hydroclipsStart and finish#
Select Record in the panel or press Alt + F9. Wait for REC before assuming capture has started. The same shortcut or the Stop Recording button finishes the session and writes an MP4 to your save folder.
The button shows Processing… while a start or export operation is running. Avoid pressing it repeatedly. Version 2.0.7 ignores duplicate in-flight toggles and a second toggle during the first second of a new recording.
Choose recording quality#
The capture service supports 720p, 1080p, 1440p and source size. The current Settings pane exposes bitrate, buffer and audio controls. Resolution and frame rate come from the saved recorder configuration; this release does not expose selectors for them. The bitrate limit is 100 Mbps. Higher resolution, frame rate and bitrate can increase processing, disk use and export time.
For an initial test, lower the bitrate to 8 Mbps, then increase it after confirming smooth playback. Advanced users can quit the app, back up %APPDATA%\Hydro Clips\liquid-config.json, and set recorder.resolution to 720p and recorder.fps to 30 before restarting. Preserve the other configuration fields. At 8 Mbps, video alone is roughly 60 MB per minute; at 25 Mbps, roughly 188 MB. Audio and container overhead add to these estimates.
Capture while the panel is hidden#
The recording service runs independently of the WebView2 interface. You can press Alt + B to hide the panel without stopping capture. The panel is excluded from screen capture where Windows supports that behavior.
The service checks hardware H.264 encoders and uses a software fallback when needed. It tries DXGI desktop capture, then GDI desktop capture if startup fails. Check a sample from your game rather than assuming all exclusive fullscreen modes work.
Wait for a complete file#
Recordings are captured in temporary segments and finalized into a real MP4. Export validates a video frame and duration before adding the clip. The first part of a short recording is trimmed accurately rather than relying on a keyframe-only seek.
If export fails, the notification reports a recovery folder. Preserve that folder and consult export troubleshooting. Stop manual recording before changing video or audio capture settings. Changing only the replay duration or output folder preserves capture and is allowed during recording. Finishing a recording keeps enabled Instant Replay running with its existing history.