How to get decent screenshots

[Pat Pattle]

Probably a dumb question but does anyone know of a way to get good quality screeneies please?

I use either a plain old screen-dump or else MW's MGrab. The quality is never as good in the resulting shot as that which I see on my screen.

Any hints or tips gratefully received! :wavey:

[BeauBrummie]

Blimey Clive I thought you'd have sussed this by now. I use FRAPS which you can get free, and will take screenies in bmp and record 30 sec vid clips. I have the paid for version which gives you the option to save screenies in several formats. Also you can then record umlimited video. It also can be used to monitor and record fps rates. Another proggie favourite is Gamecam. I have tried both and prefer FRAPS simpler operation, though others prefer Gamecam as it gives you a small screen to see what your recording. Both come in free and paid for versions.

[KellyB]

I'll second the FRAPS choice, Clive.

It also has an FPS counter which is better than the in-game one (Z-key) since it uses far less computer resources which cuts DOWN on the fps. Good job, M$oft!

It also lets you save the info for study afterwards, if you're so inclined.

You can, if you choose, make a movie of the entire Battle of Britain with the paid version...(I'm just sayin')

cheers.

[beana51]

I use these four ....Photobucket,......Picture Trail.....Screen Shot...Fraps....All do a good job!http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/images/icons/icon25.gif

[popsaka]

Clive, I've always thought your screenies were top notch ...plus sometimes you post shots with no thumbnail... How does one do that?

Okay so we have a thread about screenshots w/ no screenshots.... Humm...:p::mix-smi:

[ndicki]

I simply wind the resolution up as far as it goes, stick all sliders on 5 and use the CFS3 screenshot function. It's enough...

[Frosty]

You can also adjust the .jpg quality on the 'settings'-tab in MGrab to 100%... I like that proggie!!

[Martin]

You can also adjust the .jpg quality on the 'settings'-tab in MGrab to 100%... I like that proggie!!

Or set it to save raw BMP. Takes up a lot more room but will be totally unprocessed and you can edit/compress it as much as you like later

At the end of the day the quality is determined by the windows internal screengrab function. If you are running CFS3 full-screen then it should grab the current frame buffer. However graphics cards are devious and clever beasts these days and use double and triple buffering and multiple overlays for smooth display. With some games you just end up with a grab of a blank screen.

[Pat Pattle]

Arghh Joost that's it! I'd forgotten to adjust the jpeg quality in Mgrab!:redf:

I reckon that with all the proggies I have to use at work (Autocad, Solidworks, Dreamweaver M$office etc etc) AND all the Gmax, paintdotnet and cfs3 stuff here at home I think my brains fried.

... or couldn't possibly be the beer and red wine...could it?? :icon_lol:

Martin - I'm guessing your Mr Wright..thankyou sincerely for all the great little tools that you've furnished us with over the years, you've made our lives so much easier. :salute:

[flamingskull]

Clive, I've always thought your screenies were top notch ...plus sometimes you post shots with no thumbnail... How does one do that?

Okay so we have a thread about screenshots w/ no screenshots.... Humm...:p::mix-smi:

Let fix that with the first screenie on my new rig