Recommendations for Videotaping Software

[gandalf33 10]

Greetings,

 

I've recently tried to record my 2.5 hour trading session using Camtasia Studio 7, the resul was horrible - I had to scale down the framerate to 5 per second and then produce it, the video was being produced for 2 hours, and a 1.5 GB file of 1 trading day was spit out.

 

I'm looking for the same thing - making a video of my trading screen for 2.5 hours - but with reasonable processing time and size (few 100 MBs max). Any other software recommended for this?

[suriNotes 11]

Greetings,

 

I've recently tried to record my 2.5 hour trading session using Camtasia Studio 7, the resul was horrible - I had to scale down the framerate to 5 per second and then produce it, the video was being produced for 2 hours, and a 1.5 GB file of 1 trading day was spit out.

 

I'm looking for the same thing - making a video of my trading screen for 2.5 hours - but with reasonable processing time and size (few 100 MBs max). Any other software recommended for this?

 

 

With Camtasia Studio, you can adjust the Clip Speed while building the video (from Project). You can almost reduce the 2.5 hour recording session to 15 minutes (90%).

I used to record entire day of trading and playback in 40+ minutes...

Search for 'Clip speed' in Camtasia Help.

 

Regards,

Suri

[HowardCohodas 10]

I use CamStudio to record trading sessions, webinars and videos that block downloading. I've been quite satisfied with the quality of the results, however I can't say I really paid attention to the file size. It is free and open source.

[FranckT 10]

You can try this software: PowerPoint to Flash Converter & Flash Demo Software

 

Good compression for full screen with a reasonable price. There's a free trial.

 

Sincerely,

 

Franck

[WorldTrader 10]

I use CamStudio to record trading sessions, webinars and videos that block downloading. I've been quite satisfied with the quality of the results, however I can't say I really paid attention to the file size. It is free and open source.

 

I also use Camtasia 7 and It works well. It does take a long time to produce, that is due to the new MP4 format. This is great quality and smaller download. I don't trade all day, but very easy to record a 3 hour session.

 

You might also be able to use the older Camtasia 5 or 6, you can still download them. Howard how did you get it for free, they have a trial, but I did not know it was open source.

[HowardCohodas 10]

Howard how did you get it for free, they have a trial, but I did not know it was open source.

 

CamStudio is less capable than CamTasia. That's why CamStudio is free.

[gandalf33 10]

Thanks to all of you guys, for the inspirational insights.

 

I've spent the last 3 days rendering videos around the clock (except for trading), and I've come to a conclusion.

 

I've tried CamStudio, recorded a 4m 45s session, realized it takes 229 MB, which resulted into an estimated 2.5 hours session size of 7 GB - unacceptable. I then realized CamStudio uses the default codec Microsoft Video 1 to encode the result, a codec built in year 1992.

 

Then I've made extensive testing with all the available codecs using CamStudio, I've noted all the results down but none of them was what I was expecting - file size too large, the lowest one taking 1.8 GB.

 

I went on testing the FlashDemo software - the result was slightly more satisfactory on low quality setting (FlashDemo has two options: high quality and low quality...) but the final file is a .swf file, where the current position is marked with the current segment played, e.g. 357 / 892, not minutes. Plus Camtasia says the limit for swf files is 16 000 frames, which for a 2.5 hour would result into less than 1 frame per second...

 

I returned to Camtasia and played with it for two days. I'm gonna spare you all the million tests I did and just let you know the result:

 

- when producing the file in Camtasia Studio 7, use the custom format

- choose AVI

- choose TechSmith Sceen Capture Codec

- leave the key frame to be created every 80 frames

- use frame rate 10

- click on codec configuration and slide the slider to the leftmost side - all the way to 'Fast Compression'

- use High Color (16-bit)

 

My result of today's trading session:

length: 2h 31m

resolution: 1920 x 1200 (!)

quality: crystal clear

file size: 115 MB (!!)

rendering time: 1h 30m

 

...which is an absolutely stunning result. One of the lowest rendering times I had with the highest quality I had, combined with one of the lowest file sizes I had (and I've rendered A LOT of vids in the past two days). And here's why. Take these as hints when rendering your own tradin session vids:

 

