Recently purchased a pair of rocksmith realtone cables figured it be a good test for the multi-source recording capabilities of this to record midi-synth plus two guitars and a stereo HD mic simultaneously... Alas was not meant to be... both computers this had been installed and activated on have ceased accepting the GAOTD License. Both claiming:

"You have changed hardware configuration or upgraded to new software version. You need to activate software again"

Of course any attempt to activate it again fails as the unique GIVEAWAYOFTHEDAY "serial code" is of course no longer allowed by their activation server.

There have not been any significant hardware changes since playclaw4hardcore was installed and activated on either machine so I guess there must have been an undisclosed timeout on the GAOTD license :(

On my initial try using this to capture d1x rebirth game sound @ stereo 48KHz and two different microphone sources each having different sample rates and stream formats i.e. one mic was mono 16KHz and the other was HD audio stereo built in mic 44.1KHz. I had the audio capture configured to convert float to PCM ( because PlayClaw UPSCALES 8 or 16 or 24bit integer sample sizes and resumably other possibilities to 32bit floating point sample sizes for internal mixing.

I also configured its sub option to Transform to stereo and to downmix the sound sources into a single track.

On my first attempt at capturing the AVI with sound failed at the moment the game generated a sound.

And on closing the game it threw an error and promptly crashed.

This threw up a warning flag but seeing as I had so many sound sources I tried again with just the HD AUDIO speakers as sound source and none of the microphones. That worked just fine, no crashes at all.

Next I tried using all the first sound sources but disabled the downmix tracks to a single stereo track and this time it captured the AVI and all sound sources just fine. AVI has one video stream and 3 audio streams with different sample rates and all played just fine in windows media player. But in Zoom player there is no facility to play all tracks at the same time, so only one track at a time can be selected.

My conclusion is the propietary downmixing routines are not as robust and flexible as the directshow downmixing filters available to the Direct-X subsytem windows media player uses.

Oh and another niggle with the user interface... you made it resizable BUT you forgot to enable scroll bars when the window is too small to display all the form items... means to see all the sound options we have to maximise the window especially when we have numerous enumerated potential sound sources like I do... 11 at current count. It would be easy to have even more and the way the GUI is designed it could get to a point where even full screen maximised will not provide enough space to show all the potential sources AND the very important options beneath the list of sources. The list needs a scroll bar of its own!

#82:
You are trying to activate the day after the giveaway. You are too late, sadly.

I installed and activated this yesterday and today it says I have an unregistered trial version. Anyone else have this problem?

After I paste the License Key in and click the 'Activate' button it says:

Activation error: Cannot find order

...and it keeps on doing this no matter how many times I try.

It is not activating.

Why is it doing this????

To LancasterPA:

"I grew up at about 25 years old"

... Are you sure?

Welcome back Ashraf! To say you have been missed is a real understatement. Thank you for all the hard work and great info.

Done some more playing and have learnt some more about this programs operation, we can minimise its performance impact on the computer as a whole by black-listing all applications it lists in the Manage Profiles form that you will not want to record from that are running or are likely to run whilst PlayClaw is running. Doing that prevents PlayClaw from trying to overlay it's FPS counter and other stats which most of the non-game programs do not know what to do with.

It does support native HD AUDIO capture of both HD AUDIO Inputs AND HD AUDIO Output devices and happily captured 24bit 192,000 samples per second stereo to wav file... which natively windows media player does not know how to play! but ZOOM player does...

I have it downsizing by 50% on FireStorm 4.3.1.31155 viewer in windowed mode as I type. It is not limited to full-screen mode.

It even continued to capture the target window when it was covered by other applications and might even be able to capture output while the window is minimised but I could not properly test that as the firestorm viewer I tried it with pauses rendering whilst minimised so the captured video paused whilst minimised but sound was still captured just fine and the video frames resumed just fine after the viewer was restored back to normal again. It is difficult to quantify the amount of rendering performance loss with viewers like firestorm since every area in second life is so fluid in its performance requirements but once everything was set optimally I did not feel bogged down by the capture of video and audio going on while in the program interacting with the environment. So it will remain as long as the license remains valid on these machines. And despite the bugs mentioned in previous posts and the fact that this is a beta build and not even the latest beta build they've released I give it a thumbs up.

It can capture hardware video overly surfaces too.

It's realtime compression options are limited but efficient and one can always recompress offline afterwards if better compression is required.

Son tried to make it work with minecraft - total POS - just keeps crashing minecraft. Useless with NO help or info. Maybe they both use java and can't work together.

