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FRAPS 3.2.0 Released, Notes For DDD & iZ3D

By March 29, 2010April 4th, 2020News

We are pleased to report that FRAPS, the popular screen capture and benchmarking utility, has been upgraded to version 3.2.0.  For those wondering how MTBS makes stereoscopic 3D videos for our game review process, this is part of the secret.

FRAPS Logo

In addition to a new “loop recording” feature, FRAPS now has the option to turn S-3D video captures off while recording with NVIDIA GeForce 3D Vision drivers.

While version 3.X was positioned as having NVIDIA GeForce 3D Vision compatibility, S-3D movie captures are also possible with DDD and iZ3D stereoscopic 3D driver solutions.  There is an important difference, though.  In the case of NVIDIA, a full left and right view is channeled to FRAPS.  With iZ3D and DDD drivers, FRAPS only captures what is visibly seen on the screen.

As it stands, DDD’s compatible display options include a squished top/bottom mode, or an interlaced mode.  Both cases result in a deceivingly reduced image quality because the video only has half the effective resolution to work with.

Special thanks to Blackshark and Cybereality for correcting an error stated earlier.  Similar to DDD, iZ3D also offers a squished mode for top/bottom and side by side modes.   It’s only in cross-eyed viewing that the image is squeezed on the screen proportionately, with the side effect of black bars around the edges to account for proportions.  We should also point out that while MTBS has had success using FRAPS with both the DDD and iZ3D drivers, others have reported hit and miss compatibility.  Our remarks about FRAPS compatibility were never intended as a formal statement from Beepa, the developer of FRAPS.

General compatibility aside, MTBS believes that if driver developers can include a full resolution left/right in either side by side or above/below formats in windowed mode, FRAPS should be able to capture this, and image quality will be identical to NVIDIA’s offering without extra effort on FRAPS’ part.  This will also help gamers and S-3D game reviewers to accurately demonstrate titles with the best image quality possible, and the way S-3D video games are actually played.

Windowed mode capture is required because FRAPS will also record the screen portions that bleed off the visible screen space.

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