Since i get asked this alot in game, especially after i post a vid. on forums .... i've been thinking about making a guide for a while, sooo here it is xD
RECORDING
There are many software's out there you could use, the best one i found is "Fraps" ... it's easy to use, and the best quality results aswell.
However... the trial/free version only allows you to record for 30 seconds i believe.. soo either buy it, or.. umm.. there's always Torrent/google for something a little less legal... ... if u can't find one, just msg me on forums, i MIGHT send u a link .. (i'll reply slow, soo best find it yourself and be a pirate)
There's also "BB FlashBack" which i heard also delivers top quality records, although i've never used it myself so can't comment on it that much. You can try the 30 day free trial and test it out, then either buy it or think like a pirate :p
Another one which kinda has the full package would be "Camtasia Studio", which you can easily use to record AND edit... and get top quality results.. (again, not a free software, trial, buy or think like a pirate)
I would personally recommend using "Fraps" to record (only around 3mb size software, with the best results) and using a separate/different software to edit.
EDITING
i can't really provide a guide to how to edit videos like this, best is to just watch youtube guides :p that's how i learnt + i tried and experimented alot myself when i got bored aswell :p
anyways the best i can do here, is give few software names.
hmm, there are dozens of popular softwares out there for video editing... now, it all depends on just how in-depth you want to go with your edits, also there's skill limitation of an individual(ofc. anyone can learn if the put the time into it), PC Limitations, some of the advance and complex effects, require somewhat decent computer to render them and few other things...
Below are just SOME of the popular softwares our there, i've used most of them myself.
Standard editing: if all you want is a standard title screen and then your video, then simply use
windows movie maker xD (should come with your windows)...
Decent Editing: a bit more advance title scene, introduction to adding particle effects, etc. There are countless number of softwares that would fall under this category so i'll give 1 that i still use. "
Cyberlink PowerDirector (v11 latest)" is what i sometimes use, doesn't have that much of a PC hardware requirement, it's also very user friendly, if you're looking to start out with somewhat advance editing, this software is a good start. Its easy to learn, and use. can really take your video to the next level
Another software that you might consider is "
Camtasia Studio" I've never used it myself, but i've seen the products of other's that have used it (*cough*Coffee*cough*) and the results are quite fantastic and it's quite user friendly aswell.
Advance Editing: This includes pretty much anything, these softwares have the potential to make actual Hollywood sci-fi movies and what not. u can add ANY type of effect you can think of using these softwares..
Two of the major softwares under this category would be
"Sony Vegas Pro" and
"Adobe After Effects", ... i've never personally liked VegasPro, but alot find it easy to use, and more user friendly than AAE, so just depends on different individuals.. xD .. now both of these software requires a somewhat decent computer to get the full kick out of em and they take a LOT of work to get used to, and learn the softwares properly.. I've been using AAE for over 4 months now, and i dnt even know half the features that are available to me :S But, i will say this, AAE is not that user friendly at first look, really need to practice through some tutorials before you even start to get a feel of it.
If you do decide to use AAE, i recommend checking out this
"Video Copilot"they have very good beginner guides for the sofftware, (that's how i started off, till i started experimenting with the software myself)
Again, none of these Softwares are free, soo either buy them, or be a Pirate :p
UPLOADING
umm, there are a few hosts you could upload to, but, the most easiest and obviously more popular place would be
YouTube...
Don't think i need to explain much on that o.o
i mean, if you don't know what YouTube is, delete your computer please o.o
Tips
-- I Cannot stress this enough, It is crucial to maintain
aspect ratio in all your clips through the whole process of record>edit>upload. Meaning, make sure you maintain the horizontal and vertical pixel ratio through out the whole process. i.e. If you recorded in 1080p (1920x1080) and you'd like to scale this down for various possible reasons.. don't just drag and stretch your footage down in your editing software to some random resolution (perhaps 1240x825?) :S, as it will ruin the aspect ratio and your final product will look pixelated and/or funny. Scale both horizontal and vertical pixel counts by the same ratio, such as say scale down a 1080p clip by 1.5 to get 720p. 1920/1.5= 1280 & 1080/1.5 = 720 ... therefore you scaled your video down by 1.5 to 1280x720 resolution and still managed to keep your clip quality same as the source.
-- Try to avoid scaling up your video
resolution from its source, this is to avoid making everything look blurry. I.e. if you recorded in 720p, don't produce your video in 1080p. Sure it sounds cool to say your videos are 1080p on youtube or w/e but in reality it's still 720p, just an upscaled blurry version of it's been uploaded.
--
FPS, If you are uploading to youtube, know that youtube at this moment only streams in 30 fps. So, don't stress about producing a video in 60 fps or w/e. This also means, if you are lagging alot in your source video (recorded gameplay perhaps), MAKE SURE YOU SPEED UP THE VIDEO WHEN YOU ARE EDITING TO GET NEAR 30 FPS. By speeding it up, your viewers will notice less or no lag in your footage hence it'll be more tolerable/acceptable to watch. A good rule of the thumb i use would be depending on the fps of the source footage, i speed the video up by the amount necessary to hit 25-30 fps on my final product. For example, if i recorded in 10 fps i'd speed up my video by 3 times to hit 30 fps. (Try not to speed it up by TOO much though, otherwise viewers won't be able to tell what's actually going on in your gameplay o.o)
--Another reason to
speed up your clips would be to shorten the overall length of the video . If you recorded a 30-1h TW or pk video perhaps, don't expect any viewer to sit and watch your gameplay for THAT long. Personally i can't sit and watch someone else play the game for more than around 10 minutes, it kinda gets boring at that point to watch a pvp vid for that long. So speeding it up by a reasonable amount reduces overall length of the video yet still lets the viewers enjoy and witness everything you have to offer, it also reduces your file size by alot hence cutting down on rendering and uploading time.
anyways.. idk if this helps even 1 bit, i was bored and i get these questions asked alot, soo here it is.. if you think i missed something, or said something wrong, let me know so i can fix it thanks..
and if there's any question, just ask :p
~Labs.
