http://exkode.com/dxtory-features-en.html
Recording games on PC can be a hassle sometimes, but using these settings will guarantee you the best quality for recording runs to be submitted on SDA with the lowest system impact possible.
So let's get started:
1. Folder Settings:
In this tab you will need to select the folder where your recordings will go. The best thing to do is to record on a dedicated Hard-Disk Drive so there is no other program that can interfere. If you have only 2 HDDs (one for the OS and one for games, media, etc), record on the one where your media is. Sometimes, recording on the OS HDD can cause system hangs or just general unresponsiveness. If you have only one HDD then just try your luck and hope you don't have any issues.
Also you have to consider the write speed and available space on the HDD. Any modern SATA2 HDD in good condition can be used to record up to 1080p/30fps. If you want to record any higher than that, you might need either an SSD or 2 HDDs in Raid 0, depending on what resolution, frame rate or codec will be used.
Here is a picture of the tab, and my settings (using 2 Western-Digital Caviar Blue drives in Raid 0)
2. Movie Settings:
The codec that I recommend is the x264 VFW codec. It's the fastest one out there and produces basically the same quality as any other. Now to be clear, THERE ARE other codecs that can produce a better image quality, but after encoding they all look more or less identical to the naked eye, so x264 give you the best "bang for you buck" so to speak.
Here are the recommended settings and a download link for the x264 codec:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/x264vfw/files/x264vfw/38_2274bm_36885/x264vfw_38_2274bm_36885.exe/download
Now onto the tab itself.
The frame rate should be as high as you can record in general. Usually, anything at or over 25 FPS is considered acceptable, depending on the game. Remember, higher frame rates mean more frames and that means more HDD space and speed is required. For instance in one of my tests, recording at 1080p/30fps requires a bandwidth of ~25 MB/s for both audio and video.
Now here is a HDD speed test using HD Tune on my OS HDD (WD Caviar Blue):
As you can see, even with some activity, I can still reach 88 MB/s easily. So with these settings, you can achieve 1080p/60fps without too much hassle from just a HDD speed perspective.
Also the fps and resolution depend on your other hardware capabilities such as CPU frequency and core number, GPU architecture-clock frequency-memory frequency-memory size, etc. Best thing to do is to just experiment with your settings both in-game and in Dxtory till you achieve an acceptable quality.
As for the rest of the settings in this tab, just leave them as shown in the image.
3. Audio Settings:
Just select your default audio device, use the PCM codec and PCM 48000 Hz 24bit Stereo Fromat.
4. Advanced Settings:
In this tab there are only 3 setting That you should be playing with, the rest should be left untouched.
Synchronous Surface Lock and Wait for Available Buffer both have to do with way the video gets transmitted from the GPU memory buffer to the recording. In some games the video data is not transmitted fast enough to the application so not all the frames will be recorded. When recording you will see in your top left corner the actual Game FPS and the recording FPS. If, for instance, you set Dxtory to record at 30 FPS but your recording is fluctuating under that, even if the game FPS is higher than 30, then this is as situation where the memory data is not transmitted fast enough. In this case I recommend enabling "Synchronous Surface Lock" and see if that fixes the issue. If not, then disable "Synchronous Surface Lock" and enable "Wait for Available Buffer". If this also doesn't work, then enable both of them and that should do it.
WARNING: Enabling any or both of these setting will severely reduce your FPS, so only use them when you have the issue described above. In general, try to record without them and again, ONLY ENABLE WHEN YOU HAVE ISSUES!
Also, I recommend setting the Processing Threads to the number of Cores/Threads your CPU has.
5. Conclusion:
So that's about it. These are just some general settings for those who are just starting to record and need a simple guide to start recording their runs at an acceptable quality.
Here are some sample encodes using the SDA standards as well as the source file for the encodes using the settings mentioned above:
https://mega.co.nz/#F!d8BmwChD!o7jeyCO2lO1KYdTaZ4jq8Q
I can also do a more comprehensive video tutorial featuring all of the features that Dxtory has to offer and how to use them properly.
If that might interest you, drop a reply below. Also, if you have any additional questions or suggestions, please reply.
