Alternate Recording Program

[Savory]

When I try using FRAPS, everything starts lagging. Worse off, it records the lag. Does anyone know a better way to record gameplay?

[Daverost]

I had the same issue, though I heard that if you lower the game's refresh rate/frameskip through the game options, it should help it record more smoothly.

I've had reasonable success with CamStudio. You could also try HyperCam 2. They won't be quite as nice-looking as FRAPS, though. Or at least CamStudio generally won't. I tend to get some sound issues like hickups and desyncs that I have to tweak in VirtualDub.

[chirpy13]

I usually use hypercam 2.  It has a tendency to desync on certain settings or at high resolutions though, so I generally just save a replay and record in window mode 640x480.  If it's something where you can't save a replay (eg. PC98 or EoSD stage practice), you're probably going to have to play in windowed too though... In this case I would turn down my screen resolution to 800x600 to make your Touhou bigger while you play.

I also know a few people who use camtasia (not necessarily for Touhou), and it works fairly well for them.  The quality is fairly decent as well I believe.

[Agent of the BSoD]

I wouldn't try CamStudio unless you really want to. It has lagging problems and most of that is because it can't record uncompressed. It has to use a codec to record, and generally, when using a codec, the game lags because it's busy encoding it and recording at the same time.

Hypercam 2 or 3 are pretty good. The latest hypercam 3 has a fix for sound lag, though it doesn't always solve the problem, it helps.