How To Create Screenshots Using Oblivion

Overview

This tutorial will demonstrate how to create screenshots using Oblivion's built-in screenshot utility.

Prerequisite

Please read Screenshots: A Basic Guideline as a prerequisite to this tutorial.

Procedure

Here are the steps I follow to get a vanilla copy of Oblivion to produce screenshots:

Done Once

1. Edit Oblivion.ini which is located in C:\Documents and Settings\username\My Documents\My Games\Oblivion\Oblivion.ini
2. Find bAllowScreenShot=0
3. Change to bAllowScreenShot=1
4. Save and exit

Repetitive Steps

1. Once in Oblivion where you want a screenshot, press ` to bring up the console and then type tm
2. Now that the HUD, menu and text are gone, you can take fullscreen pictures without clutter.
3. Take your screenshot(s) by pressing the Print Screen (PrtScn) key.
4. Type ` to bring up the console and then type tm
5. Now that the HUD and menu are back, you can exit Oblivion.
6. Open Windows Explorer and navigate to Oblivion's installation folder. Default is C:\Program Files\Bethesda Softworks\Oblivion
7. You will see .BMP files such as Oblivion1.bmp, Oblivion2.bmp, etc.
8. Right-click on a .BMP file and open with Paint which is part of Windows XP.
9. Once Paint loads the picture, click File, Save As, give it a descriptive name and change the Save as type to JPEG and click Save. Exit Paint.
10. Delete the .BMP you opened (since it was re-saved as a .JPG)
11. Repeat steps 8-10 for each .BMP file.

Common Mistakes

A list of problems and their solutions with capturing screenshots.

Anti-Aliasing

If the notification at the top proclaiming the screenshot does not appear, it may be related to your particular video card and anti-aliasing being enabled. Once in the game or in the main menu, go into your video options and disable anti-aliasing (set to zero or none).

Screenshot Files Are Not Being Created

If you installed Oblivion to the default folder and you are running Windows Vista or Windows 7, you can pick one of two solutions.

Solution #1 - Reinstall

Reinstall Oblivion to someplace other than the default folder. Someplace like C:\Games\Oblivion or D:\Oblivion for example. This will allow you to preserve the Windows security settings and avoid many other issues related to UAC that affect your Oblivion experience such as trying to extract archives directly to Oblivion's Data folder (which will not extract the Meshes or Textures sub-folders!)

Solution #2 - Disable UAC Security

Vista/Win7 Users will commonly find themselves unable to find the screenshot files even though they are looking in the correct location. This solution will require you to restart your computer. Firstly, click on the start button and enter the control panel. Then click on the user accounts and family settings. Then click on user settings and you will be displayed a number of options. Click on turn user account control on or off and lastly tick the box off saying "use user account control." After restarting the computer, you will be able to make screenshots that will appear in the main oblivion directory! For "safety" reasons tick the UAC box back on after you are finished.

Reference

Source: LHammonds Web Site

Source: Oblivion talk:Ini Settings