- don't use 256 colors. Dithering, trying to 'get close' to another color pixelates the whole picture, which then actually takes more space than when you use 16-bit color

- don't use 24-bit color (True Color). 16-bit color (High Color) takes reasonably less space and there's absolutely no telling which one you are using by looking with your eyes

- I've tried lower resolutions, even 1600x1000 made the video a bit "fuzzy" (still usable though), while the file size dropped just a bit (I went down to as low as half of the original res). Keeping 1920x1200, the recorded resolution, makes the vid beautiful to the eye (looking exactly as it happened) while there's no big raise in the file size

- I wanted every single tick to be seen on the vid - I've observed the original action vs a 5 frames per second video very precisely for a long time next to each other, and I couldn't find the difference. Using 10 fps then is a safe bet to me, containing every tick change.

- beware of switching windows. When you are recording the price changes in your trading software, try switching to other software/desktop/internet explorer/instang messaging to minimum, or don't use those while you are trading, at all. They have a horrible effect on the file size. The 2.5 hours taking 115 MB in 1920x1200 quality (which is more than FULL HD today) does not contain a single screen switch. If I would switch to Internet Explorer 15-20 times during my trading session, the size would go up to 300 MB

 

That's all folks, thanks again and hope my findings will help somebody. Enjoy

[Ingot54 13]

CamStudio is less capable than CamTasia. That's why CamStudio is free.

 

There are some professionals who choose Camstudio above Camtasia, and it may surprise that the reason has little to do with being paid or free.

 

I was certainly surprised by that:

 

Camtasia or Camstudio?

 

Look for posts by Josh Anderson - #24 onwards. That fellow is knowledgable and professional - this is his bread and butter, and he has a very strong business.

 

Personally I searched the Internet for screen recording software to record the Boot Camp Marathon trading Webinar a few months back (the Wayne McDonell NFP people).

 

I had used Camstudio previously, and was about to use it again, when I remembered how useless the support forum was when I really needed some serious answers to get Camstudio going. Remember, the CS software is free to use, and they say the Forum is conducted only as a service ... it is not meant to operate like "Customer Support".

 

So I kept looking and came across this from Blueberry software:

 

Free screen recorder - BB FlashBack Express

 

There are enough tips and support to get you started, and the screen-sizing is drag-n-drop to the section or area you want to film. Also there are options to record different file sizes. I think the free version only records in SWF(?) from memory, but files can be converted to AVI and Flash ... don't quote me - I may have this stuff mixed up. I do know that you can set the number of frames per second, and they make recommendations.

 

After doing a couple of test recordings, and checking the quality against the files sizes, I found that the most economical settings size-of-file-wise, gave perfect imaging on playback, and the sound was perfectly synchronised.

 

I created one file of 360MB, but most of the 56 recorded sessions were from 40MB upwards. I saved them onto a Seagate 1TB external HDD, and I have no problems playing them back for my own use. (I paid to attend the Webinar - so I felt I didn't want to lose the intellectual teaching I had received). All up I think I was able to record over 160 hours flawlessly.

 

I had to set the alarm clock to get the change of sessions, because the Webinar stopped when presenters changed chairs, and was a bit frazzled by the end of the week. I do have a valuable resource now, and no longer have to pay to attend a Boot Camp screening. The playback is like I am looking at the original presentation, for quality.

 

I would recommend BB over Camstudio.

 

Downside: BB free version expires after a month, but the paid version is much less expensive than Camtasia, and beautiful quality.

 

Pricing:

1) Free version

2) Standard Edition $89

3) Professional Edition $199

4) Other offers

 

I have no interest in this company - I make the recommendation as a previous happy user. But I think every trader should be using some kind of screen capture software to record what they did during a trade, for later feedback.

 

The mind lets us believe what we would like to believe, but you can't fool the camera!!

[robertotrader 10]

Let's suppose you want to record your online event or trading session without attending or supervising the screen. How would you organize this job if you need to schedule a recording from (e.g.) 10:00 EST to 11:00 EST, save the AVI file and exit the software?

[Ingot54 13]

Let's suppose you want to record your online event or trading session without attending or supervising the screen. How would you organize this job if you need to schedule a recording from (e.g.) 10:00 EST to 11:00 EST, save the AVI file and exit the software?

