Runtime Video Recorder (RVR)

High-performance video recording plugin for Unreal Engine

Features • Installation • Quick Start • API Reference • Support

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Documentation

Check this page

Overview

Runtime Video Recorder (RVR) is a production-ready Unreal Engine plugin that enables MP4 video recording at runtime without game or render thread hitches. Built with performance in mind, it supports hardware-accelerated encoding on Windows (WMF), MacOS (AVFoundation), Oculus/Android (MediaCodec), Linux (OpenH264), and includes specialized features for VR and multi-camera setups.

Key Features

✨ Zero Performance Impact

• Asynchronous encoding on dedicated thread
• No game thread blocking
• Hardware acceleration support (Windows, Mac, Android, Oculus)

🎥 Flexible Recording Sources

• Game/Editor viewport recording
• Render target recording
• Single camera recording (Camera & CineCamera)
• Multi-camera grid recording
• 360-degree video support (experimental)

🎵 Audio Recording

• Full in-game audio capture
• Selective SoundSubmix recording
• Synchronized audio/video encoding

⚡ Advanced Features

• Frame-rate independent recording
• Manual frame capture mode
• Circular buffer (record last N seconds)
• Deferred encoding option
• Real-time camera preview
• Screenshot capture

Platform Support

Platform	Status	Hardware Acceleration	Encoder
Windows (Win64)	✅ Full Support	✅ Yes (WMF)	H.264
MacOS	✅ Full Support	✅ Yes (AVFoundation)	H.264
Android	✅ Full Support	✅ Yes (MediaCodec)	H.264
Oculus	✅ Full Support	✅ Yes (MediaCodec)	H.264
Linux	✅ Full Support	❌ Software	OpenH264

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Installation

1. Download from Google Disk
2. Follow README
3. Regenerate project files (right-click .uproject → Generate Visual Studio project files)
4. Compile the project
5. Enable the plugin in the editor (Edit → Plugins)

Dependencies

The plugin automatically enables these required plugins:

• AudioCapture - For audio recording functionality
• ElectraPlayer - For video playback support

Building Third-Party Libraries

This repository includes pre-compiled libraries (x264, lsmash, mp4v2, libmpv) for various platforms.

Building libmpv for Linux

The repository includes a GitHub Actions workflow to build libmpv for both Linux x64 and ARM64 architectures using the mpv-build repository.

Using GitHub Actions (Recommended)

1. Go to the Actions tab in your GitHub repository
2. Select the Build libmpv for Linux workflow
3. Click Run workflow
4. (Optional) Specify MPV and FFmpeg versions:
   • master - Latest development version (default)
   • release - Latest stable release
   • Custom tag/branch/commit (e.g., v0.38.0)
5. Download the artifacts once the build completes

The workflow will produce:

• libmpv-linux-x64 - x64 libraries and headers
• libmpv-linux-arm64 - ARM64 libraries and headers
• libmpv-linux-all-architectures - Combined package with build info

Manual Build for Linux

For x64:

# Install dependencies (Ubuntu/Debian)
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y \
  build-essential git yasm nasm cmake ninja-build \
  autoconf automake libtool pkg-config \
  libx11-dev libxext-dev libxrandr-dev libxinerama-dev \
  libxcursor-dev libxi-dev libxss-dev libxv-dev \
  libvdpau-dev libva-dev libgl1-mesa-dev \
  libasound2-dev libpulse-dev \
  libfribidi-dev libfreetype6-dev libfontconfig1-dev \
  libharfbuzz-dev libjpeg-dev libssl-dev \
  python3 python3-pip

# Upgrade meson (Ubuntu 22.04 has 0.61.2, but libplacebo requires >= 0.63)
sudo pip3 install --upgrade meson

# Clone and build
git clone https://github.com/mpv-player/mpv-build.git
cd mpv-build

# Configure versions (optional)
./use-mpv-master    # or ./use-mpv-release
./use-ffmpeg-master # or ./use-ffmpeg-release

# Configure options (hardware acceleration only)
printf "%s\n" -Dlibmpv=true >> mpv_options
printf "%s\n" --enable-vdpau >> ffmpeg_options
printf "%s\n" --enable-vaapi >> ffmpeg_options

