HELP ME OUT with x.264 settings for Skype streaming

[filocullen]

Hello everyone, I need to record Skype high quality video calls with the best possible quality, with the same picture quality and frames as I see on my screen , so visually without any data loss. The size of the screen recorded is the regular Skype window, which should be 640x480 or 960x720, I'm trying out programs like evaer or camstudio, at first with XVID MPEG-4 Codec but it seems to end up in too much large files, so I'm trying out x.264vfw, do you think it's better?could you please help me out to best configurate it, to have the best quality and the smaller file size?I found these settings online: preset:ultrafast, ratefactor 23, loglevel none. Is there anything better?I'm not too much of an expert so any help is truly appreciated, thanks so much!

[jagabo]

Ultrafast is the fastest encoding but the lowest quality and largest file size. Work your way up the presets until the encoding is too slow to keep up with the frame rate.

[filocullen]

Hi I tried the very slow encoding, and the recording ended up very slow frame rated, that's what you meaned rightWhat about the ratefactor and other options?
The odd thing is that the Ultrafast preset in the recommended in several programs, like Bandicam, they suggest to use Ultrafast with a ratefactor of 23, why they do that considering is the lowest quality preset?thank so much

[jagabo]

Hi I tried the very slow encoding, and the recording ended up very slow frame rated, that's what you meaned rightWhat about the ratefactor and other options?

The lower the rate factor the higher the quality and the bigger the file.

The odd thing is that the Ultrafast preset in the recommended in several programs, like Bandicam, they suggest to use Ultrafast with a ratefactor of 23, why they do that considering is the lowest quality preset?

Because it's the fastest. For real time capture you need fast encoding. Otherwise your capture will be missing frames and have jerky motion. The program might even crash.

[filocullen]

Hi,thanks for the tips, I'v been trying out and it seems I'm getting really good results with the Faster preset and a rf of 19. Will you suggest me to check fast decode and zero latency..?
One more thing, I use several programs that let configure X.264vfw settings, but what about the regular x.264 codec...?How can I get the same settings window as the x264vfw?
thanks again

[jagabo]

Zero Latency is good for AVI files. The x264vfw presets are the same as the x264 presets. The table in this post shows the individual settings corresponding to the presets:

https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/347067-VirtualDub-H-264-Encoder-Speed?p=2169830&vie...=1#post2169830

The encoder changes a bit now and then so some of those may be out of date. You can use MediaInfo to see the settings x264 used.

The biggest contributors to slow encoding are --me and --subme.

[filocullen]

Hi, I probably asked the question bad, sorry I'm a newby!I mean, through Camstudio I can get a window like the one in attachment and there I can configure the X264vfw and the editing I do there works for other programs as well, but on Camstudio there isn't an option to set up the regular X264 codec and some programs where I use x264 don't allow me to edit it, so is there a tool where can I get a window like that for X.264 to set it up for other programs?thanks so much

[jagabo]

You can use the Extra Command Line box to pass parameters to x264. Enter command there just like you would with the command line version of x264. Those options are added after the preset so you can use them to override individual preset settings.

http://mewiki.project357.com/wiki/X264_Settings

There are other builds of x264vfw with different config dialogs that allow access to some of the individual settings. I don't keep track of them but if you search you'll find them.

[filocullen]

ok thanks, i'll try, but that seems complicated!Why isnt' there a simple window like the one for X264vfw to adjust settings?that would be more easier!

[jagabo]

I told you there is a build of x264vfw that a configuration dialog that included many of the individual x264 settings. You just need to find, download, and install it. Then you'll complain that it doesn't have presets.

This post has an image of one page of that more complex dialog:

https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/363198-x264vfw-configuration-in-VirtualDub-please-h...=1#post2309548

[filocullen]

Hi, I read that post and I downloaded Staxrip and Megui and I got the dialog config for X.264!If i set it up there, will the settings work for other programs too, right?thanks again

[jagabo]

If i set it up there, will the settings work for other programs too, right?

Only if they use x264vfw -- most editors don't use VFW. And only if they don't change the settings.