 

I would simply ask my wife to do it - she's a multi-tasking whiz!

 

In all seriousness, I can't answer that.

 

Does Camtasia offer this?

 

I do know that if I left the BB Flashback recording run, it would continue until the Webinar ceased, and then leave a box asking for me to save. When I returned I could do the saving and exiting. Problem is, I would need to be present to set it up exactly to frame the Webinar screen initially. These things have a habit of popping up in different sections of the screen, and the 'camera' may not be positioned to capture the screen correctly.

 

Another option is the Remote Desktop Control software:

 

Remote Desktop Control software to access remote PC via computer network or Internet

 

But circumstance might dictate the feasibility of this.

 

Do you have another suggestion?

[robertotrader 10]

I would simply ask my wife to do it - she's a multi-tasking whiz!

 

In all seriousness, I can't answer that.

 

Does Camtasia offer this?

 

I do know that if I left the BB Flashback recording run, it would continue until the Webinar ceased, and then leave a box asking for me to save. When I returned I could do the saving and exiting. Problem is, I would need to be present to set it up exactly to frame the Webinar screen initially. These things have a habit of popping up in different sections of the screen, and the 'camera' may not be positioned to capture the screen correctly.

 

Another option is the Remote Desktop Control software:

 

Remote Desktop Control software to access remote PC via computer network or Internet

 

But circumstance might dictate the feasibility of this.

 

Do you have another suggestion?

 

Camtasia can't do that but there are these commands:

Camtasia Recorder command line switches and options for automation

 

"I do know that if I left the BB Flashback recording run, it would continue until the Webinar ceased, and then leave a box asking for me to save"

 

- Do you mean that BB Flashback is able to recognize the sound meter and stop the recording if no sound is played?

[Ingot54 13]

Do you mean that BB Flashback is able to recognize the sound meter and stop the recording if no sound is played?

 

Sorry Roberto, I have given the wrong impression. :doh:

 

No, as far as I know there is no way BB can achieve anything like that. It is strictly hands-on only. But I think it may be possible to set it to record for a set time period and then stop.

 

I didn't get to far into the capabilities of the free version - I just wanted to record what I was watching, and then stopped it.

 

I did get up at 1am and again at 4am to stop and restart the recordings, to coincide with the advertised times of the presenters. Had I not intervened, the recording would have probably run until the memory was full (whatever level that is).

 

I mentioned that at the end of the 160 hr marathon trading gig, I was frazzled!

 

I was seriously sleep-deprived, but I did get a valuable record of how these traders think, and what the setups are that they look for.

 

FOOTNOTE: After all the trouble and personal fatigue I endured, I do not use the FxBoot Camp methods ... I found that I made much more headway using Daily Pivot Points and a couple of strategic Moving Averages, and a decent customised MACD setting. So the effort to record 160 hours of someone else's trading did not particularly create an enduring method of trading for me, and I don't really recommend Boot Camp personally. It is a very expensive way to fail!

 

But I did gain insight into the benefits of using a recording device to monitor trading activity.

:missy:

[pbylina 10]

Camstudio is good and its free..)

[robertotrader 10]

Camstudio is good and its free..)

 

 

Ok, thanks for the suggestion but... does it satisfy the requirements I've posted above?

[pbylina 10]

Ok, thanks for the suggestion but... does it satisfy the requirements I've posted above?

 

You can reduce the quality of the video to make it take up less space.

[jwhtrades 10]

I posted a reply several weeks ago but it apparently did not make the cut. Let me strongly suggest you use Replay Video Capture from Applian software. I use this to record all streaming video, especially the webinars and classes I take. It's about $79 for the entire suite and the video is available immediately, it does NOT require rendering. Camtasia is fine for those who want to go through the learning curve and lengthy rendering process but the Applican product is the best I've found. It's cheap and it works great with NO rendering.

 

jwhtrades

[reset.no.regret 10]

Let's suppose you want to record your online event or trading session without attending or supervising the screen. How would you organize this job if you need to schedule a recording from (e.g.) 10:00 EST to 11:00 EST, save the AVI file and exit the software?

