How to Record a Demo and Export HD Footage for Moviemaking

This detailed guide explains how to record a CSGO demo and export it to high quality footage (1080p 60fps) without the use of laggy low quality Fraps or similar programs. This method does not require much processing power so enables people with low-end computers to make great clips.

Introduction

This guide will hopefully expain how to Record a demo, export it and turn it into a movie.
This will require quite a bit of space on your pc depending on how long you record for and what fps you choose (300fps for about 1min is around 50GB) so make sure your computer has enough storage, or just change the settings as you go through the guide.

Recording a Demo

First off, we need to record a demo. To do this find something that you want to record and bring up the console.
To bring up the console hit the key on your keyboard that looks like this: ~ (if this does not work then it needs to be enabled under the game settings tab)


To start the recording type in the console:

(replace clipname with the name you would like the clip to be called)

When you have finished recording what you want to, stop the recording by typing

or you can type quit which will exit CSGO completely.

Setting up the Recording Programs and Configs

At the moment the demo can only be played inside of CSGO which isn't of much use to us, so we need to export it.

Setting up the MovieCFG

So that we can play CSGO as well as record make a copy of the cfg folder in you csgo folder and rename it cfgmovie:


Download the MovieCFG from here[www.dropbox.com] and place it inside your cfgmovie folder.
We then want to rename the original folder called "cfg" to "cfgplay" and the "cfgmovie" folder to "cfg".

Now whenever you want to actually play CSGO you will need to rename the "cfgplay" folder to "cfg" and when you want to record clips rename the "cfgmovie" folder to "cfg".

Setting Up HLAE

We will need to open up CSGO by using HLAE which can be downloaded from Here[www.advancedfx.org].

Once downloaded extract the zip file to a folder on your pc and open up hlae.exe.
Set the HookDLL to AfxHookSource.dll (which is inside the folder that you extracted the zip file to)





Then set the program path to the csgo executable




Then make sure that the CommandLine looks like this:

Exporting the Demo from CSGO

Click "ok" on HLAE with the settings from the previous section, now CSGO should open up with a window looking like this:
Note: HLAE has disabled VAC so do not try to join any servers when the game has been loaded this way or it may think you are hacking, you have been warned.

To enable the MovieCFG in-game that we downloaded earlier we need to type in console:

exec autoexecmvm

and hit enter.
Note: You will need to type this command in everytime you relaunch the game in this way
To show that it is working the console should look similar to this:

Setting up CSGO Graphics

Go into the graphics settings on CSGO and turn everything up to the highest settings possible with motion blur off (if your pc can handle it).
Make sure that the resolution is set to 1280x720 and Windowed!!
This is crucial.
Should look like this:

Recording

Now type in console:

demoui

and hit enter.
This will bring up a small box at the side of the screen, hit load and select the demo that you recorded earlier (it will be inside the CSGO folder by default (Steam\SteamApps\common\Counter-Strike Global Offensive\csgo)) with the filetype .dem

This should then open up the demo inside of CSGO. Once it has loaded navigate using the slider bar in the demoui to a little before the part that you would like to record.
Bring up the console again and type either:

cl_drawhud 0

( no hud or weapons at all)
or

cl_draw_only_deathnotices 1 

(only shows deathnotices and weapons)

Then the essential commands:

host_framerate 300

(the framerate can be whatever but I use 300, whichever framerate you choose make sure you remember it for later)

host_timescale 0

Then to start the recording type:

startmovie moviename

(replace moviename with what you want)
Now close the console, hit resume on the demoui and close the demoui.
It should be recording very slowly and seem laggy, this means its working :)
Note: This will take up a large amount of space.

Stopping the Recording

When the demo finally gets to where you want to stop it (be patient) type

quit

in the console and hit enter. This will save the movie and exit CSGO.

Turning the Recorded Movie into a playable file

Getting the Program

Firstly we are going to want to download VirtualDub which will patch the tga file together to create the movie. It can be downloaded here[download.cnet.com]

Once downloaded extract the zip to your pc and open up Veedub64.exe.

Turning the recording into a playable file

In VirtualDub under the file tab click "open video file" and select the first .tga file of the recording
(will be under Steam\SteamApps\common\Counter-Strike Global Offensive\csgo) and named
moviename0000 (with "moviename" as whatever you saved the movie as).

