Static Recomp Reference Capture

Overview

Gather clean, legally obtained reference captures and normalize them into a consistent format for automated comparison.

Workflow

1. •Confirm legal capture sources.
   • •Prefer user-provided hardware captures or authorized recordings.
   • •If using emulator footage, record emulator version and settings.
   • •Do not ingest proprietary binaries or keys.
2. •Standardize capture settings.
   • •Lock resolution, aspect ratio, and frame rate.
   • •Disable dynamic resolution and variable frame pacing when possible.
   • •Set audio sample rate (example: 48 kHz) and channel layout.
3. •Capture anchor scenes.
   • •Identify scenes that stress rendering, audio, UI, and gameplay.
   • •Capture from boot to first interactive state.
   • •Include a repeatable gameplay loop segment.
4. •Normalize formats.
   • •Re-encode to a common container and codec.
   • •Trim to exact segments with timestamps.
   • •Preserve original captures as raw archives.
5. •Produce metadata.
   • •Capture start time, duration, settings, and source details.
   • •Record any known differences (patches, mods, settings changes).
6. •Validate capture quality.
   • •Check for dropped frames and audio desync.
   • •Ensure overlays, watermarks, or UI from capture tools are absent.

Outputs

• •Normalized reference captures (video and audio).
• •A metadata file per capture with settings and source details.
• •A scene list with timestamps for automated comparison.

Quality bar

• •Reference captures must be stable, reproducible, and legally obtained.
• •Metadata must be sufficient to reproduce the capture.
• •Segment selection must cover core rendering, audio, and gameplay behaviors.