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In other words, without using recording software that runs on the same PC playing the game.
I've tried using FRAPS in the past, but the slight drop in frame rate and control-to-result time creates a disadvantage in the game.
I am looking for a way, other than the obvious (point a video camera at the monitor) of recording what the graphics card is outputting.
I have a separate PC if a solution could be found that requires a second PC's resources to do the recording and encoding.
I am open to answers/solutions that require the spending of money.
Best Answer
Using Fraps
Unfortunately video recording in-game, via software, usually requires a powerful PC. In order to increase the FPS you can try to reduce the resolution/details of your game
Hardware Solution
There are some hardware devices that can used to record your game video streams. They cost around 200$ and can be installed internally like
or externally using HDMI, as for example
Extra
Few engines have recording capability inside. One example is the Valve Source Engine used in the following games:
In this case you can just open the developer console and write
where demoname is the name of the file .dem the game will create.
In the case of Source Engine you will not have any FPS drop rate because the demo is stored in a special format that you have to rework later in order to create a video stream.