How to Record with NVIDIA Screen Recorder

TL;DR:

NVIDIA ShadowPlay is a free gameplay recording tool accessed via GeForce Experience that captures up to 8K HDR footage and automated highlights, though it causes a 5 to 10 percent game performance drop on lower-end systems.
    ● Requires Windows 7, 8, or 10, a minimum of 4GB RAM, and a GeForce GTX 650 GPU or higher, offering zero compatibility for macOS or Linux environments.
    ● Operates a background Instant Replay mode accessed through the Alt + Z overlay to save only the last 30 seconds of gameplay, preventing massive video file sizes.
    ● Wondershare Filmora serves as a necessary alternative for macOS users or creators requiring custom screen area selection and built-in post-recording editing tools over raw full-screen capture.

---

Ask AI for a summary

ChatGPT Perplexity Gemini Claude Grok Try It Free Try It Free Try It Free

When we talk about the best screen recorders for capturing gameplay, NVIDIA screen recorder prominently features on the list. NVIDIA is no more just a hardware company that is popular for designing gaming and graphics components. They have started launching software related to gaming and graphics that are gaining a lot of traction in the market. NVIDIA game recorder named NVIDIA ShadowPlay is quite popular as a professional screen recording application.

NVIDIA ShadowPlay is a feature-rich application that is designed to meet all the requirements of the users who want to record their screens and make a proper video out of the recordings. It can not only record gameplay on computers but also on gaming consoles such as PlayStation and Xbox. However, NVIDIA video recording does affect the performance of the games and graphics. In this article, we will have a complete look at the features and parameters of NVIDIA recorder and find out if there is a better alternative available.

Part 1. Key Features of NVIDIA Recorder

NVIDIA record screen software is popular because it has all the different features that a user generally looks for while recording gameplay.

Superior Recording Quality - NVIDIA ShadowPlay lets you record screen up to 8K HDR quality at 30 frames per second as well as 4K HDR quality at 60 frames per second. Therefore, you can get video recording at the pro-level for uploading on different platforms.

Instant Reply Mode - When you turn on Instant Replay mode on ShadowPlay, the software keeps recording your gameplay in the background. If you have pulled off an amazing move in your game, you can press the hotkey to save the last 30 seconds of recorded gameplay on your computer. Therefore, you do not need to save the entire recorded video file. Instead, you can save only the important scenes and thereby save a lot of space on your drive. 

Key Gaming Moments - With the screen recorder NVIDIA Highlights feature, the software automatically captures the key moments in your gameplay and saves them for you to review. You can have all the important highlights from your gameplay and share them on social media platforms instantly.

Live Streaming - You can live stream your gameplay on Twitch, YouTube, and Facebook at very high quality without any lag. In fact, it supports external camera for personalization, and there are various graphics overlays available for customization.

Create GIFs and Capture Screenshots - keeping up with the current trend, NVIDIA recording software allows users to create 15-second GIFs and add texts to upload on social media platforms with a push of a button. Besides, users can create stunning screenshots at 8k resolution and upload them to social media platforms without leaving the game.

Useful Hotkeys - Gamers always prefer screen recorders that allow shortcut keys and hotkeys to avail different features. NVIDIA comes with a bundle of hotkeys for the convenience of the users and uninterrupted gameplay.

User Interface - NVIDIA ShadowPlay has an intuitive and user-friendly interface that users can operate without going through any tutorial. There are not many complicated options and steps required and this enhances the overall user experience as well as the speed of operation.

Part 2. How to Record Games NVIDIA Screen Recorder

NVIDIA ShadowPlay comes under NVIDIA GeForce recording option. This means you cannot open ShadowPlay directly, and you have to open it via GeForce Experience. Therefore, you need to have GeForce Experience installed on your phone. Apart from ShadowPlay, you get a direct game streaming option, instant game settings optimization and NVIDIA graphics card updates under GeForce Experience. Here are the steps to follow to use NVIDIA record screen software to record gameplay.

Step 1: Download and install GeForce Experience from NVIDIA official website. Launch GeForce Experience from Windows Start menu.

Step 2: Once GeForce Experience opens, you have to click on the Share button at the top-right corner. This will open NVIDIA Share toolbar at the top of the screen.

Step 3: Along with NVIDIA Share toolbar, you will see ShadowPlay overlay UI. There are mainly three options - Instant Replay, Record, and Broadcast.

If you do not see the overlay containing recording options, click on the Share button at the left of the NVIDIA Share toolbar.

Step 4: Start the game whose gameplay you want to record. You will be asked to permit screen recording of the game.

Step 5: Turn on Instant Replay option to save epic moments during the gameplay. Finally, click on Record option and click on Start option to start recording.

Step 6: During the gameplay, you can get back NVIDIA ShadowPlay overlay by pressing Alt + Z. Top stop recording, go to Record option and click on Stop and Save option.

Part 3. Performance and Requirements

There have been concerns raised by professional gamers that when you use NVIDIA ShadowPlay to record gameplay or even broadcast gameplay live, it affects the performance of the game. After thorough experimentation, it has been found that running NVIDIA ShadowPlay to record gameplay or broadcast gameplay leads to the use of system resources. Therefore, there is a dip in the overall performance of the game of 5%-10%. Such a dip is negligible if you have a high-performance gaming computer.

However, the dip could be significant if your computer does not have a high configuration. In that case, the gameplay can get slightly slow and lag at times. In a fair comparison, NVIDIA GeForce recording may take slightly more system resources than most screen recording software. This means no matter which screen recorder you use, there will always be some dip in the performance of the game, and you should learn to neglect it.

NVIDIA record gameplay software is compatible with Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 10. It is not compatible with Linux or macOS. Here is the list of system requirements for NVIDIA ShadowPlay.

Part 4. A Better Alternative for Screen Recording

There are several concerns regarding NVIDIA screen recorder starting from performance issue to recording not working suddenly issue. Therefore, users who use NVIDIA screen recorder, they always look for a better alternative. Filmora - Screen Video Recorder is a great alternative, and it scores over ShadowPlay on all parameters. This is because Filmora is not only a feature-rich screen recorder but also a great video editor.

Instead of recording the entire screen all the time, you can record only a specific part of the screen with Filmora. Similarly, you can give a voiceover to your reordered video, add special effects and filters as well as transitions for the video to look completely professional and stunning. You can also add captions, drawings, and stickers to make it even more attractive and relatable.

Begin by downloading and installing Wondershare Filmora on your PC. Here are the steps to follow in recording the game screen with Filmora.

Step 1: Launch the software and click on new Project. Go to Record and click on Record PC Screen option.

Step 2: Select either entire screen or custom screen to record a specific part of the screen.

Step 3: Finally, click on Record button. You will get a few seconds of buffer time to launch the game that you want to record. Start playing the game and the gameplay will be recorded in the background.

In order to stop recording, hover on the top bar and click on Stop button. You will get the saved video file instead Filmora folder.

Conclusion

NIVIDA game recorder is available for free and there are good enough features to record the gameplay swiftly. The best part is that you can capture key moments and stunning highlights conveniently.  Besides, broadcasting live on streaming platforms as well as making GIFs and sharing on social media platforms is super easy. However, there are performance issues to address and Wondershare Filmora is simply a better alternative available for your consideration for professional recording and editing.