Life's disk cache isn't on or using a RAID array will improve performance while the footage is being recorded.
• See Torley's video tutorial creation process for his preferred settings.

Related resources

• Machinima - Sort of overlaps with this page, but includes links to many moviemaking resources.
• List of screencasting software - A compilation of tools to record and show off your creations.
• 12 Screencasting Tools For Creating Video Tutorials - More tools to check out in this useful article from Mashable!
• TUAW Faceoff: Screencasting - Roundup of Mac video recording/screencasting tools.