HOW TO: Make a recording of game. Catch your best moments. Catch cheaters, even.

THIS IS A DIRECT COPY/PASTE OF NOVA'S 7-24-11 FORUM POST. It's just too damn good of a tutorial to let fall into the "old" posts.
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Here's a simple step by step guide to make a record a demo in l4d2. It's basically the same for any Valve game.


Step 1. Recording the demo

In the console, type

Code:

record "demoname"

The game will then start recording the demo into a .dem file.




Step 2. Stopping the demo

When you're done with your demo, type

Code:

stop

in the console. It will then indicate that the recording has been terminated and you now have a demo file. But where is it?


Step 3. Finding your demo

It's quite simple.
You'll need to head to your left 4 dead 2 folder... commonly :

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\left 4 dead 2\left4dead2\



and it's just there.


Step 4. Viewing a demo

Make sure the demo is in the folder stated in Step 3.
In-game, type in the console:

Code:

playdemo "demoname"

Step 5. Advanced viewing

To manipulate better your demo, you can use 2 different in-game functions: demo user interfaces. There are two, and to get them, type in the console:

Code:

demoui

or

Code:

demoui2

As showed below:



And they look like this:




Step 6. Converting the demo to an avi video file.

First, play your demo in-game as seen in Step 4, and manipulate the demo as seen in Step 5. Pause it, then type in console:

Code:

startmovie "demoname" avi

Here are alternative options:



For avi, it warns you about a popup... so when we start the movie, we get this (might lag a bit and take time to show):



I use the Xvid codec to convert, you're free to use what you want really... press OK and play the demo, it'll then start recording.

When you're done with the movie, you simply end it with the following command:

Code:

endmovie

As shown below:



Now that you ended the part of the demo you wanted to turn into an avi, go find your file commonly at:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\left 4 dead 2



In my experience, it isn't the best way, but it is the simplest and you get your video in the end. The video does seem saturated, and the recording is laggy for me.

And voil

 

Some images in the previous tutorial are apparently no longer avaialable.

Good news, THIS STEAM GUIDE FOR MAKING DEMOS IN L4D2 IS AMAZING! It covers all possible methods!

Courtesy of LEGEND, this is an amazing guide SHOWING YOU HOW TO REMOVE THE HUD FOR OPTIMAL QUALITY!