Capture Cards for the 360, (or even PS2) Test results look n

[Fulgore]

I was checking out Youtube videos and trying to find the best capture card quailty I could find and so far the winner is one called Dazzle Platinum (just search on google if your interested in buying it, should only run you $70 on amazon) I'm not 100% on buying it just yet, still want to go through more youtube movies to see if their is one better but the setup for it is easiest out of the rest and cheapest so...

Just thought I'd give people a heads up in case they want to record/take screenshots like I do...I'm sick of having awesome finds only to not be able to take screens like pc users or record either cuz HD recorders don't even exist yet http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_rolleyes.gif

That Dazzle Platinum basically uses S-Video which is as good as you'll get at the moment, Component quality still costs anywhere between $500-$1000 for the device http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_cry.gif

[Fulgore]

I may go a different route now that I'm learning their are HDMI Capture Cards for the PC Meaning that you could Play your 360 (you would need an Elite since it has the HDMI output) and you would watch your gameplay on the PC while recording (you would have the VGA cable from the PC to your TV) or you could simply use the HDMI output on the Capture Card into your HD TV (LCD or Plasma) and play as normal and then when you wanted to record switch back to the PC and view gameplay while recording.....

Hope that didn't confuse anyone.... Oh, and that HDMI Capture Card is called Blackmagic...goes for around $250

[Sekani]

I looked that card up, and there's a $349 blackmagic that accepts component/S-video/HDMI inputs. Sounds like a better deal than buying a 360 elite.

[Fulgore]

It is better actually........I was thinking of going with that one as well, as long as it can record in high def without crashing my computer...I'm still looking into that part......

[Akaimizu]

That price sounds about right, when trying to find a component cable capture card. When I have the money to blow, I'll probably look into one. Heck, it might be closer to a price drop than I think. A Capture card, that can handle all those inputs, has long term possible uses. Overall video standards don't change very often. http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_wink.gif

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Akaimizu on 2007-05-09 08:54 ]</font>

[Sekani]

Recording in actual HD would require an industrial-strength PC; mine is good, but not that good. I'm just hoping that the picture quality isn't too horrible once it gets scaled down. Most of my recordings would be just thrown up on the internet somewhere, so I don't really need the best resolution.

[Akaimizu]

Some of that depends on the hardware and how good is its realtime compression. Still shots, easy. Full motion video....hmmm. Tough to tell, especially when one doesn't know how much work the Capture Card is going to do first. That is, the case of realtime compression. Is the cost to buy such a capture card also include the hardware ready to work the compression in a way that can actually require less PC hardware to manage.

Case in Point, the FCC didn't work with companies over a decade or so, in order to be able to fit HD television within the same Band limit normal TV goes over, for nothing. If it includes some form of decoding/encoding, that Black box might be quite a value, at that price.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Akaimizu on 2007-05-09 09:44 ]</font>

[Sekani]

The Blackmagic I know has real-time hardware compression, which should save quit a bit of CPU power. The video codec they use outputs something like 12 MB per second, so I won't need a ton of hard drive space either.

I'm really interested in seeing how well the stills come out though. A few high-quality widescreen stills will be worth the price to me. And I can hopefully use it with my other consoles as well.

[natewifi]

Buy something nice like clothes, accessories, or furniture or something, spending 300 dollars on a device that just takes pictures seems like a waiste of money.

[CyarVictor]

Actually not. Apparently Youtube may start paying people who post videos who reach a certain amount of hits, eventually becoming like online series and what not. Also, areas in 3D, video, and compositing make good use of video capture hardware. It's not a waste. One can say buying accessories, clothes, or furniture is a waste since there are those who buy those items, only use it once and not bother with it afterwards

[natewifi]

Yeah I feel what your saying, but those were just examples off the top of my head I didnt know youtube paid you for having alot of hits on a vid, but not many PSU vids have alot of hits on them from what I have seen(unless hes going to like make other videos (duh of course though))...

[Akaimizu]

Actually, that's what I was talking about, in the first place. The future uses, I actually meant, were other meaningful recording activities outside of PSU.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Akaimizu on 2007-05-09 11:14 ]</font>

[Kaydin]

Blackmagic huh? I'm gonna have to get this... 250 bucks or not. http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_wacko.gif

[princejake2]

Could someone explain to me how you hook these things up and whatnot? I want one, but only If I'm sure I can use it.

[jayster]

I dont know what the difference between dazzle platinum is and dazzle 150 but when I used to play COD2, people used to record clan matches using a Dazzle 150 and they said it works very well. I even saw the montages they made and very nice.

[Fulgore]

Well......from what I've read I think Dazzle Platinum is mostly a software included upgrade....while the device remains the same Dazzle 150.....However, it says in that tutorial to which I posted the youtube link that you should select 170 in the software option for optimum clarity recording on the pc so that may or may not mean that the platinum is a 170 version....I guess either way you look at it, it will still look good by what you said Jayster.....only at least use the higher def method they suggested in that youtube video....the one that uses the S-Video hookups....from what I've read the Component is only 15% better anyway than S-Video.....which isn't that much really so....yeah....point made I hope....

As for Blackmagic....it's an internal Card you put in the PC where as the Dazzle is external and converts the signal into USB....... I'm sure it would be much easier to use the Dazzle and cheaper however....if you really want quality image the Blackmagic is best.....I still need to research more to see just How much better it really is

[Lykos]

I have a Dazzle 150, and I have to say, if you're uploading anything onto Youtube, the quality will suck, big time. Don't know if any of you guys have heard of mythica.org, where you can upload videos that pertain to video games, but if you upload onto there it has much better quality. Sure, Youtube is easy to use, but if you actually want to see some good result quality-wise, it's not the way to go.