If Youtube's recent $1bn acquisition of Twitch is any measure Gameplay Recording and Streaming is a massively popular creative outlet that is still growing at a breakneck pace. Typically however those interested in broadcasting their latest exploits use XSplit, OBS (a free alternative) or other third party application that encodes video in software, resulting in a heavy performance overhead. Now however gamers can make use of the dedicated hardware within modern GPUs to encode in real-time without meaningfully impacting performance.
Enter Raptr, a well established gameplay tracking and social media tool which also recently partnered with AMD to allow for automated optimisation of game settings for best combination of visuals and performance. The project was a response to the GeForce Experience app which, in addition to the above for NVIDIA GPU-specific systems, also notifies on driver updates (including Beta's); without NVIDIA's ample coffers partnering with Raptr was the best way to roll out similar for their own substantial install base.
Raptr and AMD haven't left it there however - this week they launched the Game Video Recorder feature, integrating game recording and broadcasting into the Raptr app UI. Furthermore Raptr's implementation makes use of AMD's Video Codec Engine hardware, a much heralded feature of the HD7000-series launch that can encode video using the h.264 codec in real-time but has been sadly underutilised until now.
Raptr GVR allows game recording or streaming of a wide variety of titles (Raptr claim support for over 5000) at the click of a button, and thanks to their integration of social media tools your broadcasts can be announced simultaneously. If recorded rather than broadcast that footage can be uploaded to the video sharing site of your choice as most will support the output video format. GVR should be supported by all cards which incorporate AMD's VCE 1.0 and 2.0 technology, essentially HD7700-series and higher (also R7 260X and higher).
Of course Raptr aren't freezing out NVIDIA hardware either. GVR will also make use of the onboard encoder within NVIDIA 600/700-series GPUs, a feature supported by NVIDIA's own Shadowplay but typically restricted to the almost 200 major pre-approved titles. Shadowplay's feature set is also a little more diverse than Raptr GVR at present, which is to be expected given its relative maturity.
You can find out more on Raptr GVR here, and download the app from their website front page.
