*OT* Looking for a capture card

Hey guys, I've been thinking of getting a capture card to record 360 (and in the future One/PS4) gameplay. Do you guys have recommendations? Only thing I really care about is that it can stream video live and record in HD. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

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Hey guys, I've been thinking of getting a capture card to record 360 (and in the future One/PS4) gameplay. Do you guys have recommendations? Only thing I really care about is that it can stream video live and record in HD. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Be sure to either invest in a card with analog inputs, or an HDCP stripper if you plan to use HDMI. The PS3 always has HDCP active, so I'm guessing the PS4 will as well, and with the Xbox one being all about movies and TV, it probably will too. This means no HDMI recording unless you get rid of it.

If you go with HDMI plus a stripper, you may want to think about the Blackmagic Decklink mini recorder. 8 channels of audio over HMDI, and it can do 1080p60. 150 bucks. The downside is that it has no outputs, so you'd need a splitter, or a decklink monitor (another 150). You're certainly going to want to record 1080p with the PS4/Xbox One.

If you don't have PCIe, then the UltraStudio Mini Recorder / Monitor is the same thing just in thunderbolt.

The Intensity has analog in, but only goes to 1080i and stereo, but it has a loop out and comes in USB 3 / Thunderbolt / PCIe versions. It's priced similar to the Decklink Mini.

Blackmagic also has higher end cards should you want to go even higher, like 4K, 3D etc, but then the price goes up quite a bit.

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Thanks, great info! I think I'll probably end up going with the thunderbolt UltraStudio, that way I can use it with my MacBook Pro and not have to lug a tower if I'm going to a LAN party

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Hauppague has done well for me, I got the HD PVR 2 Gaming Edition for about $179, and takes to any computer. It will also record HDMI (360), Component (PS3 for anti HDMI crossthrough protection), and composite if you have the adapter (got this for older systems and VHS tapes).

It takes tinkering and a decent computer to avoid artifacting on higher def, but I've gotten great quality out of it. Haven't tried it for streaming yet, but the crossthrough makes it hard to couple mic audio and game audio. They do have guides to get around that, but it's still a hack job.

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It takes tinkering and a decent computer to avoid artifacting on higher def, but I've gotten great quality out of it. Haven't tried it for streaming yet, but the crossthrough makes it hard to couple mic audio and game audio. They do have guides to get around that, but it's still a hack job.

This is something I did not take into account, for what I'm planning right now it shouldn't matter, but I'd rather make sure I can deal with it now then worry about it later. Thanks for the info

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Hold on that.

Read the press release.

http://www.blackmagicdesign.com/press/pressdetails?releaseID=32227

Says up to 1080p60 right? Look on the tech specs page. No 1080p60. What gives?

Called up blackmagic, and they conformed it tops out at 1080p30.

THEY DID THE SAME THING WITH THE INTENSITY SHUTTLE. They promised 1080p60 (I even demoed a unit that could do it), and then they pull support when the product comes out.

This is getting really annoying.

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Hold on that.

Read the press release.

http://www.blackmagicdesign.com/press/pressdetails?releaseID=32227

Says up to 1080p60 right? Look on the tech specs page. No 1080p60. What gives?

Called up blackmagic, and they conformed it tops out at 1080p30.

THEY DID THE SAME THING WITH THE INTENSITY SHUTTLE. They promised 1080p60 (I even demoed a unit that could do it), and then they pull support when the product comes out.

This is getting really annoying.

That is ridiculous that they would keep promising it, but honestly I was a little surprised when you said that a card for under $200 had 1080p60. Oh well, looking around it looks like if I want one with 1080p60 the price range starts at $500 which is not in my budget, so I may have to be happy with 720p60/1080i60.

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That is ridiculous that they would keep promising it, but honestly I was a little surprised when you said that a card for under $200 had 1080p60. Oh well, looking around it looks like if I want one with 1080p60 the price range starts at $500 which is not in my budget, so I may have to be happy with 720p60/1080i60.

Are you intending to publish content at 60FPS? Because if not, I'm not sure why it would matter. Sure, a few people (notably Eurogamer) do occasionally release video at 60FPS to demonstrate how games that support it look, but they tend to be few and far between because — surprise — most games don't actually do 60 FPS.

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Are you intending to publish content at 60FPS?

Not for the main purpose of what I am doing no, but it would definitely be nice. With some of the stuff I have in mind the more frames the better (IE slow motion playback) but definitely not worth the high price for it.

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Yeah, it also occurred to me today that they both include built in recording, I may wait until I see what I can do with the recordings before spending the money.

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I'm pretty sure it'll be very limited in length.

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I'm pretty sure it'll be very limited in length.

Yeah I think you are probably right, but until they say for sure I think I'm going to hold off on dropping ~$150. Especially since I also realized the One and PS4 have no output but HDMI meaning they will most likely both have HDCP on all the time.

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Recording details for One and PS4

Basically last 5 minutes are available on One and last 15 on PS4.

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http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2013/07/ps4-records-more-gameplay-than-xbox-one/

15 min for PS4, 5 for XB1.

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So by providing this feature, they're effectively make the concept of reviewing a long gaming session of video relegated to users who have the equipment discussed in this thread?

It's a shame, I'm sure these features are great in certain cases (something amazing happens in single-player, you pause and share your video), but I believe they'll be found lacking for longer multiplayer games where a lot of great moments will get lost.

