06-01-2010, 10:44 PM
I've used Camtasia in the past to record things from my computer. I used to make training videos to help facilitate my teaching in the past. As I recall, it's free but I believe it also tends to be a resource hog. It's something, though. I've also used a free program called Taksi that allowed me to record things. I don't think it's been updated, however, so I can't promise that it would be effective; it's been years since I used it. A number of people also claimed to use something called WeGame, which is considered a free FRAPS alternative.
If you keep recording to under thirty seconds and don't mind the watermark, you can use the free version of FRAPS. A lot of what I'm doing now is taking various scenes and piecing them together, most of which are less than thirty seconds.
The WMV is of use if you are not going to record everything in-game. It provides further customization, but a lot of die-hard machinima artists avoid use of the WMV when they can and instead rely on putting together what they can in-game (I think that they consider themselves purists in an increasingly more technical pursuit). I was hoping to do much of the same by spawning mobs so that I can do panning shots, but at this time I'd have to host my own server to do so.
The current version of Adobe Premiere can be downloaded for free to test. It has a thirty day trial. An alternative that I've heard of (but not used personally) is called TrakAxPC. I think. Maybe it's just TrakAx. And, if you're really into simplicity without a lot of features, the Windows Movie Maker (packaged with most Windows OSes) is a pretty decent program. I've used that before at my last job when piecing together those training videos. It's simplicity and (minimal) function combined.
You may find more results if you turn to Google. I came across a number of sites touting free alternatives to one program or another while doing research. In particular, the fine people at Machinima.com have probably compiled a guide or links to alternatives. It's also a good resource for more information.
If you keep recording to under thirty seconds and don't mind the watermark, you can use the free version of FRAPS. A lot of what I'm doing now is taking various scenes and piecing them together, most of which are less than thirty seconds.
The WMV is of use if you are not going to record everything in-game. It provides further customization, but a lot of die-hard machinima artists avoid use of the WMV when they can and instead rely on putting together what they can in-game (I think that they consider themselves purists in an increasingly more technical pursuit). I was hoping to do much of the same by spawning mobs so that I can do panning shots, but at this time I'd have to host my own server to do so.
The current version of Adobe Premiere can be downloaded for free to test. It has a thirty day trial. An alternative that I've heard of (but not used personally) is called TrakAxPC. I think. Maybe it's just TrakAx. And, if you're really into simplicity without a lot of features, the Windows Movie Maker (packaged with most Windows OSes) is a pretty decent program. I've used that before at my last job when piecing together those training videos. It's simplicity and (minimal) function combined.
You may find more results if you turn to Google. I came across a number of sites touting free alternatives to one program or another while doing research. In particular, the fine people at Machinima.com have probably compiled a guide or links to alternatives. It's also a good resource for more information.