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| Recording in a remote desktop connection. |
| Recording DVDs, moving video, media players. |
| Text and/or menu options appear missing after recording. |
| Can I schedule recording? |
| I get error messages referring to “Capture Driver” upon recording. |
| What factors affect recording speed? |
| What factors affect movie file size? |
| The “enable sound recording” tab is disabled in the recorder options. |
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Recording in a remote desktop connection.
BB FlashBack supports recording over a terminal services / remote desktop connection. When recording in a remote desktop connection, GDI recording mode is used. |
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Recording DVDs, moving video, media players.
BB FlashBack's default record mode in Windows XP is 'capture driver', and this works well at recording standard Windows applications that do not show moving video. If you want to record video footage in a media player application, you'll need to change the record mode to 'GDI'.
To select GDI mode: Go to the Recorder Options window, select the Record Mode tab and select GDI mode. Or select GDI record mode in the Record Wizard.
If you want to record video from a media player type application, you'll also need to turn off 'hardware acceleration' in Windows, or you'll end up with a black rectangle where the video should be.
To turn off hardware acceleration: Select GDI mode and check the 'turn off hardware acceleration while recording' box on the Record mode tab of the Recorder Options window.
Note: we make no promises on PC performance and recording quality when recording moving video - this is very dependant on your video hardware.
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Text and/or menu options are missing from the movie.
Use GDI record mode.
To select GDI mode: Go to the Recorder Options window, select the Record Mode tab and select GDI mode. Or select GDI record mode in the Record Wizard.
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Can I schedule recording?
Currently there is no way to invoke the BB FlashBack recorder to start or stop recording from the command prompt. However there are two ways in which recording can be scheduled using products from the FlashBack family if required. These methods both require the use of a development environment.
- BB TestAssistant has an API which allows commands such as “start record to filename” and “stop record” from your own code. You can find out more about the TestAssistant API from the BB TestAssistant help file.
- The BB FlashBack SDK is designed to give software developers the ability to use recording technology in their own applications and fully supports receiving recording commands from a development environment.
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I get error messages referring to “Capture Driver” upon recording
The Capture Driver is a driver used by BB FlashBack to record the screen. Its is used by default on Windows XP.
The vast majority of Capture Driver problems can be solved by reinstalling the driver; this is done separately from reinstalling the FlashBack application.
If you see error messages referring to the Capture Driver when recording, either use GDI record mode, or reinstall the driver using these steps:
- Browse to the installation directory for BB FlashBack.
- Run the program in this folder named "FlashbackDriverInstaller.exe".
- Select "uninstall BB Capture Driver".
- Restart your computer (the program will probably prompt for this).
- Upon reboot, run the FlashbackDriverInstaller.exe program once again but this time select "Install BB Capture Driver".
- Try recording in Capture Driver mode again.
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What factors affect recording speed?
A number of factors affect recording speed. These include:
- The recording mode and setting used.
Capture Driver is usually best at recording 'standard' Windows application that don't include moving video. GDI mode is better at recording moving video.
You can select which mode you want to use on the Record Mode tab of the Options window or on the Record Wizard.
In GDI mode, the frames-per-second (FPS) value will also affect performance while recording. A higher value has more impact on PC performance while recording but a smoother movie. A lower value means less impact on PC performance but a less smooth movie.
- The level of graphical detail on the screen
Recording simple Windows applications requires less processing power than recording highly graphical material. Switching off windows graphical effects can also slightly speed up the recording performance . You can disable Windows’ graphical effects in the Record Mode tab of the Options window, or on the Record Wizard.
- The hardware resources available.
The key resources tend to be CPU speed and graphics card specification. Running background processes and extra applications while recording will of course also slow down recording.
On a modern computer when recording standard Windows applications in Capture Driver mode, we would generally expect recording to use less than 10% CPU capacity - unnoticeable to most users. |
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What factors affect movie file size?
The resulting file size of your movie is determined by a range of factors.
- Material recorded
File size is mainly determined by the material recorded, and the number of changes drawn to the screen, not the duration of the movie. Material which will boost file size significantly includes high quality images, photos, web graphics, animations or smooth scrolling.
- Inclusion of sound
Recording or adding sound to your movie file will increase file size. Using MP3 files or enabling MP3 compression upon sound recording (and these are enabled by default) reduces the impact on file size when using audio.
- Windows graphical effects
Windows XP includes graphical effects such as menu fading and shadows. Switching these off before recording can dramatically reduce movie file size. You can set BB FlashBack to automatically disable graphical effects upon recording in the Display tab of the Options window, or on the Wizard.
- Output format (movie file type)
The movie file format will have a very large effect on the size of your file.
An EXE export may be much smaller than a Flash or AVI format export of the same movie.
Experiment with export settings to find the best balance between movie file size and quality.
For AVI and WMV formats, the codec selected upon export will have a large effect on file size.
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Sound recording cannot be selected in the recorder Options window or Wizard
Try to check that sound recording is working on your computer by running the Windows Sound Recorder utility. This is found in the Windows programs menus, under Accessories -> Entertainments.
Use it to check that you can record the microphone or PC sounds.
Secondly, at the bottom of the BB FlashBack recorder sound recording tab (recorder > options > sound tab) is a button marked “troubleshooting”. If you select this then “troubleshooting sound help” – you can view more detailed information in the BB FlashBack help file about troubleshooting sound problems. |