Hey, I am new here at Bandicam, but I am not new to compression and game recording. Anyway. Bandicam has surprised me compared to Fraps and I am very disappointed with Fraps at the moment.

Now It seems some people don't know what settings to use for Game Recording so I will write this tutorial for your reading pleasure. This tutorial may also be subject to change.

I ran tests using every single codec available in Bandicam. Using Just Cause 2's Benchmark "Concrete Jungle". Here are the results:

Quality Based Codec Test runs: All videos where same benchmark, size 1280x720 and same time (1m 46s)
Full Size - 30 FPS - Quality 100
- Mpeg1: 280 MB
- Mjpeg: 1.38 GB
- Xvid: 389 MB
- YV12: 3.40 GB
- RGB24: 5.17 GB

Bitrate Based Codec Test runs: Same benchmark, size 1280x720 and same time (1m 46s)
Full Size - 30 FPS - Bitrate 20 000
- Mpeg1: 214 MB
- Xvid: 215 MB

So with these results I will explain to you which settings you should use and why.

Quality Based:
I found that these Quality allows you to have a descent video which indeed has lots more Megabytes then when you would use a Bitrate. However, Quality based is great if you wish to eliminate the factor of having to Compress Uncompressed footage to a great quality so that it can be use in your video editor, such as Vegas, Premiere etc.. Since then you will export from there to a Youtube preset.

That said, I would recommend using either the Mpeg1 or Xvid codec.
All the rest are usable but have their mishaps.

The quality on all videos where nearly 100% identical, so when you have an option to get less MB I would certainly take it. Xvid is my long lost favourite but Mpeg1 does provide a working file that is as good as identical for almost 100MB's less.

So for those short on Megabytes, I would suggest using Mpeg1 @ 100 Quality For those superstitious who believe Xvid owns every other codec, feel free to use Xvid @ 100 Quality. They both look great.

Bitrate Based:
Unlike Quality based this requires a bit more understanding to get working.

Bitrate is different depending on the size of your video. And reason why I only did the Mpeg1 and Xvid test is simply because the other codecs have bigger file size.

Using Bitrate can save you a lot more space as seen above when compared to Quality based.
For 1280 x 720 (720p) I recommend using 20000 Kbps

At 10000 Kbps I had noticeable Quality loss.. nothing too bad though so the quality was certainly viewable. But I prefer the very best quality. That said the 10000 Kbps came around 70 Mb's so if you really are low on space you could go with that but I wouldn't recommend it.

Though keep in mind these Bitrates are for a 720p video only. I recommend googling Bitrate calculator to find out the best Bitrate for your video size.

As for 20000 Kbps I must say, the quality is very good. I can't really see any quality loss for the video but I can tell that it's compressed. Since the file size is very good you can always go for something like 24000 just to be sure for great quality. And you would still have less MB's then if you were to take Quality based.

So to sum it up for you guys:

Quality Based Presets:

Video : MPEG-1 (VBR)
Full Size, 30.00fps, 100q
Audio : MPEG-1L2
48.0Khz, stereo, 160kbps

Video : Xvid (VBR)
Full Size, 30.00fps, 100q
Audio : MPEG-1L2
48.0Khz, stereo, 160kbps

Bitrate Based Presets: (720p HQ)

Video : MPEG-1 (CBR)
Full Size, 30.00fps, 24000kbps
Audio : MPEG-1L2
48.0Khz, stereo, 160kbps

Bitrate Based Presets: (1080p HQ)

Video : MPEG-1 (CBR)
Full Size, 30.00fps, 43000kbps
Audio : MPEG-1L2
48.0Khz, stereo, 160kbps

Well, that's it, I hope these presets come in handy for you guys. And If you have any questions feel free to ask. Oh and I added Bandicam as a Fraps Alternative. so do us all a favor and 'like' it. That way bandicam will soon be listed as the n1 Fraps alternative.

Hi Blaxus,

I would strongly recommend that you discuss the differences between each codec. MPEG, MPEG1 and Xvid are considered "final" codecs and Motion JPEG, RBB24 and YV12 are considered "editing" codecs.

Xvid in its self is a horrible codec and causes many problems for editing programs especially Premier Pro and After Effects. These codecs are to be used as final. If the users wish to record footage and simply upload to a video hosting website then use either of the three final codecs, you get the picture.

You are correct, xvid output gives me codec errors in sony vegas and the Mpeg-1 Layer 2 Codec never only works as a usage. Once re-encoded / editing application you can't hear it... or very softly and distorted.

I would recommend mpeg1 for the people who want to save disk space and Mjpeg for the self-compression fanatics. As for editing, always use PCM unless you are going to upload directly.

I for one would like to see these two codecs in Bandicam:
- x264 with Factor Based / Bitrate Based
- AAC audio codec.

I for one would like to see these two codecs in Bandicam:
- x264 with Factor Based / Bitrate Based
- AAC audio codec.

Yeah me too.

When I first used Bandicam it was hard for me to set the setting right so I did a lot of changes.
Bitrate based was the best for me.