In-game videos: How to do it?

[Lance]

So many people request methods to make good, clear in-game videos that I thought it would be a good idea to create a central place to collect advice, so if you know how to do it, please tell us here. If you have questions about specific situations, like handheld consoles, SDTV, HDTV, data transfers to computer, separate recorders, whatever, then please ask them here.

[yeldar2097]

The Basic Method
Get any camera/camcorder and point it at the telly. When you're done, whack it on a pc then stick it on the web. If I can be bothered I edit it using Windows Movie Maker, not great but it does the trick...

[djKyoto]

The better method is to use a Video Capture Card/Device. If you're doing it in HD you'll prob need a fairly good PC.

[Lance]

djkyoto, could you please explain the method in more detail for those who wish to use it?

[yeldar2097]

ooh yes please. i really want to start recording vids in HD, would be brilliant

[mdhay]

Using a DVD recorder is the best option for me, when I'm done, I whack the disc in my drive, rip it with DVD Shrink, erase the disc with Nero. Done.

[Aeroracer]

yeah i thought a dvd was the best cos i tried it when i tried make a video of steeet fighter 4 but i found that firstly it only recorded in black n white cos it wouldnt record hd properly but i also found the biggest issue with using a dvd recorder was that lag it incurred. it took like 20 people and first hand experience to prove to me how it can affect game glay..probally wouldnt notice much on wipeout but on a beatmup it knocks out all the timeings on combos..I thought it was me at first but it was lag.

Apparently the only way to stop this is either use a camcorder and point at telly or use a splitter and run one wire from ps3 to telly and other wire to device.

In the end i just couldnt be bothered cos it was just to much trouble.

edit..i hear you can get hd capture device's but these are expensive but go straight to pc and are quite easy to do.but thats what i heard ,,never done it myself.

[Hellfire_WZ]

I use two methods depending on whether I'm doing a race or a tutorial

Races

Couldn't be simpler, I use a Logitech Quickcam Pro 9000 pointed at the screen. I use a computer monitor so I can pile up some DVDs to rest the webcam on at the right height. Built-in microphone records sound directly from the speakers. Files are saved directly to WMV format by the software. Unfortunately I can only upload to WeGame as YouTube doesn't recognise them as high quality.

Tutorials

As you can probably tell, the tutorials are a different prospect. The Logitech software is no good for the video here as the format it saves in is weird. Still using the webcam, I use CaptureFlux instead and record in raw AVI format with no audio. Thank god I've got a big hard drive as in this format six minutes of video comes out close to 10GB. Then I use Blaze Media Pro to compress the videos down to a slightly more respectable size (hundreds of MB rather than GB). After that, I compile the video in Adobe Premiere and use CaptureFlux again to record voiceovers. Then I render the final video as a Quicktime Movie using the Sorensen codec.

Using the webcam I'm restricted to 640x360 for recording Wipeout, any higher and the framerate drops to 15fps which is useless. Still does the job for YouTube and WeGame though.

[RedScar]

Here is a video Lance pertaining to kyoto's method of using a video capture device (the second setup in the video). There are other videos on youtube as well and 90% of them use the Dazzle Video Capture card. This is done with a 360 so I'm not sure how a PS3 one would work although I'm sure youtube has something in the way of a tutorial.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVH1_...eature=related

This method works great if you are using a TV, but for me I use my computer monitor so I still have yet to find a way to use a video capture card that won't cost me huge bucks and require me to change my current setup.

[yeldar2097]

i used to have that problem with WMV's. have you tried recently hellfire? i think mine are recognised as HQ and mine are all wmv's.

[Darkdrium777]

The method I use:

My desktop computer/PS3 setup is such that the PS3 stands right next to the PC tower. My PS3 is also connected to the same monitor as the PC, which is a ViewSonic VX2035wm. The PC is connected to it using VGA at 1680x1050, the PS3 using HDMI>DVI-D at 1920x1080.
This allows me to simplify an otherwise complicated setup that would require a lot of time to put up (And which would probably involve moving the computer around, though if you have a laptop that would work the same as in my case.)

Capturing video:

I have a digital camera: Panasonic DMC-TZ5, and it is able to record 720p HD video at 30FPS in .MOV format. Placing it on a speaker stand (Having misplaced the only important part of the only tripod we have, the camera can no longer attach to it and I am forced to use that), I point it at the screen and try to zoom it in enough. 16:10 to 16:9 aspect ratio causes some alignment issues, this is why you often see small black borders on my videos: they are the sides of the screen.
The camera is able to record about 10 minutes of video, and with that it pumps out files that are a few GBs, so you'll need some hard disk space on the computer if you want to edit it, and it won't go up on Youtube that easily. But once set up, it's just point and shoot.

