How to use External codec (VFW) on Bandicam

Bandicam codecs are able to compress the video while recording and use much lower CPU/GPU/RAM than other codecs. However, if you want to get better quality videos or make smaller videos, you could try the [External Codec] option in Bandicam. Bandicam 1.8.2 or a higher version supports the third party VFW (Video for Windows) codec - External codec.

bandicam, vfw, external codec for recording

To use an external codec, click the [Settings] button under the Video tab, and click the [...] button after selecting [- External Codec -]. And then choose a codec from the codec list, and then click the Configure button.


A comparison between Bandicam Codec and External Codec

The table below shows the file sizes when Bandicam records a 1920x1080 resolution video for one minute (FPS: 30, Quality: 80).

* Bandicam Codec

Codec Size Quality Description
AV1 (GPU) 15 - 18 MB Better Better compression rate than H.264 for the same picture quality
(NVIDIA NVENC, AMD VCE/VCN, Intel QSV)
HEVC (GPU) 29 - 36 MB Better Better compression rate than H.264 for the same picture quality
(NVIDIA NVENC, AMD VCE/VCN, Intel QSV)
H.264 (GPU) 31 - 40 MB Better Best codec for advanced users
High Speed/Quality/Compression ratio
(NVIDIA NVENC, AMD VCE/VCN, Intel QSV)
Xvid 52.9 MB Good XVID is used for portable devices
MPEG-1 38.8 MB Good Good quality of video, less CPU time
Motion JPEG 420 MB Normal Best codec for video editing software
YV12 5,210 MB Best Lossless codec
RGB24 10,400 MB Best Lossless codec
  • AV1 or HEVC is better at compression than H.264, but some media players don't support AV1/HEVC.
    » How to play AV1 videos
  • Comparison of codec speed: RGB24 (Fastest) > YV12 > Motion JPEG > Xvid > MPEG-1 (Normal)
  • H.264 (Nvidia® NVENC™) or H.264 (Intel® Quick Sync video) may be faster than Motion JPEG with high performing computers.

* External Codec

Codec Size Quality Description
x264 135 MB Better Best codec for a high-end computer
(High quality, Smaller files, Recommended)
Xvid 315 MB Good DivX/Galaxy Smartphone
Lagarith 1,400 MB Best Best codec for video-editing software
(High quality, Lossless video codec)

You need a high-end computer to use an external codec because most external codecs use many more system resources than the Bandicam codec.

To choose the best video codec, please click HERE.


There are a lot of different codecs out there, and the following codecs/settings illustrate how you can use an external codec.

1. x264 codec settings for video recording

x264 is a free software library for encoding video streams into the H.264/MPEG-4 AVC format.
x264 is a far superior codec and can provide better picture quality at a smaller file size than XviD/DivX.
If you have a very fast and powerful computer, you should try the x264 codec.

- If you want to edit with Sony Vegas or Adobe Premiere, enter "--keyint 1" in the extra command line boxview
- If you can't see the "x264vfw-H.264/MPEG-4 AVC codec" menu from Bandicam, reinstall both the "x264vfw (x86)" and the "x264vfw (x64)" codecs and reboot your computer.


2. Xvid codec settings for video recording

Xvid is an open-source compression codec based on the MPEG-4 ISO format. It permits the compressing and decompressing of digital video in order to reduce the required bandwidth of video data for transmission over computer networks. If you use DivX player or Galaxy Smartphone, you could try this codec.


1. Click "more..." at the Quality preset, and choose "0-None" under the Motion tab.
2. Click "Other Options...," and uncheck "Display encoding status."

For more information about the Xvid external codec, visit https://bandicam.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1673.


3. Lagarith lossless codec settings for video recording

Lagarith is a lossless video codec intended for video editing and archiving. This codec can provide better picture quality than Motion JPEG (MJPEG), and the recorded file size will be much smaller than Bandicam's lossless codecs (YV12, RGB24). If you use video editing software (Sony Vegas, Adobe Premiere or Pinnacle Studio), you should try this codec.

Choose "YV12" mode to increase the recording speed of Bandicam.

**Use Multithreading: If you use a high-end computer, check this option. It will improve the recording speed.

* You can also use other third party VFW (Video for Windows) codecs such as MagicYUV.



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