Radeon ReLive

The Radeon Software Crimson ReLive Edition was released a year ago in December 2016, and it introduced integrated tools for screen and video capture to provide AMD Radeon users a way to share their on-screen experience. By doing so, AMD finally had a first-party feature to compete against NVIDIA's ShadowPlay technology. Both companies realized that Twitch, YouTube Gaming, and other platforms are gaining traffic with real-time streaming, and they wanted a piece of that pie which dedicated capture devices were enjoying thus far. In the July 2017 update, AMD doubled the maximum record and capture bitrate to 100 Mbps and reduced overhead in the actual capture process itself.


AMD felt that providing the ability to capture and record streams was not enough, and with this latest update has added in a dedicated tab called "Connect" that is meant to go hand-in-hand with ReLive in making it easier than ever before to share the content captured. Navigating to the Connect tab reveals three sub-menu pages, the first of which is called Gallery. Think of it as a file explorer for the captured footage with options alongside to share, edit, and organize in general. Having this built into the driver is very handy, especially with some rudimentary editing options, including trimming down the size of the video for easier uploads. The second sub-menu is Accounts, which, as the name suggests, is where you connect your accounts on various available social media platforms to make the previous tab easier to work with. AMD gives you the option to integrate as many platforms with the driver as you please, or none at all if you feel like it, so we leave it to the individual user to decide on the best course of action here. The final option set is called Resource Center, and this appears to be a more general venue for AMD to share things with you instead. We were curious about whether this space would end up being a marketing tool and a spot for companies to share game trailers, for example, and AMD mentioned they have no plans currently for any of that. This section comes off as still in-the-works in terms of what exactly AMD wants to do here, so we will be sure to keep an eye on it.


Of course, with a major named driver release, AMD had to do more to meet expectations. In an attempt to further improve ReLive, we now have native chat integration supported with Twitch, YouTube, Mixer, and FaceBook Live, allowing streamers to go one step more towards not needing dedicated capture devices or software at all. All this comes with yet more reduction in system overhead when using ReLive for screen capture with some specific examples provided by AMD, which includes the green side as well in an apples-to-oranges comparison. A more universal addition, and a welcome one at that, is Vulkan API support as well as the ability to now select specific regions on your display to capture and share alike, which AMD calls Borderless Region Capture Support.


This is the gift that keeps on giving, as there is more AMD has added to the ReLive core technology here in the Adrenalin Edition of Radeon Software. For those using RGB-solid backgrounds, ReLive now has Chroma keying built-in, so streamers can easily have a transparent background with the on-screen capture taking up more real estate as seen in the example screenshot provided. We have not tested this feature; however, AMD confirmed there are added controls to fine tune the background's transparency.

With Radeon Chill now supporting Eyefinity displays, AMD wants to make it possible for users to also be able to capture Eyefinity-configured screens, thus allowing streams with a high field of view. Along with all the video controls, AMD has also added in the ability to have separate audio tracks in case you have, say, a dedicated microphone you wish to use the audio track from to synchronize with the video (reaction videos and let's plays, for example). Finally, AMD appeals to the more professional content creators with support for Stage TEN, which is, in their own words, "a browser-based platform that handles the complexity of producing live streams and broadcast shows so you can focus on what you do best: creating awesome content for your audiences." There was not a lot of information provided here, so take this for what you will.