Recording Atari ST

[DamnedRegistrations]

Required:

Bandicam or similar recording program, full version.

ST Emulators

Virtualdub

x264vfw

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I was asked to give instructions on how to go about recording Atari ST as I started on the set and finished #-B. It's not the easiest system to record especially if you're new to this but it's doable. Your rig must be capable of recording 60fps raw footage without stuttering or chugging. Recommended Intel i5/i7 build. So if you're on like an older AMD cpu or something similar, you're going to need a faster PC.

First of all, you're going to need a recording program like Bandicam. The full version too, as we can't have videos with watermarks. FRAPs will not work for either Steam SSE or Hatari, which are the emulators you'll be using (mostly Hatari), since they use software rendering. You'll need to set Bandicam to record your whole screen then you'll do cropping afterward. I've provided both my Hatari and Steam SSE emulator folders. The only settings you'll need to change will be your controls and maybe some folder paths, otherwise leave the video settings alone unless you have to change the full screen resolution to match your own.

Prepare Virtualdub. Open the program, go up to Video->Filters, add Null Transform followed by Resize. Then go up to Video->Compression and set it to x264vfw. Make sure your settings match these:

  

Next you should prepare Bandicam. Set it to Screen Recording mode and make sure your recording settings match these. Change hotkey to whatever you prefer:

 

With all the prep work done, you're ready to record. Make sure Bandicam is in screen recording mode still, you can hide the recording bar too if you like. Now fire up a game. The last title I recorded was BMX Simulator (Europe), so start with Bob Morane - Chevalerie I (France).

1. Record at least 10 or so seconds of the title screen if you can to work with. Feel free to use Warp key shortcut you set in RocketLauncher to skip the long load times. Stop recording.

2. Record again once you're playing to get the gameplay footage, try to get a minute or two of footage to work with. Do your best not to die repeatedly or play horribly lol.

3. You'll now have two gameplay clips. First open your title screen footage in Virtualdub.

4. Go up to Filters screen, highlight Null Transform then click on the Cropping... button on the right size. Crop out all the stuff outside of the game window and the black bars depending on game.

5. Using 7/Home and 1/End on your numbpad, set your beginning and ending trim points on the Vdub timeline. Hit delete to remove what needs removing.

6. Title screen clip should be exactly 8 secondsh. Gameplay exactly 30 seconds.

7. Go up to File->Save as Avi... to encode your videos.

8. Name your title screen clip "Game Title (Region) T" and your gameplay clip "Game Title (Region) G". Remember, 8 seconds for title screen, 30 seconds for gameplay.

9. After doing all the videos you like, upload them to FTP at "/Upload Here/_Video Snap Submissions". Just create a folder with your username, then a folder named Atari ST inside that.

Hopefully this tutorial wasn't too hard to follow.

[Circo]

Thanks DR!

[cleverest]

Thank you, i'll work on getting this set up and something submitted before long. :-)

 

-Brett

[cleverest]

With the holidays coming up, I can't afford the $39 for Bandicam full....is there some other free solution that gives the same video recording capability?  I don't want to be cheap, but I also don't want this to hold me up....just a tough time for us this year.

Thanks, if anything it will be after the holidays that I can start on this. :-\

[Circo]

45 minutes ago, cleverest said:

With the holidays coming up, I can't afford the $39 for Bandicam full....is there some other free solution that gives the same video recording capability?  I don't want to be cheap, but I also don't want this to hold me up....just a tough time for us this year.

Thanks, if anything it will be after the holidays that I can start on this. :-\

sent you a pm

[cleverest]

So I'm setting up VirtualDub, but I don't have a x264vfw option under Video > Compression, this is what It's showing me:

I'm stuck...any ideas?  Thanks!

- Brett

[cleverest]

Sorry nevermind, noticed I need to DL  x264vfw - thanks, I'll try again.

[DamnedRegistrations]

2 hours ago, cleverest said:

Sorry nevermind, noticed I need to DL  x264vfw - thanks, I'll try again.

Yeah, you'll need the x86 (32-bit) version for VirtualDub. Then just set it up like in my screenshot, making sure it's on Lossless and that VirtualDub Hack is checked.

[cleverest]

Got it all set up, will try to record some stuff soon.  :-)  Thanks.

[bersantees]

Thanks.

[toaks]

I may try to give this a shot as well. Have to see if my laptop can handle it. Are there any other detailed tutorials like this for other systems that are still needed?

[DamnedRegistrations]

Sorry, late reply.

Most other systems are much simpler as you can just record with FRAPs. If you want similar systems to work on that also need vids, then you could try Microsoft MSX or ZX Spectrum. I think the whole Famicom Disk System set needs to be redone as well after checking my notes.

[C4040]

Posted by mistake, sorry :/

[walterg74]

So stupid question, as this is very interesting also for a personal project.  When you record this way with any of these tools, do you always get the whole screen and then need to crop it out..?

 

What about capturing with an external device like elgato from real hardware?  Wouldn't that be much better?   (not sure I understand the resolution of the video and then of the cropped video)

[Veyn]

Good info! Thank you very much!