How to record gameplay on Windows 10
Do you want to record your gameplay on Windows 10? Do you reckon you are good enough to impress the world and share your achievements? Here is a guide to recording your gaming.
Microsoft released a new Windows 10 update that gives users an improved experience. Enhancements to the user interface make Windows more intuitive while other changes improve security and speed.
Although Windows 10 shares a lot with its predecessors, users discover new features daily. That said, gamers have been hesitant to upgrade for various reasons but they need to know how the new update affects them with the ability to record gameplay.
Overview
Gamers like to record their gameplay so they can learn from their mistakes and develop better strategies. Players also enjoy sharing their accomplishments online, either to brag or to provide tutorials that can help others succeed.
The most successful YouTuber PewDiePie started out as a gamer with his Let’s Play videos &#; which he continues to make to this day. Such recording required the purchase or illegal download of third-party software, but now Windows 10 can record gameplay without any additional requirements.
Excitement about the new free recording capability could make the new update memorable for thousands of users.
Get started
Forget about Fraps real-time video capture and benchmarking and similar software titles. Windows 10 now has a free, preinstalled recording tool called the Xbox app. Gamers can use the app to archive and share their accomplishments.
As you play a game, press the Windows key and the G key at the same time. The Bar will appear over the window that contains your game. Click the appropriate icon on the Game Bar to take screenshots or video recordings of your games.
The Game Bar looks like a floating rectangular menu that has the Xbox logo, camera and record buttons and a settings icon. Click the buttons with your mouse to grab screens and start and stop recordings.
While playing in full-screen mode, you probably won’t see the Game Bar. Switch your game into windowed mode and then the Bar will appear.
If Windows can’t tell for sure that you have a game running in the window, it will ask you to confirm. You just have to check the “Yes, this is a game” option and it will start.
Recording
Recording a game requires you first to press the Windows + G key combination and then click the red record button in the Game Bar. A timer appears to help you keep track of the length of your recording. When finished, click the red stop button.
Hold the Windows, Alt, and R keys to activate recording from the keyboard. You can check out videos online of users that gave the recording tool a try to see if the quality suits your needs. For example this user playing World of Warcraft.
Try using continuous background recording, that starts and then gives you 30 seconds to find your place. While your computer records, expect to experience performance degradation. The video capture process takes needed CPU resources away from your game.
To make a screenshot, just click the camera icon on the Game Bar. From the keyboard, press the Windows, Alt, and PrintScreen keys at the same time. The system will save an image of your game as it looked at the moment. Some games have this option built in.
Videos would not be complete without audio. Your game sound is recorded by default in top quality, but you can decide to lower the quality or disable audio recording completely.
Gamers often do not use game sounds and they prefer adding music to their work to make it more interesting and in line with what they are doing in the game.
You can also choose to record your microphone when you record game clips. Some gamers narrate their videos or want to include audio of their communication with other players. The default key bind to start or stop microphone recording is pressing the Windows + Alt + M.
Find your videos and screenshots by navigating on your local computer to the Videos\Captures folder for your account. Do this using File Explorer. You will see screenshots appear in .PNG format. The videos will appear as MP4 files.
Settings
Click on the settings icon in the Game Bar to go directly to the settings options in the Xbox app. You can also get to the settings by opening the Xbox app. Within the Xbox app, click the Settings icon and then select the Game DVR to customize its behavior. In this window, you can enable and disable recording.
You can also change the keyboard shortcuts used to activate Game Bar features. Configurable shortcuts include opening the Game Bar, recording, screenshots, toggling the timer, and accessing the “Record That” feature.
Other options accessible via the Xbox app include choosing default folders for storing video and screenshot files. You can also choose the quality of your videos as well as sound options. Another option is that you can view your recordings, delete or trim them and open their folder location.
Not perfect yet
Microsoft has added many features to its Windows 10 operating system that are worth upgrading for, making it exciting and fun to use (Windows 10 tips and troubleshooting). The Game Bar gives gamers the incentive to do so as well because it gives them the ability to save and share their experiences.
Although this feature will win your heart, keep in mind that, as a new feature, you might experience some difficulties with its use. For example, operating the Game Bar requires a lot of resources, just as other screen recording apps do.
Some computers will choke while using the recorder, so you might not have the opportunity to use it, despite the fact that the device runs Windows
Some users with computers that run the app will experience some quality issues as a result of its resource requirements. Inevitably, users with poor quality images and videos will express discontent similar to those who cannot use the feature at all.
You can address another imperfection of the Game Bar, its inability to stream live video, by using services such as Twitch or YouTube (Create a live stream).
Microsoft continues working on the flaws mentioned here as well as many other bugs and performance issues. In the future, recording gameplay in Windows 10 will become better. Until then, enjoy all the amazing functionality that now lies at your fingertips.
Author:Gabriel Michaelson is a tech writer and enthusiast that wants to share his experience with the world. He has been working in tech for a while, but just recently directed his attention to writing. He likes onion rings and pickles, and is a worthy opponent in a game of Risk. You can reach him @Gabemich
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