The recording should now open. Use the slider and the buttons to select the part of the clip you would like to export and then go to Edit>Crop to Selection to cut unwanted parts of the clip out.


This part is essential!
Go to the Video tab and click on the Frame Rate dropdown:


here we need to enter the framerate that was used earlier in CSGO (I said you needed to remember it so it's not my fault if you forgot :D)
I use 300 FPS to record so it should look like this:

Now you can hit ok.
Finally to export as a movie under the File tab click "Save as AVI" and choose the name and where to save it to, and hit save. It will take a while and the progress window will close when finished. This movie will not have any of the game sound which we need to add in later.
Note: Files exported are extremely large due to their quality, 1 minute of 300fps footage is about 50GB so make sure you have enough space.

Recording Sound

To record the sound we are going to want to open up CSGO using HLAE and enter the demo which we are aiming to get the sound from (look previously in the guide if you have forgotten how to).

Find where you started recording in your demo earlier and open up the console, enter:

cl_draw_only_deathnotices 1

or

cl_drawhud 0

depending on what you used earlier when recording.

We are then going to want to type:

host_timescale 1

(to set the demo to play normally)

host_framerate 0

(to only record sound)

and then finally to record

startmovie sound

(sound can be replaced with whatever)

Once you have finished recording the sound for the clip just type

quit

in the console to exit CSGO.

Syncing the Video/Audio and Exporting the Finished Movie

Syncing the Audio and Video

Open up whichever video editing software you are using (If you use Adobe Premiere Pro look at the next content section to see what settings I use for best quality).
Import the massive .AVI file that we exported as well as the .WAV file that we just got from our demo (can be found in Steam\SteamApps\common\Counter-Strike Global Offensive\csgo).
Now match up the audio and video in the timeline so that they sound perfect :D

Exporting the Video

Once you have finished editing the movie to your liking, it can finally be exported. To do this in Premiere Pro click on the Sequence and hit Ctrl+M to bring up the render options list.
For exporting CSGO movies I generally use the H.264 Encoder however you can export it however you like. If you want to see the settings I use for Premiere Pro scroll down further, otherwise Happy Movie Making!!!

Premiere Pro Export Settings

Sequence Settings

Select the DVCPROHD 1080p24 Preset:

Go along to the settings tab and change the settings to look like mine:

Hit ok and start syncing the audio and video for the movie as well as adding any effects you want. If this window pops up when adding clips make sure to choose the "Keep Existing" option:

Render Settings

When you are ready to export bring open the render window (Ctrl+M when the sequence is selected) and choose the H.264 Format:


Then choose the HD 1080p 29.97 Preset and make sure that the Export Video and Export Audio options are ticked:





Change the Basic Video Settings to look like this:


The video can now be exported by hitting the "Export" button :D

Some CSGO clips I captured using this method

I did not record sound for them but it shows the video quality :D
Make sure you turn the settings up to max on the videos

Thanks :D

This is my first guide ever on Steam and I know i'm pretty bad at writing long stuff like this but i'm just trying to help :D
I know I used a lot of pictures so sorry if it lags :/
Leave a comment and like this guide if you think it's helpful.
Thanks :))

[WinterWhiz]

instructions too long scrolled down to comments

[Nyxx]

Very hard, im not a pro in english hahaa

[Izana]

Mr.Stork i'm not sure as I havent tried with TF2. Let me know if you try it and it does.

[TypeSRoy⊿⁴⁶]

Does it work for Team Fortress 2 as well?

[Izana]

Hmm, im not entirely sure as I havent had this issue. The recording of the clip I am pretty sure will be the resoultion that your CSGO is running at. You could always try increasing the resolution above the max while in windowed using the command mat_setvideomode <width> <height> <windowed (0/1)> but I have no idea if it will let you or not. Sorry about that.

[Cheeky Breeky]

my max resolution is 1366x768 can it go higher on HLAE or does it has to be a exact resolution

[Izana]

Thank you yeah they are, because of my ping they were a bit laggy though :D

[peromiu]

nice guid midnight :D the replays are from our old hlg surf servers <3

[simbob]

gG this helped me very much in csgo matchmaking, and els tournament

[Hydranix]

and you even upscale your video like a nub losing major video quality...