I first asked this on the official Portal forums, but nobody was able to help. Someone suggested asking here, so here I am.

I wanted to start my walkthrough of Portal using the build-in Source Recorder, but Portal crashes 100% of the time if I try to play the recorded demo (using playdemo VideoName) after starting the movie (using startmovie Walkthrough1.avi avi). I'm using the XVid codec. Anyone know of a workaround?

This happens in both windowed mode and fullscreen mode, regardless of graphics settings or codec. Changing the aspect ratio to 4:3 fixes it, but I'd really rather record this in widescreen. Any help would be appreciated.

Try 'startmovie walkthough1 avi' in console, instead of 'startmovie walkthrough1.avi avi' Otherwise source recorder will try to make a file called walkthrough1.avi.avi and that doesn't work.

Just tried that. Still no luck.

Just a suggestion--I know this probably isn't helpful directly to your situation, but whatever--you may want to look in to other recorders if your heart isn't set on the Source Recorder. I find it's a little buggy (I don't think it captures particle systems, and there might be other issues). You may want to try WeGame software; it's a free recorder that actually works pretty well. You can set it to higher or slightly lower quality.

As far as the Source Recorder issue goes, I'm not quite sure what to do. I know it is a bit of a touchy process.

I tried WeGame and it worked perfectly, but it didn't record sound.

Maxpm wrote:
I tried WeGame and it worked perfectly, but it didn't record sound.

Arggghhh, sorry to hear that. Apparently others have that issue as well, I believe it's something to do with sound cards/drivers. For me, it records audio, but it's out of sync with the picture and I have to manually shift it. The best suggestion I have is to be running a recording program at the same time (Audacity, perhaps) and manually record by connecting the headphones and microphones ports, then adding the track and adjusting as necessary in VirtualDub. That's a bit cumbersome, though, so I hope the Source Recorder issue is sorted out.

The last time I tried the source record just didn't work very well for me, so I paid a few bucks for Fraps and have not bothered with the Source Recorder since. Fraps lets me record any game so I have one recording tool for all my needs rather than flipping between various recorders built into individual games (if the game even has one). What is cool about Fraps is that it records the actual frames directly coming from the video card, it is not screen capturing; if a gamer has a smoking hot gaming system, Fraps will record upto 100fps.

Does anyone in this forum regularly use the Source recorder for their map demos and source games?

I suggest you record to TGA's and then combine them outside of Portal. The Source Engine has a bad habit of corrupting large AVI's and crashing when they get even larger.

Thanks, I'll try that.

Nightgunner5 wrote:
I suggest you record to TGA's and then combine them outside of Portal. The Source Engine has a bad habit of corrupting large AVI's and crashing when they get even larger.

Doesn't it use BMPs instead?

Anyway, if you do that make sure you've got plenty of space on your hard drive. Especially depending on your resolution; frames can take up a lot of room fast.

Also, I just realized you said that switching the aspect ratio to 4:3 fixes it. That's rather odd...

No its TGA.

Firegod522 wrote:
No its TGA.

Hmm. Nevermind then, I stand corrected.