Video quality reasons?

[Srobertson1956]

I have reviewed many high quality videos of Trainz routes that reflect crisp smooth shadows, and smooth, not jerky, operation, etc. I assume this is because those people are running very powerful computers with advanced graphics cards. I am using an iMac that, is, a few years old, QuickTime to record the screen, and then iMovie to create a short video. When watching the operation of my route when using Driver things are smooth. But when recorded and played back, not so much. I even have turned shadows off to improve performance. Assuming my hardware is the probable issue (most likely), is there a third party software to screen record that compensates for poor hardware?

 

[Driver_Col]

I have reviewed many high quality videos of Trainz routes that reflect crisp smooth shadows, and smooth, not jerky, operation, etc. I assume this is because those people are running very powerful computers with advanced graphics cards. I am using an iMac that, is, a few years old, QuickTime to record the screen, and then iMovie to create a short video. When watching the operation of my route when using Driver things are smooth. But when recorded and played back, not so much. I even have turned shadows off to improve performance. Assuming my hardware is the probable issue (most likely), is there a third party software to screen record that compensates for poor hardware?

I use FRAPS for video recording of Trainz and am very happy with the end results. You can try it out for free, but I believe there is a "watermark" you have to ignore! Given that is costs nothing to try it out .... go for it as you have nothing to lose! Regards. Colin.

 

[johnwhelan]

I have reviewed many high quality videos of Trainz routes that reflect crisp smooth shadows, and smooth, not jerky, operation, etc. I assume this is because those people are running very powerful computers with advanced graphics cards. I am using an iMac that, is, a few years old, QuickTime to record the screen, and then iMovie to create a short video. When watching the operation of my route when using Driver things are smooth. But when recorded and played back, not so much. I even have turned shadows off to improve performance. Assuming my hardware is the probable issue (most likely), is there a third party software to screen record that compensates for poor hardware?

The issue is running trainz and capturing video at the same time. In the windows world we have a number of different tools including nVidia's own capture tool. The Mac world is probably more restrictive. Try running a route that doesn't stress the machine too much, for example Middleton for laptops and see how that turns out. Setting the distance slider to a shorter distance can help sometimes as well.

Cheerio John

 

[philskene]

John --

That's my experience too. What I did find was recording to a different drive, not the drive running Trainz, helped reduce the stuttering.
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Col --

I found that at higher resolutions FRAPS introduced some jerkiness. I now use OBS Studio which is open source freeware, and which I'd highly recommend. The only downside is that with the default settings there is no on-screen indication that it is recording. One way of overcoming this is to set the Scroll Lock key as the hot key to start and end recording.
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To the original poster --

OBS Studio is also available for Mac. You will also need an application to edit and compress the file. I use Shotcut. Again it's open source freeware with a Mac version.

This is the result using both apps on a reasonably powered Windows PC (best watched full screen / 1440p):

Phil

 

[dangavel]

Try screenflick for Mac , it works well for me ,but take into consideration that I have an 8gb Rx 580 in a 2010 Mac Pro.

 

[Srobertson1956]

Thanks for all the suggestions. Lots to consider.