Capture Tools for KSP

This is an early release version of Capture Tools intended to help me catch any bugs. This is mostly intended for people who are already familiar with what Capture Tools is.

The early release period for Capture Tools is over. It'll be back on sale again once I've had an opportunity to fix issues pointed out to me by users, especially with CPU load and compatibility with other mods.

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Capture Tools is a tool for recording lag-free video in KSP at any resolution and any frame rate with any number of parts, as well capturing part traces for ready-made Blender animations of dynamic sequences like dogfights and space battles.

• Lag-free recording of the main camera with time-independent camera smoothing and audio capture at any resolution and framerate.
• Simultaneous multi-camera recording from different vessels, including a split-screen preview.
• Traces of part position and rotation data that you can import into blender to create ready-made animations when used alongside Taniwha’s craft importer.
• A batch script for removing duplicate frames from video files in bulk using FFmpeg.
• Lag-free recording with external recording software like OBS using the Timing panel and the batch script.
• HDRI capture from the main camera to quickly bring backgrounds and environment lighting into Blender.
• Compatible with camera post-processing mods like TUFX.
• Compatible with post-volumetric clouds versions of Scatterer.
• A little tool for playing simple in-game build animations in the editor and in-flight.

The owner's manual covers everything you need to know about using Capture Tools and will hopefully answer any questions you may have. It takes about 15 minutes to read the whole thing. Please take a quick look at it before you consider purchasing Capture Tools!

Capture Tools is intended for fairly serious video creators and animators but I'm intent on helping everyone to get the most out of it so please contact me on discord @halbann if you have any questions or need help getting Capture Tools to do what you want.

Capture Tools only works on Windows.

This is a perpetual license for Capture Tools and all future updates, and any ports I make for other games. I'll never move Capture Tools to a per month or per update model.

Development Plans

• Optimisations for part traces to reduce file size and read time.
• Recording of part animation data, thruster state, explosion effects, and BD Armoury objects like bullets and flares in part traces.
• Improved position smoothing behaviour when following fast moving aircraft and ground vehicles.
• Multi-cam audio recording.
• Multi-cam auto zoom.
• Fine control over which vessels should be included in a multi-cam recording.
• The ability to setup additional free, tracking or on-board cameras during a multi-cam recording.
• Improved UI for previewing multi-cam and main camera views.
• Mac and Linux support.

Known Issues

• Rare issue with re-use of render textures (screen buffers) when using TUFX and a HDR monitor, sometimes resulting in the screen output appearing in the background of the main camera output. Currently investigating.
• IVA views and aero effects aren't visible through the main camera. Planning to fix.
• When importing a trace in Blender, any parts not using the standard scaling, notably small SAS modules, will be at the wrong scale and need to be fixed in Edit mode. Planning to fix.
• There is an incompatibility with Scatterer and HDRI capture that causes the edges of clouds to look black, and not always map to the planet properly. Planning to fix.
• With Draw UI enabled on the main camera output, moving UI elements like vessel labels appear in the wrong place when using any smoothing. This is due to the UI being copied from the screen instead of rebuilt from scratch. Won't fix.
• Mod windows rendered with IMGUI (any windows like Mechjeb) don't appear in the main camera output with Draw UI enabled, this is because they're added to the screen after all normal rendering is complete. Won't fix.
• Not compatible with all Camera Tools modes. Especially in atmosphere. Planning to fix.