Bungie Pro completely changed theatre for me and greatly enhanced my involvement in the community even amongst my non-diehard friends. I may have to pick up a capturing solution if the platform or Bungie doesn't provide a solution for sharing my Fireteam's adventures.

Bungie games need to be shared.

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Even though I haven't been lucky enough to live in an agreeable timezone for joining.

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They actually talk about as in you can get the last 15 minutes, meaning you don't have to hit record. I'm still holding out a small amount of hope that we can at least say ahead of time "record until the HDD is full or I hit stop." But hey, some solution will come out eventually.

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Phrasing so far has allowed for that, so I'm hopeful.

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I'm pretty sure it'll be very limited in length.

Yeah, I wouldn't expect 60 FPS to be anything like universal; both Sony and MS said much the same thing last gen too...

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Are you intending to publish content at 60FPS? Because if not, I'm not sure why it would matter. Sure, a few people (notably Eurogamer) do occasionally release video at 60FPS to demonstrate how games that support it look, but they tend to be few and far between because — surprise — most games don't actually do 60 FPS.

1080p60 is the only way to get 1080p from your console, since that's what it sends the TV when in 1080p. It's either that or interlaced, which is not so good for computer monitors.

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1080p60 is the only way to get 1080p from your console, since that's what it sends the TV when in 1080p. It's either that or interlaced, which is not so good for computer monitors.

Sure, but my understanding was that when they capture at lower frame rates all they're doing is discarding the alternate frames? Is that not the case?

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1080p60 is the only way to get 1080p from your console, since that's what it sends the TV when in 1080p. It's either that or interlaced, which is not so good for computer monitors.

Sure, but my understanding was that when they capture at lower frame rates all they're doing is discarding the alternate frames? Is that not the case?

Nope. Try capturing 720p30 from your xbox when it's set to 720p60. It will go horribly out of sync.

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Be sure to either invest in a card with analog inputs, or an HDCP stripper if you plan to use HDMI. The PS3 always has HDCP active, so I'm guessing the PS4 will as well, and with the Xbox one being all about movies and TV, it probably will too. This means no HDMI recording unless you get rid of it.

I'd be interested in recommendations for a HDCP stripper, since the modern 360 models (the ‘slim’ version) has HDCP enabled on HDMI at all times, and so you can't record anything at all. I'd been meaning to do some recording of bits and pieces but gave up because of this obstacle. Are there not legal issues surrounding the sale of HDCP strippers generally anyway?

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Be sure to either invest in a card with analog inputs, or an HDCP stripper if you plan to use HDMI. The PS3 always has HDCP active, so I'm guessing the PS4 will as well, and with the Xbox one being all about movies and TV, it probably will too. This means no HDMI recording unless you get rid of it.

I'd be interested in recommendations for a HDCP stripper, since the modern 360 models (the ‘slim’ version) has HDCP enabled on HDMI at all times, and so you can't record anything at all. I'd been meaning to do some recording of bits and pieces but gave up because of this obstacle. Are there not legal issues surrounding the sale of HDCP strippers generally anyway?

Wait... what? I have a Reach slim, and I can record gameplay without a problem. (I can't record DVDs or streamed video... but I have no trouble recording Halo.)

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Wait... what? I have a Reach slim, and I can record gameplay without a problem. (I can't record DVDs or streamed video... but I have no trouble recording Halo.)

Are you connecting via HDMI or Component? Maybe it's not all models, but when I investigated it last the response was pretty much ‘you're SOL if you have an S model’. I have the Star Wars pack, fwiw, which is a more recent model; it's possible they only turned HDCP on all the time more recently.

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Wait... what? I have a Reach slim, and I can record gameplay without a problem. (I can't record DVDs or streamed video... but I have no trouble recording Halo.)

Are you connecting via HDMI or Component? Maybe it's not all models, but when I investigated it last the response was pretty much ‘you're SOL if you have an S model’. I have the Star Wars pack, fwiw, which is a more recent model; it's possible they only turned HDCP on all the time more recently.

HDMI only - I never realized there MIGHT be a problem. :) But yeah, it might be just an older model. (The Reach one came out in late 2010.)

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Click.

The more gaming focused ones often have lossy compressors built in - lightening the load on your machine proper. But if you're looking for maximum quality, those are unlikely to be right for you.

I have a Blackmagic Intensity Pro which is a few years old now. Main advantage is the quality and the pass-through which keeps it a little tidier. I have a quad core i5 so live transcoding to a decent looking 720p30 stream is fine. My main problem is upload speed however :(

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I have actually been seriously considering the Elgato Game Capture HD. It has really good reviews and has pretty much all the features I care about. Pretty much it's down to either that or one of the Blackmagic devices, since much of the gaming community swears by (and at) Blackmagic.

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I have actually been seriously considering the Elgato Game Capture HD. It has really good reviews and has pretty much all the features I care about. Pretty much it's down to either that or one of the Blackmagic devices, since much of the gaming community swears by (and at) Blackmagic.

mastrbiggy brought an Elgato to New York Comic-Con, and Tashi, Bravo and I recorded a few hours of gameplay footage from a private Halo 4 event with it. It was astoundingly easy to set up and use (it did have a couple of odd quirks, but nothing we couldn't work around), and the output was actually quite good. In terms of a "I want something I can just plug in and record with" device... it's first tier.

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Microsoft confirmed that capture cards/devices will work just like they work with the 360.

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Now, if the Xbox One can output surround sound as LPCM over HDMI, then surround sound capture will be easy and fun :-p

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