# Build
./rebuild -j$(nproc)

# Libraries will be in mpv-build/mpv/build/

For ARM64 (using Docker with QEMU):

# Set up QEMU for ARM64 emulation
docker run --rm --privileged multiarch/qemu-user-static --reset -p yes

# Build in ARM64 container
docker run --rm --platform linux/arm64 \
  -v $(pwd):/workspace \
  -w /build \
  arm64v8/ubuntu:22.04 \
  bash -c "
    apt-get update && \
    apt-get install -y build-essential git yasm nasm cmake \
      ninja-build autoconf automake libtool pkg-config \
      libx11-dev libxext-dev libfribidi-dev libfreetype6-dev \
      libfontconfig1-dev libharfbuzz-dev libjpeg-dev libssl-dev \
      python3 python3-pip && \
    pip3 install --upgrade meson && \
    git clone https://github.com/mpv-player/mpv-build.git && \
    cd mpv-build && \
    ./use-mpv-master && \
    printf '%s\n' -Dlibmpv=true >> mpv_options && \
    printf '%s\n' --enable-vdpau >> ffmpeg_options && \
    printf '%s\n' --enable-vaapi >> ffmpeg_options && \
    ./rebuild -j\$(nproc) && \
    mkdir -p /workspace/Linux/arm64/lib && \
    find . -name 'libmpv.so*' -exec cp -P {} /workspace/Linux/arm64/lib/ \;
  "

Building MP4v2 for Linux ARM64

Using Docker with QEMU for cross-compilation

docker run --rm --platform linux/arm64 \
  -v $(pwd):/workspace \
  -w /build \
  arm64v8/ubuntu:22.04 \
  bash -c "
    apt-get update && \
    apt-get install -y build-essential cmake git autoconf automake libtool && \
    git clone https://github.com/enzo1982/mp4v2.git && \
    cd mp4v2 && \
    mkdir build && cd build && \
    cmake .. -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=OFF && \
    make -j\$(nproc) && \
    cp libmp4v2.a /workspace/Linux/arm64/
  "

The GitHub workflows support:

• libmpv - Linux x64 and ARM64 with hardware acceleration (VDPAU, VAAPI) for video playback
• MP4v2 - Linux ARM64 using QEMU-based cross-compilation

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Troubleshooting

Recording Not Starting

Check:

• Is another recording already in progress? Call IsRecordingInProgress()
• Does the output directory exist? Plugin won't create directories
• Are required plugins enabled? (ElectraPlayer, AudioCapture)

Poor Video Quality

Solutions:

• Increase VideoBitrate (try 30000000 for 30 Mbps)
• Use Profile_High encoder profile
• Set RCMode to RC_Quality
• Increase TargetQuality to 75-90

Performance Issues

Solutions:

• Enable hardware acceleration in Project Settings
• Lower video resolution
• Reduce TargetFPS
• Use bPostponeEncoding = false (default on-the-fly encoding)
• Disable bDebugDumpEachFrame

Audio Sync Issues

Check:

• bFrameRateIndependent must be false for audio recording
• Ensure game is running at stable framerate
• Try increasing audio buffer size in project audio settings

Hardware Acceleration Not Working

Windows:

• Check GPU drivers are up to date
• Try setting bForceHardwareAccelerationForAllVendors = true for AMD/Intel
• Some older GPUs may not support H.264 encoding

Android:

• Verify device supports MediaCodec H.264 encoding
• Some emulators don't support hardware encoding

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Sample Content

The plugin includes sample content in the Content folder:

• Level_RuntimeVideoRecorder.umap - Demo level with recording UI (UE 5.2 and below)
• Level_RuntimeVideoRecorder_UE53Plus.umap - Demo level for UE 5.3+
• BP_RVR_GameMode - Example game mode with recording controls
• BP_RVR_VideoPlayer - Video playback widget
• Widget_AndroidRecording - Mobile-friendly recording UI

Support & Resources

• Support Discord: Join Community
• Developer: Unreal Solutions

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