Capturing sound:

As I said, the PS3 is next to the PC and this simplifies this part. I output the sound from the PS3 using the Multi A/V port and the composite cable. Using adaptors, I am able to plug this into my PC's audio line in, if you only have a laptop you would be using the microphone in option.
For capturing the sound, I use Audacity which is a free audio editing software. I set it up correctly to export in MP3 and record from my audio line in, and using the control panel of the sound card I mute every input on it except the one where the sound comes from (In order to prevent echo.)
Once everything is set up, just press the record button and it'll record for as long as you have hard disk space (So don't forget to turn it off.) In Vista 64bits, the last times I tried, there were a few instability issues where Audacity would crash after you pressed the stop button, so I'd recommend avoiding Vista at all costs unless you really have no other choice.

Editing sound and video together:

For this I use Sony Vegas Platinum 8, there are plenty of good tutorials on the web for that, but it's a fairly easy software to use for basic editing, and allows much more precision in your timings than Windows Movie Maker (Up to a frame by frame basis)
I import the video from the camera, trim it to my needs and remove the useless audio track. I also import the audio from Audacity export (I export in MP3 from Audacity, and then import in Sony Vegas) and sync it up with the video. I then add overlayed text, titles and credits using the "Insert Generated Media" function under the right click.
Once all of that is done, I export from Sony Vegas at maximum video quality in HD 720p 30FPS (Video quality at "Best" and smoothness at "100".) For my Detonator videos which are around 8 minutes long, you end up with a file just over 300MB, better to upload to Youtube (But still quite large.)





The best method would be to use this device, though you need a very good PC to do it. I probably could, but don't have the 200$ to buy it

[Hellfire_WZ]

i used to have that problem with WMV's. have you tried recently hellfire? i think mine are recognised as HQ and mine are all wmv's.

As recently as last week. It's definitely to do with the format. It's really weird, every piece of software I've used to play them plays at 30fps, but if I import it into video editing software, it tells me it's only 15fps. This is why I use CaptureFlux for the tutorials, the standard software is doing something to the videos that's screwing them up.

[zeeZ]

All European WipEout Convention 2009 videos were recorded using the Hauppauge HD-PVR.
It accepts component input up to 1080i (720p is better for motion though) and works like a.. well an exension for the cable, it outputs the same signal as component for your TV with no lag and outputs it as h.264 via USB for the PC. Since conversion is done in the box your PC only needs some disk space and be fast enough to receive all the data (up to 15mb/s) and save it.

[Frances_Penfold]

Ok, let's see if I have followed the discussion

1. DVD recorders are a "simple" solution that allow burning of video directly to DVD media. However, use of a DVD recorder may introduce lag/latency to the monitor/TV, thus reducing game play-ability.

2. Video capture card that connects monitor/TV to PC/mac computer. This can be expensive and may require some futzing with drivers for your computer. Moreover, you will need a decently-sized hard drive to hold the files.

3. Stand-alone video capture device that transfers processed movie files from monitor/TV to adjoined PC. This is potentially an elegant solution that requires a PC (not mac/linux compatible) and a decently-sized hard drive as well as a ~$250 purchase for the capture device.

4. Digital camcorder (or digital camera that supports movie function). This is elegant in that it separates the AV aspect of the game play with the recording process. On the other hand, the camera has to oriented to point towards the screen and ultimately video will be transferred to PC/mac for editing-- thus requiring a decently-sized hard drive.

Does this sound right?

It's disappointing that WipEout games don't support a video playback feature-- this is completely understandable for multiplayer games (so much going on) but would be very helpful for time trials. You could race laps 'til you got a great run, set the console to playback and then record the lap-- without the hassle of recording tons of footage of so-so laps.

[AG-wolf]

I have a low-end PC, so HD recording is not an option. I have a basic $10 video capture card which accepts either a composite (yellow cable) or S-Video signal. THe problem with this particular capture card, and many others, is that if you try to use your computer as the monitor while you're playing, it introduces a bad lag and makes games like Wipeout completely unplayable. I bought a multi-console video cable which has BOTH a composite and S-video plug on the other end; I plug the composite cable into my TV, and the S-Video cable goes to the computer. THat way, I can use my TV to play a game without any lag, and the higher-quality S-video cable will give a slightly better video quality when recording.