Tried PlayClaw on WoW and got superb video recording, but no audio. PlayClaw failed to detect soundcard on my PC.

I cant get it to run at all. Any time I try to launch it I get "PlayClaw main executable has encountered a problem and needs to close"

Looks like a problem with my graphics card perhaps? Error signature refers to atiadlxx.dll ModVer:6.14.10.1021 Offset: 0000f2df

I've tried disabling my security as suggested above, but it keeps happening.

AMD PhenomII x4 955 3.2GHz,4Gb RAM, Radeon HD2400pro

I've given this a try so here are some thoughts.

It looks like a simple program and it is, this is both good and bad.
The good points are that it actually doesn't lag my pc as much as FRAPS does and for my test in Arma 2 it actually records unlike DxTory (it isn't working for me in Arma.) It can keep all the audio separate files so it can be added in later at appropriate levels which makes editing much easier. The on-screen display is handy and, if you readjust the locations, could even be unobtrusive.
The bad part is that it is so simple, not as customisable as some and it is definitely not good looking as far as it could be.

Bottom line, thank you for offering this to us and as it is free I'll be keeping it. If I had to pay for it... I'd most likely buy one of the others I've mentioned.

I thank all the people for their comments. There has been times that I do not know what the purpose of a GOTD, like today, and I read through the comments to find out what it does. I thank GOTD for the software that is offered, I have found some gems that I never would have found on my own.

Can't get it to activate.

Every try results in this:

---------------------------
Activation error
---------------------------
Activation error: Too many concurrent connections, try again in 1 minute:
---------------------------
OK
---------------------------

Why would anybody waste time recording a game they've already played??
Probably the same ones who sleep in front of stores when a new Call Of whatever comes out...that's the only time they get out of mommies basement. And yes I do play games, but the last thing I would do is waste time recording it. Way to go LancasterPA, don't let the gamer tools comments bring you down...and who has time to actually try out the endless lists of free alternatives? Many of them are crap. At least now they can record themselves copying and pasting their google searches. Already use a decent screen capture program so I won't be trying this one...I know this comment isn't directly about todays giveaway, but neither are half of the other ones.

Well I love the software but the problem is its kinda heavy on the cpu anyway I tested it out and here is the result I got
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZjq7EuIJnU

Douglas D, after you open the program, go to capture settings. Now go to screenshots, and whatever you have set for the "Take screenshot hotkey", is the key that will take a screenshot.

For the video, go to the Videos bar, and whatever is set for the "Start/stop video hotkey" is the key that you will use to start and stop a recording.

Make sure you are also checking the folder where your files are saved, I believe PlayClaw by default has it in your Videos folder, when you go to your Users account.

Also, I should stress that this program will not record other applications other than games. I can't record my desktop, Google Chrome, or other programs with this. Therefore if you do not see the overlays, most probably the program cannot record that application.

For those having sound problems, go to your Audio tab in the Capture Settings bar, and try and look for speakers. I believe that differs from computer to computer(as I can see some devices specific to my machine), but just record a few seconds of something on the different settings, check it and if it's not right change it, and you will eventually get it. That was one part that I struggled for a bit with playclaw3 trial but I eventually made it work.

Giovanni thanks for all those links, I'll give them all a shot sometime. Especially the game boosters.

Fubar, I believe the program is intended for games that are installed on your machine, although it's quite a shame it doesn't cover games on websites, such as Runescape, or other flash games. They need support for browsers.

Thank you Vince.

Mabbe I will tri playCraw, it sound like good app...thanc :->

Doesn't work for COD4:Modern Warfare, GTA4 Episodes from Liberty City, or Counter Strike Source.

Haven't bothered testing it with any more. I see no point having different recorders installed for different programs. Will be uninstalling.

#11 you do realize people actually make a living off of playing games? just a few examples, TobyGames, Pewdiepie, or even Totalhabut.
(I only mentioned them because there some of the most well known.)
and pewdiepie is only one of the biggest channels on YouTube.

so if anyone manages to make even just enough money to live off of playing games, then have fun working at McDonald's or whatever Bro... I'd much rather play games, have fun, share it, and make money off of doing that than get up everyday saying "I wish I didn't have to go to work today.."

My experience mirrors posters 32 & 39. CTD's all games or prevents them from starting. Worse than ver. 2.1 which merely showed black frames, then reverted to trial status and stopped recording altogether. Thumbs DOWN!