You can use a desktop macro recorder to create a mouse click/key stroke marco that starts the session and screen capture recorder. I used one a few years ago that allowed you to schedule the macro's to run. I don't recall the name but google will get you going.

[Klotzki 10]

Got a list of about 50+ screen recording software and tested out probably a good 5-10 of them.

 

Best one I found for my needs is BSR Screen Recorder. Supports multiple monitors, decent compression and file sizes, watermarking (e.g. dates, notes), fast and lightweight.

[4EverMaAT 10]

Got a list of about 50+ screen recording software and tested out probably a good 5-10 of them.

 

Best one I found for my needs is BSR Screen Recorder. Supports multiple monitors, decent compression and file sizes, watermarking (e.g. dates, notes), fast and lightweight.

 

+1 I can personally vouch for this software. Camtasia is excellent also, but BSR produces instant videos, of exactly what was in the recorded area and is very straight-forward. Much cheaper also. And you can custom name the files (default is preset name and date/time stamp) and split the videos by MB size. No need to create 1 large file if you are recording for several hours. And this also reduces the need to split the avi file later. Easier to remove parts you don't need if you use smaller file sizes.

 

Now snag-it 11 (techsmith; makers of Camtasia) includes video recording, so not sure if you would want to give this a shot. Snag-it was/is the best screen shot application available IMO.

 

Speaking of recording, if you have access to a VPS, you can record "in the cloud" on a remote desktop unattended. You can do this from regular desktop also, but usually automated trading is done in the cloud for redundancy. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoybUfW0VdY]This video shows how to set it up. It's a bit fast, but it explains how to use two users to keep RDC open in the cloud.[/ame]

[todds 10]

Interesting thread. I've been getting into tape reading the time and sales window and the DOM and was looking for a screen recorder that could capture a full session (7 hours) with the capability of slow motion replay. Most important is the slow motion replay. Do any of the products mentioned do slow motion? It's not always apparent from the product descriptions.

[4EverMaAT 10]

Interesting thread. I've been getting into tape reading the time and sales window and the DOM and was looking for a screen recorder that could capture a full session (7 hours) with the capability of slow motion replay. Most important is the slow motion replay. Do any of the products mentioned do slow motion? It's not always apparent from the product descriptions.

 

you are referring to the PLAYBACK of the recording. Not the recording itself, which will be 12-29 fps. Depending on the codec you use (BSR uses Xvid by default which is universal), you use vlc player which you can adjust the playback speed of the video clip.

 

 

Also, if you want to actually produce your own videos, you import the video into the production suite (Movie Lab, Camtasia Studio, etc) and you can speed up or slow down the video that way. This is more advanced and not necessary unless you are doing tutorials or how-to videos.

[todds 10]

you are referring to the PLAYBACK of the recording. Not the recording itself, which will be 12-29 fps. Depending on the codec you use (BSR uses Xvid by default which is universal), you use vlc player which you can adjust the playback speed of the video clip.

 

 

Also, if you want to actually produce your own videos, you import the video into the production suite (Movie Lab, Camtasia Studio, etc) and you can speed up or slow down the video that way. This is more advanced and not necessary unless you are doing tutorials or how-to videos.

 

You are correct, I am referring to playback slow motion.

 

Will the recording speed of 12-29fps capture all of the time and sales data crossing the screen and changes on the DOM that you would see in real time? If not it wouldn't be worth doing.

 

Thanks for your feedback.

[Tams 20]

You are correct, I am referring to playback slow motion.

 

Will the recording speed of 12-29fps capture all of the time and sales data crossing the screen and changes on the DOM that you would see in real time? If not it wouldn't be worth doing.

 

Thanks for your feedback.

 

Do you see in your chart, 12 tick changes in one second?

[4EverMaAT 10]

You are correct, I am referring to playback slow motion.

 

Will the recording speed of 12-29fps capture all of the time and sales data crossing the screen and changes on the DOM that you would see in real time? If not it wouldn't be worth doing.

 

Thanks for your feedback.

 

The short answer is absolutely yes.

