Mimic (& Capture) doesn't capture application

[firebrandyouth]

Trying to capture video from software KinskyDesktop but Mimic always captures the window beneath. Have tried all options - application, window, region etc. but with same effect.

Mimic works fine with other apps - what is it about this app that prevents it working? It's a .NET based application. App details here: http://oss.linn.co.uk/trac/ - KinskyDesktop

This is software produced by my own company so it is pretty important that I can capture it - have heard reports of Mimic not working with 'web apps' - can anyone elaborate? Have had to download Captivate to get actual screencasts of above software...not great when you've just shelled out for MadCap MadPak.

Same thing happens with Capture - window underneath captured instead - have had to use ol' Print Screen button to get round this.

Has anyone else experienced problems with certain applications? Have contacted MadCap and it's been logged as a bug but I have no idea if/when it will get fixed...

[SteveS]

Hi Firebrandyouth,

Welcome to the forums.

I would try to minimise any background windows so you only have your app maximised - if you can work with dual monitors it is a good workflow to have Mimic (or capture) and other stuff running on 1 monitor and the app you are documenting running on its own screen.

The printscreen button has the same effect in Mimic as it does in Capture - it will force a sceen capture. I find it useful to force a capture, do something, and then force another capture. That way you are guaranteed the 'background' will look as you want. Sometimes Mimic (and all the other screen capture software I've used) manages to capture a partially painted menu.

HTH

[RamonS]

I second Steve's recommendation. When using Mimic, Craptivate, or any other frame based screen capture keep hammering the PrintScreen key to capture as much as possible. The event triggers in Windows appear to be notoriously out of sync with what happens on screen. So by the time Mimic gets the cue to capture the event either already happened or hasn't finished yet. For all these applications, the first one who finds a way to fix that will sell a lot of copies.
Apps that capture straight to avi don't have this issue because they take 15 frames per second, plenty to capture everything that happens on screen. I use them once in a while to then make frames from the video to document processes that in small scale run fairly fast. For example, a database app will run much quicker with a small database that is usually used for testing and documenting. The customer may end up with a big fat database slowing things down and seeing more that way. Alternatively, I use CPUKiller, but that slows the entire system including the capture application. So you likely have to do the same process a few times and grab each time the next stage.

Coming back to your actual problem, is the window underneath a window of the same application? If yes, ask the developers if they did something clever (or funky) with the way the forms are created. Maybe the handle for both is the same and then Mimic or Capture would have no idea that there is something on top of it. I'm just wildly guessing here.

[MikeKatz]

I had the same problem, and it was a setting in the DevX tools that made the window look transparent to screen capturing programs. If you are using DevX and .Net, I can find out what the issue was and let you know.

[MikeBTP]

I am having the same problem with Mimic and Capture on a .NET program. It seems to be invisible to Mimic & Capture although the program name shows up in their lists. Any idea what .NET setting needs to be changed. There's nothing in the .NET project file that indicates any setting that would apply to this issue that I can readily see.

Thanks,
Mike

[MikeKatz]

I am having the same problem with Mimic and Capture on a .NET program. It seems to be invisible to Mimic & Capture although the program name shows up in their lists. Any idea what .NET setting needs to be changed. There's nothing in the .NET project file that indicates any setting that would apply to this issue that I can readily see.

Thanks,
Mike

They are trying to remember, but they think this is the issue:
"It's a .net property applicable to the System.Windows.Form class, see here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library ... cykey.aspx. There are (always were) some issues with this property, that's the main reason I think this was it. I think we set it to empty."

Let me know if this helps.

[MikeKatz]

I am having the same problem with Mimic and Capture on a .NET program. It seems to be invisible to Mimic & Capture although the program name shows up in their lists. Any idea what .NET setting needs to be changed. There's nothing in the .NET project file that indicates any setting that would apply to this issue that I can readily see.

Thanks,
Mike

They are trying to remember, but they think this is the issue:
"It's a .net property applicable to the System.Windows.Form class, see here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library ... cykey.aspx. There are (always were) some issues with this property, that's the main reason I think this was it. I think we set it to empty."

Let me know if this helps.

Here's info from someone else:
The issue in the end was (I think) opacity. Basically if you have a window that has an opacity of < 100 then most screen capture programs ignore the window (act like it’s not there) and clip what’s beneath the window instead.
In the project I managed to create a window/form that doesn’t look opaque, but could not be captured by a screen capture utility. As Calin stated, it’s not a .net or DX issue. As far as I know you can change the opacity of any window.

[MikeBTP]

Thanks to everybody for your help. It was the form's transparency setting that was causing the issue. Now it works fine.