WoW 2.2 Mac client in-game video capture
by Paul Sherrard 
Jul 13th 2007 at 1:30PM
It really seems like Blizzard is taking leaps and strides in their efforts to support some of the fun things we've been doing outside of the game and putting them actually *in* the game.
When I read the patch notes and saw that the Mac client was getting in-game video recording, I immediately started my PTR client download. I was not to be disappointed.
Click through for a little more about the process for making the video, or just watch the video above to get an impression of what in-game recording is like.
So, here's a quick display of the settings you can choose. Keep in mind that even if you elect to NOT record the interface, cursor, or sound, you'll still have them in-game.
The Recording Icon was a bit hard to see, as it hides on the minimap in the same area as the mail icon. As I had mail, it was near impossible to see. By default, recording is keybound to the "[" key. Toggle the key to toggle recording. When recording is over, you'll see a compression bar pop on the screen. When it disappears, your recording is done, and can be found in the Movies folder under your WoWTest folder.
Once you have the video recorded, it's as easy as firing up iMovie, dragging the clip in to your clips area (this 3-minute clip took about 2 minutes to import), and adding some titles, effects, and music. All in all, this whole project took about 10 minutes to execute.
I'm very impressed with whatever dark voodoo magics the Mac team at Blizzard had to conjure to put recording in-game. It was always a sore-spot for me as Fraps was so good on the PC, and nothing I tried on the Mac came close.
I can't wait to see what Blizzard does for in-game voice chat!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Lodovico Jun 19th 2009 7:42AM
I manage to record the video but if i talk while playing i can't hear the voice in the video at the end. How can I do?
aggregate Jul 13th 2007 1:40PM
What Mac do you have?
Paul Sherrard Jul 13th 2007 1:44PM
It's in the video, but I have a 20" iMac Core2Duo 2.16 GHz with 1.5 GB of RAM. I used to have a G5 iMac, but upgraded about a month ago.
Fryn Jul 13th 2007 1:45PM
I saw that they were adding video recording to the Mac client, and I was super-psyched. I'm a filmmaker by trade, and taking a few classes in editing this fall. This will make getting footage for my editing assignments only that much easier.
aggregate Jul 13th 2007 1:46PM
heh...i should watch the video.... :P
Michel Jul 13th 2007 1:46PM
it's told when the video starts.
a 20" imac 2.16ghz core2duo , 1.5go memory
--
I'm very happy with that new features. I will be very fun and easy to record actions now.
Medros Jul 13th 2007 1:50PM
I am hoping they will come out with a Windows version soon, because while FRAPS might be used by many for that purpose, it is not free, and frustrating to get to work right. I too am looking forward to vioce chat, and hope we will see guild banks in 2.2 as well.
Galipan Jul 13th 2007 2:05PM
This is such BS, they can control iTunes in WoW, and now macs get to record!!?? wtf, PC should get the same!!why should people who have macs get advantages just because they chose a computer who, in essence, sucks for gaming? I know i sound like a troll here, but when you boil it down, macs are made for video, designing and all that media crap, not gaming; why should they get an advantage over those of us that buy a PC just becuase they chose the pretty comps? It's not like windows can't do this; the game is made for both mac AND pc, we should get equal treatment.
Dreadlorde Jul 13th 2007 2:12PM
@7
How are windows machines any better for gaming than mac?
windows users should get this video recording feature though.
futura Jul 13th 2007 2:15PM
@7
Whaaaambulance!
BillDoor Jul 13th 2007 2:14PM
Pretty cool. I wonder how it'll do my on little MacBook.
Ian Jul 13th 2007 2:24PM
@7 A lot of the underlying APIs in Mac OS X lend themselves well to tasks such as integration with iTunes and video recording. Those technologies, such as CoreImage, CoreAudio, and CoreVideo, probably make this a lot easier for the devs to implement and in a seamless way.
Chris Jul 13th 2007 2:32PM
Haven't you heard?
Macs just work
;)
IKT Jul 13th 2007 2:49PM
@12 if macs 'just work' why is there a website called 'mac fix it' with topics such as "Troubleshooting Mac OS X 10.4.10" "Crashing? Remove Input Managers" and "Disk images won't mount, fix" Along with Apple notebook batterys exploding.. one begins to imagine that it's only marketing..
@8 direct x and the fact everything can take priority on a pc. for example pc's can be built from the ground up for gaming, or being a server or doing different tasks etc whereas mac.. you buy for the pretty case and os x, everything else is luck, I think it's great our fellow computer users get the ability to record wow now... I mean.. it's only been what 4 - 6 years since fraps was released?
gleja Jul 13th 2007 2:49PM
@7
I love the contradiction! Macs are great for video & audio, so why should WoW for Mac get great tools for video & audio?
If I think about that too hard, my head explodes.
Derkesthai Jul 13th 2007 2:53PM
What's the artist/song title of the track you used?
Thanks in advance.
Joe Eversole Jul 13th 2007 2:55PM
@7: Congrats. You're the first person I know who has ever whined about a game that runs with more features on a Mac than on PC.
Paul Sherrard Jul 13th 2007 3:07PM
Guys, let's not turn this into a flamewar. There's enough Mac vs. PC stuff out there already. I just wanted to show how the video turns out. It's on par with FRAPS, which is a great tool available for ALL games on Windows.
The track in the video is "Summer in the Studio" by Kinobe. This version comes off The Chillout Sessions 3 disc which I picked up while backpacking around Thailand in 2003.
PyroAmos Jul 13th 2007 3:31PM
fraps costs money unless you only want to record 15 seconds. Still waiting for a decent freeware video capture program :|
Galipan Jul 13th 2007 3:51PM
I'm just saying, ok, yeah, mac is better for audio and video, however, PCs can be built specifically for gaming, whereas macs can't, why then do I ask, mac get preferred to by a game than PC? That's all I'm saying. PCs have the capability, and we don't have free filming software, and Blizz is just giving it free to Mac, I just find that one sided, other than that, I think it's pretty cool. I'll ask my friends with macs to let me play with them from now on.