Game clips

With game clips the Coviqo desktop app for Windows keeps the last seconds of your game in memory. When something great happens, press a key and the moment is saved as a video file on your computer – and you can share it in a room or a direct message afterwards. You can also record a whole session from one key press to the next.

Game clips are part of the desktop app for Windows (version 0.7 or newer) and are off until you switch them on. They are a separate feature from the clips of voice rooms (the last seconds of a conversation, see Threads, voice messages and reminders).

Switching it on#

Open Settings › Desktop app › Replay clips and switch on Replay clips. The desktop app asks once in its own dialog (Switch on game clips?) and names the two keys; click Switch on.

From then on, Coviqo watches which program is in front. As soon as a game runs in fullscreen or in a borderless window, it keeps the last seconds in a buffer in memory. The card shows the state, for example Recording buffer active: game.exe · 30 s buffered · 1080p60, or Waiting for a game in the foreground. About 30 seconds after the game has left the foreground, the buffer stops again.

Saving a clip#

Both keys are global, so they work while the game is in front. Change them in the card or under Settings › Intercom & shortcuts. They are only active while game clips are switched on.

After each clip you get the notification Clip saved (30 s) with a sound. Because Windows hides notifications while you play, the notice also appears in the game overlay (when the overlay and Notifications in the overlay are on, see Game overlay), and Coviqo plays the sound itself. If no game is detected, Save game clip says No game detected – use a recording instead, or put the game on the Always record list.

If you quit Coviqo while a clip or recording is still being written, the app waits until the file is complete (at most 15 seconds).

Settings#

• Mode:
  • Clip – the key saves the last seconds.
  • Recording – the key starts a recording, pressing again stops it.
  • Clip + after (the default) – the key saves the seconds before and after the press, for example 30 s before and 30 s after. With Keep recording on, pressing again during the "after" part turns the clip into a recording that runs until the next press.
• Seconds before / Seconds after – 10 to 300 seconds.
• Quality – 720p, 1080p (default) or 1440p, at 30 or 60 fps (Frame rate). The card shows how much memory the buffer needs. Computers without a hardware video encoder record at 720p30.
• Game audio – the sound of the game itself. Voices from your Coviqo calls are never recorded.
• Microphone as an extra track – your own microphone as a separate audio track in the video file (off by default).
• Folder – where clips are saved; by default Videos\Coviqo Clips in your user folder. Open shows it.
• Notification and Sound with the notification.
• Always record – programs that count as a game even in a window (for example game.exe).
• Never record – programs that should never count as a game.

While you share the same game in a call with the desktop app, clips use the picture of your screen share (the stream's quality) – there is no second capture.

My clips#

Below the settings, My clips lists your newest clips with a preview picture and length:

• click a clip to play it,
• Share in channel – choose a space and channel, or a direct message; the clip is attached to a new message there, add some text and send it as usual,
• Show in folder,
• Delete – moves the file to the recycle bin.

Organisation policy#

Organisations can switch off Local clips and recordings (desktop app) under Organisation › Policies. The buffer then stops at once, the keys are released, and the card says Your organisation has disabled local clips and recordings.

Privacy#

Clips record only the game window (for a recording without a game: the screen of the active window), the game's sound and – if you choose so – your microphone. Voices of other people from Coviqo calls are never recorded. The buffer lives only in memory, and the files stay on your computer; nothing is uploaded unless you share a clip.