Nvidia rolls out ShadowPlay support in latest GeForce Experience update

[Shawn Knight]

The latest GeForce Experience software update includes support for ShadowPlay, a feature that was first showcased back with the GeForce GTX 780 last May as a method to record in-game action to share with others online or to keep in your own personal archive of awesomeness.

With ShadowPlay, gamers can record footage at 1080p quality and further choose from between three different “quality” settings. Clips can be captured either manually or automatically using “shadow mode,” an option that constantly records gameplay in the background as you play. Pressing a designated hotkey will automatically store the last several minutes of gameplay into an MP4 file that is YouTube compatible.

The feature relies primarily on Kepler’s H.264 encoder which means, unlike some readily available software solutions, it shouldn’t have a tremendous hit on in-game performance. Nvidia said the typical performance hit will be around five percent although more demanding instances / games may top 10 percent. They also warned that high-end SLI setups may experience a greater hit due to the extremely high frame rates being pumped out.

Note that there are some recording restrictions based on the operating system you are using. Windows 7 users are capped at a 10-minute long buffer using shadow mode while manual recordings can only be up to 3.8GB total. In Windows 8, Shadow mode has a live buffer of 20 minutes and manual recordings are only limited by the amount of storage of tap.

It’s also worth pointing out that ShadowPlay only works with full-screen games and with DirectX 9, 10 and 11 titles only. You’ll need a GeForce GTX 650 or newer GPU to get in on the action and unfortunately, notebook GPUs aren’t supported at this time.

You can download the latest Nvidia Geforce Experience right here.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/54487-nvidia-rolls-out-shadowplay-support-in-latest-geforce-experience-update.html

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

I noticed these changes when GFE updated my drivers. I wish companies would release these types of apps as separate downloadable option and not as a complete package. Although you have the option not to install them, you still have to download them. How many people will actually make use of the ShadowPlay and the Shield option as opposed to how many won't. I myself would only like to have the graphics & physics driver updated, the rest of the package adds no real value for me.

 

[EEatGDL]

I tried the shadow mode and there were two things that were a little bit of a letdown: the forced 1080p resolution and not the resolution you're using your monitor and that the RGB is not lossless so the colors look more opaque. Besides that, the performance impact is an abyss apart from FRAPS, which was impressive. My maximum buffer for ShadowPlay is of 10 minutes -yes I moved the bar to the right limit- instead of 20. Haven't tried manual so I don't know if there is a difference in RGB quality between shadow and manual -video recording quality is set to high.

 

[Jad Chaar]

Very impressive how there is a minimal performance hit.

 

[EEatGDL]

I have something to add: now I know why my limit was 10 minutes in shadow mode: Windows 7. Also, something I didn't mention in the last post was that there are random hiccups and glitches in the recorded video [in a 6 minute recording I lost audio 3 times for a total of about 2 seconds]. That's only in the resulting video and you aren't bothered while playing at all. These problems aren't present in manual recording.

 

[wastedkill]

So if I wanted to record for 40mins could I? I am kinda confused about the recording bit...

 

[EEatGDL]

So if I wanted to record for 40mins could I? I am kinda confused about the recording bit...

In manual recording you should be able to, not in shadow mode. In shadow mode you need Windows 8 to enable the 20 minutes recording, in Windows 7 you will be limited to 10 minutes; again, in shadow mode. All of this considering you have either a 600 or 700 series card.

 

[Mister_K]

I have just tried it in Shootmania with the latest nvidia suite (gpu, client and shadowplay updates) and had 0 issues. Of course this all might be dependant on users hardware and what not.

My first thoughts, absolutely love it! The quality while recording is great (RGB mode like in Fraps would be great) as well as FPS indicator. Another superb advatange is that it does not save up the files in huge sizes. A 3:11 minute clip took just over 1GB (1.07GB) recording audio ingame/iTunes.

+ Recording Quality
+ Recording hardly impacts the performance in-game
+ The compression of video data allows you to record without worrying about the HDD

However, id like to see more options implemented as I have mentioned earlier.

- FPS indicator
- In-depth settings for audio recording (from which source audio is recorded at what quality and channel settings)
- In-depth settings for video recording (lossless RGB, FPS capping)
- Recordings of Window mode gameplay and perhaps ability to record other material besides games
- Beyond 10 minutes of gameplay recordings for (save last gameplay). Manual recording allows beyond 10minutes.
- Screenshots and the ability to set timer on automatic screenshot capture
- Share to Facebook, Twitter, +Google, Youtube and include Livestreaming

+ = Positives // - = Negatives & Additions

The overall software has huge potential. Considering it is only available to nVidia card owners + you do not have to pay for recording software (unless you are a naughty boy/girl ). Hopefully they keep working on it and really make this a powerful tool for recording gameplay and sharing it with others around the globe.

 

[GhostRyder]

You know, I had been hearing about this and so syced out because I can record with something other than fraps on my laptop. Then I read the fine print and laptops even though it installed are not supported at this time...Darn

 

[Mister_K]

Damn, another addition/negative to hit the list, that's a bummer. If they can polish that out, damn this tool can be tool for recording gameplay to have. Maybe I am just over-excitited that I can record with such beauty and ease (I can record with fraps easy peasy, but I can see the performance change).

Fingers Crossed for constant updates

 

[slamscaper]

MSI Afterburner has had a recording feature for ages and it works great for me. The performance impact is minimal because it uses motion jpeg encoding for the video. The downside is that motion jpeg isn't very efficient, so you wind up with large file sizes. That said, you can run the video through another encoding app later on to trim down the size.