ScreenGet 1.12

By Grim (admin@spritedatabase.net) - http://spritedatabase.net

This is an app I developed to help rapidly capture screenshots, similar to AnimGet. You need the .NET framework, and it's Windows only.

Interface

This is the basic interface of ScreenGet.

The long Status bar shows the program's current state: IDLE (doing nothing), RECORDING, or PAUSED.
The Shots box shows how many screens are in memory.

The three buttons are used to take and save screenshots.

• Record, when clicked, will start taking screenshots once you switch to a different window. Click the button again to pause.
  While paused, you can either resume recording, save the screenshots in memory, or simply delete them.
  You can also record & pause at any time using SHIFT + R, even when ScreenGet is not the active window.
  
  
• Save will save the screenshots in memory. If you have the Keep redundant frames option unchecked, it will delete the duplicate frames at this point as well.
  
  
• Delete will simply delete all the saved shots and stop any recording in progress.

Clicking File, Open Shot Directory will open the folder where your screenshots are saved, allowing you to view them directly.

By clicking File, then Config, various options can be set.

• Frame Delay will tell the program how often to take screenshots, and can be set to any number measured in milliseconds. The default is 32 - if that sounds too slow, feel free to change it.
  
  
• Output Format determines the file format of saved screenshots. PNG is the default, but .BMP is also available for those that prefer it.
  
  
• Window Scale Increasing this value from 1 to 2 will double the area of the screen captured by ScreenGet. Only change this option if ScreenGet is taking incomplete screenshots. This may happen with certain programs when using Windows' scaling options on a high-resolution monitor.
  
  
• File Path allows you to set where screenshots will be saved. By default, it is the same folder where ScreenGet.exe is located.
  
  
• Keep redundant frames? - if checked, the program will not delete duplicate screenshots. This makes saving screenshots much faster, but there will be many more of them.

Clicking Defaults will reset all options to the default value. OK will save current settings. Cancel will close the window without saving any changes.
Settings are saved in screenget.ini located in the same folder as ScreenGet.exe.

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ScreenGet vs. AnimGet

AnimGet is a program sprite rippers have been using for at least a decade. We all love it, but it's an old program and not without its flaws. One day I started thinking: what if I could make AnimGet go faster, or make it use less memory? It's a great program for sure, but it has some obvious limitations:

• It can only save .BMP files.
• It can only take screenshots at the default speed, apparently 10ms.
• Moreover, it compares screenshots WHILE it takes them, making it much slower than 10ms in reality.

ScreenGet is the result, a program designed to address these and other issues, while standing as an homage to Michael Menne's original program (right down to the name and the Link icon.)

Here are some animated comparisons of what the two are capable of, taken on my computer - obviously performance will differ a bit from PC to PC. Each of these was taken of a pre-recorded gameplay movie using Visual Boy Advance's movie record feature. These animated GIFs are made from the first 50 screens captured from the exact same starting point; they are all animated at the same rate. Note that the "keep redundant frames" option in ScreenGet was NOT checked for this test.

AnimGet capturing at 10ms
ScreenGet capturing at 10ms
ScreenGet at capturing at 16ms

I hear your protests already: but more happens in the AnimGet example! Exactly, because more frames are being skipped. The animations capped by ScreenGet have more "pointless" frames where nothing really changes besides a flickering shadow, but the thing is, AnimGet would capture these too if it could. You can see that even set to 16ms, ScreenGet is much faster.

In fairness, ScreenGet is not without its downsides, the most obvious of which include:

• Screenshots include the GUI - when you use AnimGet, you only get the game screen. Frankly, I have no idea how AnimGet does it, but if I ever figure it out ScreenGet will get another update.
• Saving is quite slow (unless "keep redundant frames" is checked) because they are compared before saving.
• For emulators such as Visual Boy Advance, Desmume, Snes9x, and Kawaks with manual frame advance tools, you really don't need a program like this.

Both programs have their pros and cons, so try 'em both and let me know what you think - send your thoughts to admin@spritedatabase.net.

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Version History

• 1.12 (8/25/2019)
  • Added global hotkey for record / pause (Shift + R)
  • Added Window Scale option
  • Minor fixes
• 1.11 (8/13/2013)
  • Interface overhaul, updated readme / tutorial, minor bugfixes
  
  
• 1.1 (7/03/2013)
  • Added the ability to keep redundant screenshots, improving save times and allowing for more accurate animation timing
  • Added leading zeroes to the filenames so they sort properly (ie, screen_0001 instead of screen_1)
    
    
• 1.0 (8/31/2011)
  • Initial release