And again, thank you to the SDA Community for making this forum such and awesome place
And here is the video that i mentioned about streaming to Twitch using Dxtory and OBS:
Recording games on PC can be a hassle sometimes, but using these settings will guarantee you the best quality for recording runs to be submitted on SDA with the lowest system impact possible.
So let's get started:
1. Folder Settings:
In this tab you will need to select the folder where your recordings will go. The best thing to do is to record on a dedicated Hard-Disk Drive so there is no other program that can interfere. If you have only 2 HDDs (one for the OS and one for games, media, etc), record on the one where your media is. Sometimes, recording on the OS HDD can cause system hangs or just general unresponsiveness. If you have only one HDD then just try your luck and hope you don't have any issues.
Also you have to consider the write speed and available space on the HDD. Any modern SATA2 HDD in good condition can be used to record up to 1080p/30fps. If you want to record any higher than that, you might need either an SSD or 2 HDDs in Raid 0, depending on what resolution, frame rate or codec will be used.
Here is a picture of the tab, and my settings (using 2 Western-Digital Caviar Blue drives in Raid 0)
2. Movie Settings:
The codec that I recommend is the x264 VFW codec. It's the fastest one out there and produces basically the same quality as any other. Now to be clear, THERE ARE other codecs that can produce a better image quality, but after encoding they all look more or less identical to the naked eye, so x264 give you the best "bang for you buck" so to speak.
Here are the recommended settings and a download link for the x264 codec:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/x264vfw/files/x264vfw/38_2274bm_36885/x264vfw_38_2274bm_36885.exe/download
Now onto the tab itself.
The frame rate should be as high as you can record in general. Usually, anything at or over 25 FPS is considered acceptable, depending on the game. Remember, higher frame rates mean more frames and that means more HDD space and speed is required. For instance in one of my tests, recording at 1080p/30fps requires a bandwidth of ~25 MB/s for both audio and video.
Now here is a HDD speed test using HD Tune on my OS HDD (WD Caviar Blue):
As you can see, even with some activity, I can still reach 88 MB/s easily. So with these settings, you can achieve 1080p/60fps without too much hassle from just a HDD speed perspective.
Also the fps and resolution depend on your other hardware capabilities such as CPU frequency and core number, GPU architecture-clock frequency-memory frequency-memory size, etc. Best thing to do is to just experiment with your settings both in-game and in Dxtory till you achieve an acceptable quality.
As for the rest of the settings in this tab, just leave them as shown in the image.
3. Audio Settings:
Just select your default audio device, use the PCM codec and PCM 48000 Hz 24bit Stereo Fromat.
4. Advanced Settings:
In this tab there are only 3 setting That you should be playing with, the rest should be left untouched.
Synchronous Surface Lock and Wait for Available Buffer both have to do with way the video gets transmitted from the GPU memory buffer to the recording. In some games the video data is not transmitted fast enough to the application so not all the frames will be recorded. When recording you will see in your top left corner the actual Game FPS and the recording FPS. If, for instance, you set Dxtory to record at 30 FPS but your recording is fluctuating under that, even if the game FPS is higher than 30, then this is as situation where the memory data is not transmitted fast enough. In this case I recommend enabling "Synchronous Surface Lock" and see if that fixes the issue. If not, then disable "Synchronous Surface Lock" and enable "Wait for Available Buffer". If this also doesn't work, then enable both of them and that should do it.
WARNING: Enabling any or both of these setting will severely reduce your FPS, so only use them when you have the issue described above. In general, try to record without them and again, ONLY ENABLE WHEN YOU HAVE ISSUES!
Also, I recommend setting the Processing Threads to the number of Cores/Threads your CPU has.
5. Conclusion:
So that's about it. These are just some general settings for those who are just starting to record and need a simple guide to start recording their runs at an acceptable quality.
Here are some sample encodes using the SDA standards as well as the source file for the encodes using the settings mentioned above:
https://mega.co.nz/#F!d8BmwChD!o7jeyCO2lO1KYdTaZ4jq8Q
I can also do a more comprehensive video tutorial featuring all of the features that Dxtory has to offer and how to use them properly.
If that might interest you, drop a reply below. Also, if you have any additional questions or suggestions, please reply.
And again, thank you to the SDA Community for making this forum such and awesome place
And here is the video that i mentioned about streaming to Twitch using Dxtory and OBS:
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