Thank you, GOTD. Been wanting to try something like this for some time. Just downloaded it and will try it later. Posters here, pro and con, are usually very helpful. Many of us really appreciate those who take the time to post information.

Don't knock gamers if you don't know enough about it. It makes you look intellectual rigid and, well, dull. Those posted videos are invaluable in getting past a tough spot or trying something new. There are plenty of retiree and grandparent gamers, too. (Er, that would be me.*) Nothing better for keeping those reflexes sharp and synapses snapping. Besides, it's fun.

Love GOTD and check here every day.

*For the Horde.

Perfect program for those who don't live in the real world.

@27 kilroy,

I have to agree with you on this one. Outside of programers/developers using this for either advertising or debugging their programs, I can't think of any use for such a program.

I've used Playclaw ever since it first appeared here, it came highly recommended by Ashraf at the time. Even bought it when I lost it in a computer crash. For what it does it's great, just don't expect it to be a screen capture program for anything other than MMORPG's or Avatar chat programs, things like that. It isn't useful for other screen captures.

found a bug in the hotkey recognition and it is reproducable on 2 different machines, when trying to assign an "alt gr" key based combination the progam indicates "LCtrl" instead which it most definately is NOT.

Anyone wanting to keep this should disable check update on start option in "Common options" which is enabled by default as the license activation is tied to both a hardware signature and the precise build number of the GAOTD build.

The latest online beta build 2353 will not activate with the GAOTD code word, neither will the last stable release build 2345.

A probable side effect of this is any significant hardware change that poses the risk of altering the hardware signature used by the activation processs later on after the offer is past will likely be denied by the activation server and result in a loss of the Hardcore license. Since we do not know what information is used to generate the hardware signature don't build your gaming rep' on this offers facilities as some unknown change (maybe even machine IP number) can leave you with an expired trial some time in the not to distant future.

BTW read reports that this product does not support vista and above HD audio recording... Well the user interface does offer vista HD output devices as valid recording sources so providing the program works as its GUI suggests it should... it should be able to record high def speaker outputs and other inputs too as well as downmixing to a single stereo wav file or to seperate wav files. personally I am having mixed results with it but if I can find a way of getting it to work consistantly I'll be happy with it... Don't forget that this IS A BETA build and not the latest beta either.

Last STABLE release:
http://www.playclaw.com/bin/playclaw4.2345.exe
GAOTD beta release:
http://www.playclaw.com/bin/playclaw4.2352.exe
Latest BETA build:
http://www.playclaw.com/bin/playclaw4.2353.exe

do not get excited just because the setup file is avaialble without the GAOTD wrapper! It does not mean it's a free-for-all as sytexis software tightly control the activation process and will no doubt shut down fresh activations shortly after the giveaway period is over.

Caused Call of Duty 2 Single Player mode to crash until the PlayClaw program was closed. Recording hadn't even been started. Using a WinXP SP3 machine with AMD Athlon 64 X2 3.8Ghz dual core processor with 3GB RAM and Nvidia GEForce 210 graphics card.

#11 and #25, please do not waste our time with irrelevant comments. I, for one, would have been satisfied if you had said you do not play games and therefore have no need for the programme or, better, had you asked what value the programme might have for non-gamers such as yourself.

For those of you getting the error "Activation error: returned 0 bytes" when you attempt to activate the software, try disabling your antivirus software temporarily and then activating. I have BitDefender 2013 and apparently it classifies the PlayClaw activation servers as some kind of threat (?) and blocks any connection attempts. I just turned off the 'on-access scanning' feature temporarily and was then able to successfully activate the software.

PlayClaw.exe - Application Error

The application failed to initialize properly (0xc000001d). Click on OK to terminate the application.

Any suggestions?

Do I download? As the thumbs up/down are exactly 50:50
(:-) = 215: :-( = 215)

I know this isn't very helpful, but I just wanted to say!

Regarding updates - someone said 1 year of updates but usually GOTD pgms come with NO updates although Process Lasso does.

Which is it because I will turn off the "Update" check box so I don't lose this GOTD.

Thanks.

#25 LancasterPA, don't watch TV, don't waste yout time. And Internet is even worse

Just recorded bf3 12800x720 video sound everything looks,sounds great. I'll add some music and life is good.If your having trouble with settings just keep tinkering with it. Audio took me a while to figure out but its set now. Thanks giveaway, playclaw nice program. It's beats dxtory which I've had for 6 months now.

Hardcore? Perhaps a wee name change is in order, no?