The default is 25-29fps (29 for NTSC and 25 for PAL). This is the same frame rate that your consumer camcorder (regular or HD) uses to record live video footage. I suppose you could increase the FPS if you really needed to....not sure what the maximum is. I think the default of 25-29 fps is PLENTY for any recording enthusiasts, unless you are doing some very specialized hollywood film or are trying to film lightning (1000fps to see the flash only (in slow motion), about 7000fps to see the lightning flash path from the sky to the ground, 100k+ fps for a meteorologist or ecologist to map an exact path at every turn.

 

Animation is usually done in 12 fps.

Do you see in your chart, 12 tick changes in one second?

 

I've never paid attention too much except when I am looking live during a news annoucement or volatile period. I've seen several changes per second at times, but never counted. 10 frames per second would give you 1 snapshot every 100ms. 20 would be 1 snapshot every 50ms. 30 would be 1 every 33.3 ms, etc. You may get 12 ticks of the same price in 1 second, but the chart wouldn't move. It is only when a change in price occurs there is movement. But how often does current bid/ask price change in one second? Even for the eMinis.

 

If you are using a broker or private datafeed subscription (e.g. eSignal) that is giving you true tick-by-tick datafeed, and you want to guarantee that you can see each individual tick price information, The best thing might be if you want to track historical changes is to open a separate 1 tick chart, time/sales, tape window, and/or DoM for each symbol that you want to record and compare it to your other compression charts you normally use for the SAME symbol and verify during heavy trading that the recording is picking up all of the movements.

 

To put it in perspective, Interactive Brokers sends "compressed" or summary ticks every 200-400ms or so, not true tick-by-tick data. It's free, much less likely to crash their data servers, and takes much less hard drive space to store, similar 60000ms (1 min) bars;)

 

I mostly use it on forex, and the majority of retail brokers tend to throttle their tick data to bypass metatrader and client internet limitations, but it is unnoticeable to most traders.

 

I think some people got thrown off with the fps thing. It's just like recording your monitor with a camcorder, but without having to buy camcorder.

[todds 10]

The short answer is absolutely yes.

The default is 25-29fps (29 for NTSC and 25 for PAL). This is the same frame rate that your consumer camcorder (regular or HD) uses to record live video footage. I suppose you could increase the FPS if you really needed to....not sure what the maximum is. I think the default of 25-29 fps is PLENTY for any recording enthusiasts, unless you are doing some very specialized hollywood film or are trying to film lightning (1000fps to see the flash only (in slow motion), about 7000fps to see the lightning flash path from the sky to the ground, 100k+ fps for a meteorologist or ecologist to map an exact path at every turn.

 

Animation is usually done in 12 fps.

 

 

I've never paid attention too much except when I am looking live during a news annoucement or volatile period. I've seen several changes per second at times, but never counted. 10 frames per second would give you 1 snapshot every 100ms. 20 would be 1 snapshot every 50ms. 30 would be 1 every 33.3 ms, etc. You may get 12 ticks of the same price in 1 second, but the chart wouldn't move. It is only when a change in price occurs there is movement. But how often does current bid/ask price change in one second? Even for the eMinis.

 

If you are using a broker or private datafeed subscription (e.g. eSignal) that is giving you true tick-by-tick datafeed, and you want to guarantee that you can see each individual tick price information, The best thing might be if you want to track historical changes is to open a separate 1 tick chart, time/sales, tape window, and/or DoM for each symbol that you want to record and compare it to your other compression charts you normally use for the SAME symbol and verify during heavy trading that the recording is picking up all of the movements.

 

To put it in perspective, Interactive Brokers sends "compressed" or summary ticks every 200-400ms or so, not true tick-by-tick data. It's free, much less likely to crash their data servers, and takes much less hard drive space to store, similar 60000ms (1 min) bars;)

 

I mostly use it on forex, and the majority of retail brokers tend to throttle their tick data to bypass metatrader and client internet limitations, but it is unnoticeable to most traders.

 

I think some people got thrown off with the fps thing. It's just like recording your monitor with a camcorder, but without having to buy camcorder.

 

I'm not really consciously tracking every tick change, just trying get a feel for which side is more eager. Large trades can pass through the time and sales window in a fraction of a second during active periods. I believe the subconscious can pick this up. In any case, I think the speed of recording you are talking about is fine for what I want.

 

Great information, thank you so much. Really helps!