I record gameplay using MagicYUV Standard in combination with MSI Afterburner (always the latest recommended version along with RTSS unless pointed out otherwise). There is a problem starting with 2.3.1 onward, where, depending on the game, video frames are seemingly missing which leads to periodic black screens in preview. For some games it leads to painful rapid flickering in editing playback. Playback in VLC seems to be fine (also latest).
The most visible examples of the issue have been when I recorded footage from Deadpool, and then testing out Final Fantasy VII and Limbo (all on Steam). Switching from the default mixed mode to desktop capture in the 'Video capture' tab can largely mitigate the rapid frame flickering for FFVII but it doesn't completely eliminate it and it doesn't stop the periodic missing frames in Deadpool.
I initially tried to give MagicYUV the benefit of the doubt, because previous problems have been solved by switching options in Afterburner.. but I researched the issue starting with 2.3.0 and I record without problem. I have also tested with the trial of the latest Dxtory, same problem. The missing frames and flickering immediately starts in use with 2.3.1. I switched back over to 2.3.2 and then went with older versions of Afterburner but that seems to just make the problems worse in certain situations where it would stop, so the latest Afterburner and RTSS versions are doing something to mitigate the issue. With that being said, I honestly can't really tell if the footage is being corrupted or not.. like I said, VLC seems to play the footage fine.
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A bonus problem is that when recording Final Fantasy VII in mixed, the resolution is 1920x1440, desktop is 1080p. Recording with Dxtory doesn't have this issue.. but that could specifically just be an Afterburner problem.
I can confirm this problem tho. Was about to make a topic regarding it then I saw that someone else have the same problem as I do.
So the issue is with versions 2.3.1 and 2.3.2. I am on 2.3.0 atm and I don't have that kind of problem with flickering. I do use Magix Vegas Pro 19 for video editing and I can see a lot of black screen frames in recorded video when I use 2.3.1 / 2.3.2, and there is a lot of flickering / black frames.
I am using dxtory for recording and recording only World of Warcraft game in 2150p.
I am able to make a few test runs if required so dev can check out what could be the issue.
That is strange, there is absolutely no change in the core codec between 2.3.0-2.3.2, only the Vegas plugin has been updated and even there some bugs were fixed, no substantial changes have been made.
In any case, could you send me a recording which exhibits the problem? Upload to google drive then you can use the contact form on the website to send me a link directly. (EDIT: Let me know here as well if you do so to make sure I received it).
I hope you can grab it.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nIPsX2nqwpjPG-ubWEolhZxpzoGXhwhh/view?usp=sharing
Anyway, I figure out its maybe problem with Vegas plugin :/ decompression not sure. 2.3.0 works fine with this recorded video when I add it to vegas pro and work with it. While with 2.3.2 I have the blinkings.
You can see those black frames spots at around 00:04 sec and 00:22sec. Those places is where I lost the frames while recording. The loading screen always goes 10-15 fps, so it drop from 60. Not sure could that be the problem?
@stiven Thanks, this is helpful. The recording has dropped frames, which is kind of a special marker in the AVI file, it is an "empty" frame and most programs deal with it by duplicating the nearest previous good frame (in case there are multiple dropped ones in succession). The AVI parser of the plugin doesn't deal with this situation correctly, hence in Vegas if you use the plugin it results in black frames.
VirtualDub 2 shows these dropped frames explicitly, if you go to "Frame 33" in VirtualDub 2, it shows a [D] which means dropped.
I'll have to fix this for the Vegas plugin.
For the time being you can circumvent this issue by reinstalling the codec and select NOT to install the Vegas plugin, in which case Vegas will use the VFW (Video For Windows) interface to access the codec and do the AVI parsing itself.
The Vegas plugin is useful mainly for 10bit+ depths (VFW cannot deal with that in general), but for these types of recordings like the one you sent, not using the Vegas plugin but going with the old VFW interface instead should suffice.
@stiven One more question: Which version of Vegas are you using? If you use Vegas 19, then 2.3.1 should also "work", since the plugin only gets installed for Vegas 19 from MagicYUV version 2.3.2, previous versions didn't have a plugin for Vegas 19.
Vegas pro 19
Thanks for the tip for unchecking plugin on installation 🙂
Apologies for the late reply, life got busy shortly after. Thank you Stiven for picking up after my slack 😅and making sure Balázs had something to work with.
Can confirm that the workaround stops the issue for each of the games that I mentioned. Many thanks. I look forward to the fixed version.
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The bonus problem that I mentioned in my first post is in all likelihood an Afterburner problem, made even worse by the latest release of RTSS (I can't even record in mixed mode now).. f*** all I can do about that. Here is to hoping that Dxtory gets updated in the next millennia.
I would pay 1000$ tbh if MagicYuv make similar recording software like dxtory xD
Any word on improvements or general progress on MagicYUV?
I really dropped the ball on this one, didn't I. Sorry about it, I'll try to get it fixed ASAP.
@stiven Well, I can well understand why the dev of dxtory just simply disappeared. The truth is, it is insanely difficult to make a good/fast game recording software, it requires deep knowledge of how and where to hook into the games, and with each new game there is a chance that it'll simply won't work, not speaking of the fact that anti-cheat increasingly doesn't allow such things, so it's an endless cat and mouse game. Also, it's a pretty niche market, most people just suffice with the default recorder that ships with nvidia and be done with it. So it probably wasn't worth it financially.
TBH, MagicYUV also falls into this category, it's probably even more niche, and obviously it's not something I make my living off primarily. I just do it for the fun of coding, learning new stuff and the fact that I did something that others appreciate and find useful. Programming is a form of self-expression after all.
I will get entirely offtopic for just this one message. I don't wish to muddy the purpose of your sub-forums.
@ignus One can understand.. but the main difference between ExKoder and you is? You respond AGAIN and do still make improvements and upgrades while keeping your site up. You pointed out to us a workaround and that has sufficed for now until the next upgrade. That right there? Makes me more inclined to buy again for future substantial releases.
I can understand that the cat and mouse game means usage will not always gonna be perfect.. but if your codec works with Afterburner or Dxtory 99% of the time with the occasional workarounds being necessary for that remaining percentage? I will commit to the software.
The last Dxtory update was in 2017 and a promise for a future update in early Jan of 2019.. but at this point? I really have no reason to trust the word and thus invest in it. Which sucks, because it does pick up where recording with Afterburner/RTSS can fail or lack for me.
Thank you very much for your work and efforts.
Any update on this?