Happy Dae·

I read comments on this which seem to generally give thumbs up and easy to use...I have downloaded and installed it BUT would say I have been totally unable to work out how to use it,
I haven't managed to record a video or even a screen shot.
Looking for help information on the Playclaw site I didn't find any of any practical how to capture a video information, the program itself similarly has no help information.
I am seriously wondering if the zip GOTD file I downloaded is really the same thing !!!
Anyone have any useful how to use this information I can refer to before I uninstall it as it would seem unless you are already familiar with this software (which most of the comment contributors seem to suggest they are) you will have just downloaded hours of frustration.

playclaw gets good marks for showing cpu usage and good for livestreaming to webcamera
bandicam giveaway awile ago beats compression rating 1m 23seconds bandicam comes in at 318mb playclaw comes in at 663mb

i've found avast sandbox would cause resource exception,

so i add it to whitelist.

finally, playclaw works fine.

giovanni

THUMBS UP!!

BEST FREE ALTERNATIVES:

http://www.effectmatrix.com/Game-Capture/index.htm

are you kidding??? WTF
this E.M. Free Game Capture you suggesting takes 94 percent CPU without even doing anything / or it does something... it sucks!!!

test the software before saying it's better!
you probably didn't test the other programs either.
just Google copy URL and paste in here doesn't cut it pal!

#13 Congratulations on a very good review of this software.
Although i do not play games and therefore will not be downloading
the software. It is reviews after testing, like yours that give a
much better chance of GOTD's givaway of the day.

Thanks for taking the time to test the software.

Like this program however am finding it difficult to get audio recording working. Settings are difficult to see unless you maximise the window and seem to keep resetting anytime I leave the audio options screen. Got a soundblaster audigy 2zs in vista 64 and selected 'what u hear' enabled and used numpad 1 as audio key but silence is the result. Tried 'speakers' as well without success.

To the people who are slagging playing games . . .

* please don't waste my bandwidth and time whining about people who enjoy things you don't want to do - get a life instead

* please don't waste my bandwidth and time commenting on things you have a self-confessed ignorance about. Not all video games are violent:

Sim City and it's follow ups (from the start) - Myst and it's followups - flight sims - the whole Zork series and lots of other non-violent "puzzle" games are the equivalents of crosswords, sudoku and other brain exercise - or perhaps you despise people who can do The Times crossword

This site is for people to comment on software offered for free by companies wanting feedback - so, please go whinge somewhere else

DaveK

@39 when running windows vista/7/8 make sure you run the game and playclaw with admin priveliges, make sure your video and sound drivers are up to date.
in case you get error messages please send me an email at a1whizzy(at)gmail.com and I will try to help you further

@34 this is NOT a screenrecorder targeted at gamers, this is a GAMErecorder without the capability of recording your desktop, or that use wondershare democreator or other real screenrecorders

game Test
Game: Dynasty Warriors Online (MMH & S = Massive Multiplayer Hack & Slash)
Level: Training capture bases
Impact PC performance: not noticeable (so positive)
Impact game: minimal (DWO is normally a very sensitive game when running recorders)
Used settings: default except start / stop hotkey (changed from scroll to page up)
Voice not tested

The overlays can be very tricky but these are all possible to move and able to turn off

downside: no in-app upload capabilities to video sharing sites and image sharing sites

all in all I am delighted with this version and this is definitely a keeper with the imminent departure of WeGame, in the spirit of the gaming sites and magazines I put in a rating of 8/10

testvideo can be found at http://youtu.be/9u-L09Wnung (in about 30 minutes after this post)

I will stick with Razer Game Booster. It is free, and has Screencast which does the same thing as this. It also has no major impact on performance while recording.

This is version 4.0.0.0 Build 2352 (07 Dec 2012).

PlayClaw won't record anything for me.
If the PlayClaw is opened almost all may games crashes on opening.
Only one small game (Rob-Rob.exe)didn't crashed. But the PlayClaw won't make any printscreen or scrollLock.
Why is it not working? I also dowloaded and activated previous version of PlayClaw but that version also didn't worked.
I would like to test this program.

It works, no lag as promised on med settings.

LancasterPa @ #11 ... a simple thumbs up seems inadequate so I'll add:

This kudos is for you. You rock.

OK, I excluded PlayClaw from my security software. The UI entries still disappear. It seems to work OK, but without support for the Vista+ audio API, it's not very useful. It doesn't appear to support apps on the restricted list. I don't think that Chrome was on the list, I tried to record video and it crashed Chrome, no video was recorded. This could be handy software, the developers really need to put more effort into it (um, hello, we're up to Windows 8).