Quake Capture: Using capture

Instructions for using Quake Capture are similar for all engine modifications. Following this general section you can read specific additional notes on Quake1 and Quake2 engines.

There are four new console variables: capture_mode, capture_codec, and capture_fps.

capture_mode
The mode of capture required. Recognised values are avi and screenshot.
capture_codec
The kind of encoding to use when capturing. The interpretation of this depends on the capture mode. 0 always represents some appropriate default value.
capture_fps
The number of video frames per second to capture. This isn't a true console variable. It is really a command that interacts with an existing variable in the engine that controls framerate; host_framerate in Quake1, fixedtime in Quake2. Setting the variable back to 0 removes its effect. See engine-specific notes for more details.
capture_dir
Base directory relative to the current working directory into which to write captures. The directory separator is the Quake/Unix "/" rather than the Windows "\". Dot directories ("." and "..") are not supported, but the empty string (default value) indicates the current working directory. Using drive letters (like "c:") should work OK.

The resolution of the capture is the same as that of the main Quake window. Set this using existing Quake menu or command-line options.

You may wish to set the speed of console movement so that the console toggles instantly and does not interfere with capture. To do this, use e.g. scr_conspeed 999999.

There are three new console commands: capture_start, capture_stop and capture_demo.

capture_start
capture_start filename begins capturing to the named file. A default extension depending on capture mode and/or codec will be applied if necessary.
capture_stop
capture_stop ends capture and writes the file.
capture_demo
capture_demo demoname plays a demo recording, but captures an appropriately named file from this demo, and exits on completion. Uses 15fps if user has not set their own fps. demoname may include a path, including access to files in a PAK, but output is always a file in the current working directory. Designed for such things as batch use from the command-line, e.g.

Notes on using capture in Quake1

capture_fps is implemented under the hood using host_framerate, which sets a frame duration in seconds. Remember that id misnamed the variable - capture_fps 10 will set host_framerate 0.1 for a frame time of 0.1s, and hence a framerate of 10fps. capture_fps 15 will set host_framerate 0.0666666666667.

Note that the Quake1 will drop very fast frames entirely, imposing a maximum framerate of 72. In the event this matters for you it would be necessary to amend the implementation of Host_FilterTime in host.c.

Also, the console variable _snd_mixahead should be set to something greater than the frame time to allow the engine to generate the audio in time for it to be captured.

The engine will warn you if either of the above potentially troublesome circumstances occur.

Notes on using capture in Quake2

capture_fps is implemented under the hood using fixedtime, which sets a frame duration in milliseconds. capture_fps 10 will set fixedtime 100 for a frame time of 100ms and hence a framerate of 10fps. Quake2 always interprets fixedtime as an integer value, so not all framerates can be represented exactly. For example, capture_fps 15 sets a rounded fixedtime 67, giving an exact framerate of 14.92537...

Unfortunately, Quake2 considers use of fixedtime by the client to be a cheat. Hence, by default it will prevent one from using it in a multiplayer setting. Stupidly, this includes playback of recorded demos of network play, where cheating is clearly irrelevant! But for capture to work we do need to be able to reliably set a fixedtime. So...

...Quake2 has a cheats console flag to allow cheats in multiplayer. In the original engine, fixedtime is not one of the re-enabled cheats, but in the patched engine, it is. So setting capture_fps also forces on cheats 1 in order to work in multiplayer settings.

Quake2 imposes minimum and maximum client framerates. In the event that this matters for you, the maximum is controlled by the variable cl_maxfps, whilst the minimum is hardcoded to 5 in the released id codebase, with an earlier implementation using cl_minfps having been commented out - it is easy to re-enable.

In the original Quake2 engine, using fixedtime negates the effect of timescale (the usual relationship between gameclock time and real time.) Quake2 machinima sometimes uses timescale, either for slow-motion or as part of a hack to clip "swoosh-pan cut frames". From August 2004, QuakeCapture applies a small patch to qcommon/common.c intended to allow timescale to continue working under use of fixedtime, and thus to enable capture of such machinima.

Also, the console variable s_mixahead should be set to something greater than the frame time to allow the engine to generate the audio.

The engine will warn you if any of the above potentially troublesome circumstances occur.