Fraps Pay Version and Trainz

[dricketts]

I'm having some issues with Trainz after opening FRAPS. I understand FRAPS does use computer resources and can affect performance but this is drastic. Anytime I have FRAPS open, idle in the background while running Trainz performance takes a big hit. Trainz becomes very jerky and stutters. Another clue could be even after FRAPS is closed Trainz will not recover until it is restarted. More puzzling is FRAPS and Trainz got along great on my 4 year old machine running Vista. I'm running 8.1 now and TS2010 build 49933.

Any ideas on what adjustments I might make or anyone else having this experience?

FRAPS 3.5.99 build 15618

OS Microsoft Windows 8.1
Version 6.3.9600 Build 9600
System ASUS-Notebook
Processor Intel Core i7-4700HQ CPU @ 2.40GHz, 2394 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 8 Logical Processor(s)
Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 12.0 GB
HD Size 910.06 GB 5400 RPM
Adapter RAM (2,147,483,648) bytes
Display 15 in.
Resolution 1920 x 1080 x 59 hertz
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760M
BIOS Version/Date American Megatrends Inc. N56JR.204, 10/31/2013

 

[JCitron]

There are a number things to look at.

* Disable the antivirus from scanning the folder where Fraps is saving folders

* Disable the Windows Indexing and Search from accessing the same folder.

* Ensure your hard drive has plenty of space

* Ensure that the drive has been defragmented (if not an SSD)

* Replace your HD with something faster? I noticed you have a 5400 RPM drive which is pretty slow. Perhaps you could use a fast external drive which would be faster than the 5400 in-computer one.

John

 

[dricketts]

There are a number things to look at.

* Disable the antivirus from scanning the folder where Fraps is saving folders

* Disable the Windows Indexing and Search from accessing the same folder.

* Ensure your hard drive has plenty of space

* Ensure that the drive has been defragmented (if not an SSD)

* Replace your HD with something faster? I noticed you have a 5400 RPM drive which is pretty slow. Perhaps you could use a fast external drive which would be faster than the 5400 in-computer one.

John

Thanks but..

All antivirus is disabled.

How do I disable Windows Indexing from that folder?

HD has 75% free space

HD has been defragmented.

My old HD on my old machine was the same speed and lower specs overall and FRAPS worked great with Trainz.


This doesn't expaln why Trainz is shot for performance after FRAPS is closed. How could FRAPS ruin the current session of Trainz even after it is closed and not running?

 

[tads1]

Fraps can be a killer for frame rate,do all what John said,make sure your record button is mapped to a key that will not be used for any game,where it says HALF rate and FULL rate if you have full rate set
it will record in full resolution..in your case true HD (1920x1080),having half rate enabled it will record in half resolution of 1920x1080 (faster recording no jerks).

Personally I binned fraps a long time ago,and now use Shadowplay from Nvidia,It takes advantage of hardware on your GPU to record,I see no performance issue or FPS drop.

http://www.geforce.co.uk/geforce-experience/shadowplay

Daz

 

[JCitron]

I'll have to look at the Shadowplay myself. It didn't work when it first came out and I've forgotten that until now.

My feeling is that the memory has been dorked once Fraps exits, which causes Trainz to remain jerky afterwards. With Fraps being an older application it may not run as efficiently under Windows 8.1 as it does under Vista or Windows 7.

Edit: Forgot to add how to remove indexing due to coffee being ready!

Do this for both Trainz and Fraps:

Right-click on the folder where application is installed.
Choose properties and then Advanced.
Uncheck the checkbox that reads "Allow files in this folder to have contents indexed in addition to file properties".

It can take a few minutes, maybe a bit longer to complete, but let it run.


John

 

[cascaderailroad]

When video shots are best kept from 5 to 10 seconds per view (as any longer bores the viewers eye and loses their attention span), and there are free video capture programs ... why would anyone want a payware movie maker, when there is MS Movie Maker to stitch short burst of Trianz scenes together into a movie.

When you watch TV or a movie ... take not of how frequently the camera scenes flip back and forth ... Long winded Trainz movies of a train comming at you for 3 minutes at a clanging RR crossing, are absolutely, attention span boring !

 

[dricketts]

Thanks John. I'm removing indexing as I type this... I'll report back if it has a positive impact while using FRAPS. I'll probably give ShadowPlay a try. It looks intriguing but no screenshot capture. I've got used to using FRAPS for my screenshots too which is now a performance killer on my new machine and Windows 8.1.

 

[Zeldaboy14]

The reason to NOT use Windows Movie Maker is because if you render a movie that's too big, it just won't work. And Windows Movie Maker is old, and doesn't support the modern type of footage. It does, however, support Fraps, due to Fraps being around as long as Windows Movie Maker on Windows XP.

 

[dricketts]

ShadowPlay is working great for video. I'm saving directly to the HD on my PC, not an external drive like was required with FRAPS for decent frame rates. I can't see any hit on performance. It's also fairly simple to use. I just posted a video captured using the software in my High Line thread. I did edit through Windows Movie Maker to cut it down the quality and size just a bit so it was manageable for uploading. I had ShadowPlay set to the highest quality for recording. I might have to ditch FRAPS. I suspect I got my money's worth for the last few years. It has been since early 2013 that there has been an update. That's light years by today's standards. Too bad ShadowPlay doesn't have a screenshot feature. Doesn't Trainz have one built in? I can't remember.

 

[trainman7616]

If you have a nvidia geforce card. The Nvidia corporation has a pc game capture program made just for their cards.

 

[John514]

If you have a nvidia geforce card. The Nvidia corporation has a pc game capture program made just for their cards.

I think it only works with the GTX series of Nvidia cards though.

 

[dricketts]

If you have a nvidia geforce card. The Nvidia corporation has a pc game capture program made just for their cards.

That's what ShawdowPlay is. By Nvidia. I've been tooling around with it even more and there's really no comparison to FRAPS. ShadowPlay will be my new video capture tool and I'll use Tranz for screenshots.

 

[JCitron]

That's awesome! I'm glad the ShadowPlay works; I'm going to try that myself. It didn't before when it first came out. In fact you'd click the on switch and it acted like a Playskool toy!

Part of the problem with FRAPS could very well have been how it handles I/O and Windows 8.1 may do things a bit differently that it wasn't aware of.

Hit the Print Screen key in Trainz and you can get a screenshot which is placed in your user data/screenshots folder.

John

 

[dricketts]

John,

Let me know if you have any questions. It was bit tricky to get working the very first time but I just overlooked a couple of obvious things. It really is amazing how smooth Trainz runs while it's recording in the background. I guess I didn't realize how clunky FRAPS had become.