XCOM:Enemy Unknown - Bandicam Capture Tests
Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2013 12:15 pm
Hello fellow gamers and video editors. I'd like to share my test results of using Bandicam for the first time, on my favorite game in over a decade ... XCOM: Enemy Unknown. I'm shocked it's not represented here given the accolades (and in all fairness, criticism) it's received from so many people.
So in researching for a video game recording software, I decided to settle on trying Bandicam. I've captured footage using 5 different codecs: MJPEG, MPEG-1, x264, Lagarith, and UTVideo, and from reading other people's recommendations, I've made some quick test videos using a few different configurations in order to guage playback performance on my new computer and to find the best viewing quality on YouTube.
I've made 2 different groups of tests using the MJPEG, MPEG-1 & x264 codecs, since these do not require post-processing or re-compression for YouTube. Clips captured using the LAGARITH & UT VIDEO codecs were compressed to .mp4 in Adobe Media Encoder CS6 using the YouTube HD 1080p preset.
[Group 1] This first set of videos tests Full-Screen Capture of the game at 1920x1200 (my native screen resolution). For the MPEG-1 videos I tested Bandicam's resizing for YouTube function by changing "Fit Height" to "0*1080".
[Group 2] The second set of videos tests 1080p Capture by changing the screen resolution in-game to 1920x1080. For all video codecs I kept the capture setting in Bandicam to "Full Size".
** Test Footage in Order **
(MJPEG) ~ INTRO ANIMATION
(MJPEG) ~ TUTORIAL MISSION
(MJPEG) ~ BASE OPERATIONS
(MPEG-1) ~ UFO LANDING SITE (part 1)
(MPEG-1) ~ UFO LANDING SITE (part 2)
(MPEG-1) ~ ALIEN ABDUCTION
(x264) ~ COUNCIL MISSION - ASSAULT
(x264) ~ CUT SCENE - ETHEREAL DEVICE
(UT Video)~ SLINGSHOT DLC
(Lagarith) ~ TERROR SITE
All other in-game settings are set to maximum performace (v-sync & framerate smoothing enabled; all graphics set to high)
Additional Bandicam configurations for MJPEG:
29.97fps
90% quality
48kHz PCM stereo
Additional Bandicam configurations for MPEG-1 (VBR):
30fps
100% quality
48kHz MPEG-1 L2 stereo (192kbps)
Additional configurations for x264 codec:
Preset: Ultrafast
Fast Decode (checked)
Zero Latency (checked)
Single pass -ratefactor based-(CRF)
Ratefactor: 13
VFW FourCC: x264
Additional configurations for UT VIDEO:
YUV 420
Optimize for Decoding Speed (checked)
29.97fps
48kHz PCM stereo
Additional configurations for LAGARITH codec:
YV12
Use Multithreading (checked)
29.97fps
48kHz PCM stereo
So in researching for a video game recording software, I decided to settle on trying Bandicam. I've captured footage using 5 different codecs: MJPEG, MPEG-1, x264, Lagarith, and UTVideo, and from reading other people's recommendations, I've made some quick test videos using a few different configurations in order to guage playback performance on my new computer and to find the best viewing quality on YouTube.
I've made 2 different groups of tests using the MJPEG, MPEG-1 & x264 codecs, since these do not require post-processing or re-compression for YouTube. Clips captured using the LAGARITH & UT VIDEO codecs were compressed to .mp4 in Adobe Media Encoder CS6 using the YouTube HD 1080p preset.
[Group 1] This first set of videos tests Full-Screen Capture of the game at 1920x1200 (my native screen resolution). For the MPEG-1 videos I tested Bandicam's resizing for YouTube function by changing "Fit Height" to "0*1080".
[Group 2] The second set of videos tests 1080p Capture by changing the screen resolution in-game to 1920x1080. For all video codecs I kept the capture setting in Bandicam to "Full Size".
** Test Footage in Order **
(MJPEG) ~ INTRO ANIMATION
(MJPEG) ~ TUTORIAL MISSION
(MJPEG) ~ BASE OPERATIONS
(MPEG-1) ~ UFO LANDING SITE (part 1)
(MPEG-1) ~ UFO LANDING SITE (part 2)
(MPEG-1) ~ ALIEN ABDUCTION
(x264) ~ COUNCIL MISSION - ASSAULT
(x264) ~ CUT SCENE - ETHEREAL DEVICE
(UT Video)~ SLINGSHOT DLC
(Lagarith) ~ TERROR SITE
All other in-game settings are set to maximum performace (v-sync & framerate smoothing enabled; all graphics set to high)
Additional Bandicam configurations for MJPEG:
29.97fps
90% quality
48kHz PCM stereo
Additional Bandicam configurations for MPEG-1 (VBR):
30fps
100% quality
48kHz MPEG-1 L2 stereo (192kbps)
Additional configurations for x264 codec:
Preset: Ultrafast
Fast Decode (checked)
Zero Latency (checked)
Single pass -ratefactor based-(CRF)
Ratefactor: 13
VFW FourCC: x264
Additional configurations for UT VIDEO:
YUV 420
Optimize for Decoding Speed (checked)
29.97fps
48kHz PCM stereo
Additional configurations for LAGARITH codec:
YV12
Use Multithreading (checked)
29.97fps
48kHz PCM stereo