In using fraps to capture in-game video, the file size it saves is extremely large. I realize to capture events such as this, maximum quality is probably observed, but I would like a converter (Or a way in fraps itself) to record lower res videos so that their respective files are smaller.

having a ten second video take 75megs isn't very praticle. I wanted to make a few "how to" videos for Oblivion, but not if they are always this size.

I posted here instead of the Oblivion forum, as this may be something others wish to discuss who don't play Oblivion.

Edit:
incase it's brought up, I have the registered version of fraps.

Well in fraps...there is only two ways to reduce the size of file.
On the Movies tab in settings
Set it to half size..that really reduces file size.
Lowering the frame rate can make the file smaller as well.
Also..if you don't need sound..unclick Record Sound. That will make the file smaller.

Likewise, try lowering the resolution in your oblivion game to something like 640x480
I am not sure if that will help..but makes sense now that I think about it.


As for converters....I don't have any at this time. But if you can convert the file to a divX format...I believe that has one of the best compressions for video.
You can get a 15 day trial for the converter here http://www.divx.com/divx/windows/
You might want to look around for a free 3rd party divx converter....or maybe umm a pirate version...
I don't recommend getting a pirate version... thats the best way to get NASTY viruses.

When I play a fraps made video, divx player is the default player that loads the vid, though winamp also can play it.

I had the FPS to 50, I could drop that. sound 'might' be important but if it drops file size I could suffer without sound, and I always record in 'half size'.

I'll attempt a lower res game and try some fraps capturing and see if that helps with size. I had some rather interesting events I wanted to share, and I suppose with a disclaimer that the resolution is low for file size, that may be all right.

If this doesn't help, I'll try a trialware converter kit...
I think I remember "real player" format being very small too (at an extreem loss of quality), but that was back in 1999 - 2000 and I've not used Realplayer in 8yrs.

Yea..I think real player is near dead...I don't see it much anymore now that broadband network connections are the norm.
I think I viewed one video using it in the past two years.

If you want to edit your movies you'll want to look into Sony Vegas or Adobe Premier. These tools let you add, edit and splice up all your avi's you've made in FRAPS as well as add special effects, etc.. They also come with the features necessary to compress and convert your finishing movie into multiple formats and smaller filesizes. This is what you are looking for.

I have the complete Photosuite CS2, wich came with the full version of Adobe Acrobat... but I don't think this is what you're meaning.

I would wager this software you just mentioned is probably a few hundred dollars yes?

Edit (from post beneith this one)
then it's out of my hands, I can scarcely afford my other bills at present -_-

More than likely!

There are almost certainly plenty of open-source movie editing programs available which might work... I know theres at least one available for Linux (i forget the name, but it shouldnt be hard to find) which may well have been ported to Windows, and there are probably plenty of others too. try googling 'free video converter' or something, and see what it come up with.

I found Virtualdub which lets me truncate portions of the vid and save as *.avi, but it doesn't convert to anything as I see it - still very large files.

I played on 640 x 400, used 30fps and no sound, and a 10sec vid dropped from 75megs to 45megs. An improvement but still too large and with quality so low at that resolution you can't read anything on screen

If you don't plan on reediting the video, you can do whatever you want to do with it first (edit, truncate, add effects...) and then convert it to .wmv format. (you can use that using Windows movie maker that comes with windows) But keep in mind that it makes you feel it hard when you try to reedit it because .wmv doesn't respond well to editing. If you are sure you won't edit it anymore, turn it to .wmv. I presumed extreme quality is not your priority, rather the file size.

You can check out this link about video conversion...
And Google for instructions on how to use windows movie maker to make .wmv, if you can't figure out on your own.

Programs like Camtasia Studio or Windows MovieMaker are what I use to convert the movies. I know Fraps movies are very large lol. I had a 100mb Vid I just converted and made into a 2mb vid, without allot of quality loss either just slightly blurrier.

Windows Movie Maker it is. I'll attempt to use it and see how that goes - thanks for the ideas and brainstorming.