If you're going to use a camcorder to record the screen of your TV, make sure there aren't any image sync problems; sometimes you'll get dark bars in the recorded video because the camera isn't quite synchronized with the refresh rate of the display.

Learn different codecs for compression; it's best to save the initial recording in uncompressed AVI, so that you can re-compress it and re-size it for whatever purpose you're going to be doing. h264 is a good one for high-def content, but regular xvid and divx serve a basic purpose too.


I wish I could pay more attention to what Im trying to say, but I'm ironically in the middle of a class at school which is teaching the fundamental basics of digital imaging... lol gtg

[SaturnReturn]

Haha, you tell me now? I've been waiting hours for these video's to upload. Here's part 1. It's still processing, so the current quality is ****. It'll get better soon.

I'm using the Mac software (HDPVRCapture), which is really limited. I ordered Elgato EyeTV 3, but that's not in yet.

Do you really mean 1000kbps by the way? My settings were more like 10mbps. I set it to 12500, but it came out 9500.

Conversation carried over from WipEout HD Videos thread...

Hey afatsuoM - I have mine set to 12,500kbps as well I think (whatever the highest setting is), but the videos only seem to come out at 10,000kbps (not 1,000kbps - oops) when I analyse them. Maybe yours are slightly lower because it's something to do with the Mac software?

It's kind of annoying, because the Arcsoft transcoder that comes with the PVR is actually a lot better than the free one I have. But the options are either 6,000kbps or 8,000kbps. If the files were actually at 12,500kbps then 6,000kbps would be perfect at half the frame rate. I've experimented a lot but I can't seem to get videos that playback smoothly on my PC unless I use the Arcsoft. So I just use that anyway to convert to 6,000kbps, even though that seems to mean there's 1,000kbps that's added in by magic somehow. I really don't understand that part.

Also, the PVR seems to record using the h.264 codec, whereas, after converting with the Arcsoft transcoder, the output video is using the AVC1 codec. I really thought they were the same thing, so I have no idea why the Arcsoft software bundled with the PVR seems to change it to AVC1. Maybe it's just a label or something?

Anyway, if you find settings in the future that you're happy with once uploaded to youtube then let me know and I'll try them out. Feel free to natter away about the PVR in general - maybe we can learn from each other. Overall I like it because it's a really simple way to do things - even with the bitrate confusion.

[afatsuoM]

Mine also turns out to be 10,000kbps when set to 12,500. My maximum setting is 25,000kbps. I'll try that tomorrow just as a test.

Video encoders use an average bitrate, so the bitrate constantly changes. I think the bitrate turns out a bit higher to compensate for the fast movement of WipEout.

Also, the PVR seems to record using the h.264 codec, whereas, after converting with the Arcsoft transcoder, the output video is using the AVC1 codec. I really thought they were the same thing, so I have no idea why the Arcsoft software bundled with the PVR seems to change it to AVC1. Maybe it's just a label or something?

Same thing, but different name (usually because a slightly different container specification is used). Nothing to worry about.

I haven't got much time, but I'll try to do some testing next weekend.

Oh, and since i'm new to this thread. Here's my setup:

I have my PS3 connected to a Hauppauge HD PVR using a component cable. The output (loop-through) of the PVR is connected to my TV, also using a component cable. I play at 720p since my TV is only HD ready. So basically, I can record anything I play at 720p. All I have to do is connect my MacBook Pro to the PVR using the USB cable, start the software and press record. Oh, and my TV is connected to my amplifier, so the sound is nice too.

[SaturnReturn]

Thanks for the answers No worries about the testing - I think really I will only end up doing the same thing anyway. Now what I really need is an internet connection with a faster upload speed, because mine is shockingly low.

[Dark_Phantom_89]

I'm trying to record some gameplay footage off of my PS3 but am having trouble doing so. I've got a Dazzle device which I previously used to transfer VHS tapes to my computer, no problem, however my VCR is so old that it won't work with my digital TV, so that's not an option. I've done some research which says that I can do it by plugging the yellow, red and white cables (I don't know the name for them) into the back of my TV and then into the Dazzle. Trouble is, my TV doesn't have the "yellow" socket, only the red and white ones.

Are there any other ways that I can do this with the equipment I have? Many thanks

[OBH]

You can get a scart connector (i had one come with the ps3) than has all 3 connectors, could you just plug the yellow one into one of those?