Just bought Action!, some questions and suggestions

[belboz]

So I just picked up Action! and have been using it for a couple weeks now off and on. It seems to work well, but I have some questions, comments, and suggestions.

Been using it for some game play recordings for my YouTube channel, and it has held up pretty well. I have used various apps for recording from Fraps, dxtory, bandicam, etc. My go to app has been dxtory for reasons below, but Action! is very close to being something I could use for daily use.

I have found Action! to hold up better than dxtory when recording Arma II / DayZ footage for my channel. dxtory at least on my system seems to stutter when recording Arma.

Some things that I would like to see Action! do.

1) Allow more than just two channel audio recording. This is the big thing keeping me from using Action! full time over dxtory. With dxtory I record default system audio to track 1, mumble/teamspeak with my friends to audio track 2, and my microphone to track 3. I use Virtual Audio cable to aid this, but it would be great if Action! had an add audio track and you could specify the audio device, and then repeat for further tracks. Instead of just supporting two. I use the three tracks because it gives me the ability to adjust volume on all three items individually. If I need to mute one track during editing I can, or boost levels, etc.

2) The audio balance... Is there a setting to not boost or lower either mic or system audio? I am doing multi-track recording, and am not sure if this option is still effecting audio levels. My mic seems a bit more quiet when recording with Action! versus OBS or fraps

3) When I tab out of a game when recording full screen, the recording stops. Is there any way to have it keep recording (I know it will be a black or paused screen, but I don't like it stopping).

4) What about a hotkey for streaming versus recording? If you have the Enable Action! live streaming checked you will always stream when hitting the record hot key (unless I am missing something). I would like a streaming hotkey and a recording hotkey. If you have the record stream to disk selected hitting the stream key would stream and record, but if you hit just the record key, you get a game recording.

5) Smaller HUD option.

6) More options for the live streaming. I haven't played with this much as I have been pretty much using OBS for my streaming, and occasionally Xsplit. But both those programs give me more control over the streaming options. With Action! I only have a few resolution options, fps, and bitrate. With OBS I am use to be able to tweak the preset, use custom x264 settings, etc. To really fine tune the output.

7) Would be nice to be able to preview a stream also to see how things look. If #4 above worked, you could hit record hotkey and check quality, and when ready hit the stream hotkey

8) Adding multiple overlays, audio, video files, etc to a stream would be nice too. I am not too sure on how you want the streaming side of your software to go. You may be wanting to keep things simple and not introduce all this stuff.

A question...

How does the Nvidia CUDA compare to Quick Sync in quality? I can do either on my systems. When I do 1080p recordings I have to use Quick Sync since CUDA doesn't seem to support 1080p. But am curious if one has any potential benefit when recording quality wise, or one works better for certain type of games or recordings.

I am not a big fan of the subscription model for the live streaming side of things. I had 14 days of trial with my Action! purchase, but really haven't had the time to test it much on my twitch channel, as we focus more on YouTube and stream once or twice a week only on Twitch.

I may do a small commercial subscription for the live stream part though, as I really haven't used it much, and will probably be reviewing Action! and the live stream stuff on our channel. Comparing Action! to fraps, dxtory and bandicam. And possibly compare the streaming parts to OBS and Xsplit.

Anyway, thanks for the great program. Looking forward to seeing it develop!

[GerhartRTFO]

To answer number 2, there is an audio balance option. Click the cog wheel on the upper right corner then click the speaker on the lower selections. In there you will find a slider for System sounds and Microphone. Hope this helps.

[radi]

So I just picked up Action! and have been using it for a couple weeks now off and on. It seems to work well, but I have some questions, comments, and suggestions.

Been using it for some game play recordings for my YouTube channel, and it has held up pretty well. I have used various apps for recording from Fraps, dxtory, bandicam, etc. My go to app has been dxtory for reasons below, but Action! is very close to being something I could use for daily use.

I have found Action! to hold up better than dxtory when recording Arma II / DayZ footage for my channel. dxtory at least on my system seems to stutter when recording Arma.

Some things that I would like to see Action! do.

1) Allow more than just two channel audio recording. This is the big thing keeping me from using Action! full time over dxtory. With dxtory I record default system audio to track 1, mumble/teamspeak with my friends to audio track 2, and my microphone to track 3. I use Virtual Audio cable to aid this, but it would be great if Action! had an add audio track and you could specify the audio device, and then repeat for further tracks. Instead of just supporting two. I use the three tracks because it gives me the ability to adjust volume on all three items individually. If I need to mute one track during editing I can, or boost levels, etc.

2) The audio balance... Is there a setting to not boost or lower either mic or system audio? I am doing multi-track recording, and am not sure if this option is still effecting audio levels. My mic seems a bit more quiet when recording with Action! versus OBS or fraps

3) When I tab out of a game when recording full screen, the recording stops. Is there any way to have it keep recording (I know it will be a black or paused screen, but I don't like it stopping).

4) What about a hotkey for streaming versus recording? If you have the Enable Action! live streaming checked you will always stream when hitting the record hot key (unless I am missing something). I would like a streaming hotkey and a recording hotkey. If you have the record stream to disk selected hitting the stream key would stream and record, but if you hit just the record key, you get a game recording.

5) Smaller HUD option.

6) More options for the live streaming. I haven't played with this much as I have been pretty much using OBS for my streaming, and occasionally Xsplit. But both those programs give me more control over the streaming options. With Action! I only have a few resolution options, fps, and bitrate. With OBS I am use to be able to tweak the preset, use custom x264 settings, etc. To really fine tune the output.

7) Would be nice to be able to preview a stream also to see how things look. If #4 above worked, you could hit record hotkey and check quality, and when ready hit the stream hotkey

8) Adding multiple overlays, audio, video files, etc to a stream would be nice too. I am not too sure on how you want the streaming side of your software to go. You may be wanting to keep things simple and not introduce all this stuff.

1) We are planning to add similar functionality in future versions.
2) Action! Use system sounds settings or other if default is not selected. Try to volume up your mic in your system settings.
3) Currently no. We are planning to add continuous recording after switching between active process. (Desktop is recorded differently than games and applications).
4) We discussed this feature and we will probably add this feature in future versions.
5) Additional HUD options will be available in future versions.
6,7,8) Currently LIVE Streaming is a start-stream option. Future plans include more functionality for this

How does the Nvidia CUDA compare to Quick Sync in quality? I can do either on my systems. When I do 1080p recordings I have to use Quick Sync since CUDA doesn't seem to support 1080p. But am curious if one has any potential benefit when recording quality wise, or one works better for certain type of games or recordings.

CUDA is not available for hardware acceleration in real time recordings. MP4 mode without IQS is only a software encoding.

If you would like to test Action! LIVE Streaming but you missed your trial please contact our sales team via sales@mirillis.com.

[belboz]

Thanks for the quick response.

Some other things I would like to see fixed or added.

1) Fix the push to talk. It is very unreliable and I frequently find myself cutting off while talking, or cutting off the start of a sentence. Constant recording is a pain since it picks up all background noise, breathing when you would be otherwise muted, etc.

2) Minimize to tray. I have it set to start in the tray, but when I bring Action! up to change settings, I can't minimize it to the system tray.

3) How about a load on system startup also.