Video Recording and Movie Making Discussion

[rtl42]

Hey guys, I'd like everyone to use this thread for asking any questions or makign any comments (tutorials? :grin:) about how you record videos and how you make combo movies.

I'm also going to keep this thread stickied instead of having 3 or 4 loosely-related threads scattered throughout the board (and constantly referring people to those obscure threads).

We just pruned all threads older than 18 months old, so we lost a couple of good threads. I'll try to have the information re-posted soon.

There are also a few combo movie makers that hang around this forum, so hopefully they will stop by and drop a few helpful suggestions now and then :grin:

[Kairi]

so where can I order what I need (capture card) on the internet?

[Fenrir]

As I asked in my other topic, what program should I use for compiling all my clips together + adding music, etc. etc.?

[rtl42]

Fenrir: I *think* Windows Movie Maker 2 can do the job for you. It will definitely compile the clips together (unless it can't open the files for some reason), and I think you can add your own audio track. I can't help much more than that, though.

[muffa]

there are many progs that can do simple editing. it only depends on what you expect from your video.
windows movie maker is sufficient enough, but if you want more advance(fancy) effects you'll need a better video editing software. personally I like 'premiere pro 2' and 'avid xpress', but they cost a lot of money. on the other hand there is 'sony vegas 6' which many beginners prefer.
if you want some really cool effects you'll need to get programs like 'after effects', but learning those will take you a big chunk of time. good luck

[SolxBadguy]

You can buy a capture card at any local computer store.

[Mr. Mamation]

are capture cards the best way to record what your doing, and also while im here what program is best to make a video with.
Also is a capture card expensive?
yah, thats pretty much it, i have some retarded things i would like to record, but nothing to record it on.

[Broken_Dust]

are capture cards the best way to record what your doing, and also while im here what program is best to make a video with.
Also is a capture card expensive?
yah, thats pretty much it, i have some retarded things i would like to record, but nothing to record it on.

i really use an ARCHOS (archos.com) a small multi-media that can record from TV easilly, i use it for everything.

for programs,, i first used "WMM" (windows movie maker) , in my 2nd video i used "Ulead", their both nearlly the same but WMM is much easier and faster but you can't customize everything as you like, i think "Adobe Premiere" is the best but in the same time hard to use.

[aeNon]

Does anyone have experience recording from an arcade cabinet? Turning on the volume for the machine seems to interfere with video capturing. It causes the video cam to black out every now and then. I've spoken to the arcade technicians but they can't seem to find a solution. Anyone can help with this?

[Tseng]

Could someone please tell me the name of a good capture card and if possible a site where I can order it from. I've been planing on makeing a cm for some time now but I have no idea what capture card I need.

[rtl42]

This may be somewhere to start:

i really use an ARCHOS (archos.com) a small multi-media that can record from TV easilly, i use it for everything.

Also (from linked thread in my first post):

my way:
i did buy for 30euros dazzle* digital video creator80 to record anything from my ps2 then i edit with adobe premiere pro

[Alphakami]

Here is the process I'm using.

We get all of our source video from a DV-R, which we actually purchased for Slash. ^_^

After that, I use a program like DVD Decrypter to yank the DVD to my HDD, then I use Gordian Knot to get the footage in .avi format. After that, I use Adobe Premier Pro 2 to edit the match vids. Simple, no capture card required.

[stalebread]

I know it's kinda late bringing this back up from a closed topic, it's based on a product someone suggested sometime in the past, the adaptec gamebridge.. No one actually checked it out and being a cheap college kid needed an economic space saving way to watch tv and play games.. I found the gamebridge for 25 dollars, figured I couldn't go wrong. However I found one main prob with it and was wondering if anyone had any suggestions.

Eventually everything did run smoothly with tv and recording and whatnot but there's the problem of the framerate dropping while I'm playing and some lag behind button pushes and on screen representation. As a result I could only land full combos maybe 10 percent of the time. Is this because of the data transfer over USB2.0 being so slow? Or is it something else?

Either way hope this quick opinion helped whoever was interested. If you want it like I said, it's dirt cheap...

*EDIT*- Just in case someone didnt realise the relevance of this post- it can't be good for movie making unless the players can play their best.

[Hideki]

Can anyone recomend me any program for editiong the video?

No way I´m gonna keep using wMM >_<

[Ethereal S]

Adobe Premiere Pro for simply neat editing. If you want to go gung-ho like 'Axl - Reckless' or 'Venom - Valon', integrate that with Adobe After Effect.

[Hideki]

Thanks ^_^

[j_xker]

Can anyone recomend me any program for editiong the video?

For me it's Pinnacle studio 10. Any others idea ???

[Mr. Mamation]

so i have everything i want recorded onto my cassete, yes those big ass tapes.
how the hell can i convert that into adobe premere so i can edit it?

[Advent Cirno]

If you want to be super lazy like me, WINDOWS MOVIE MAKER.

[Zaido]

i woudl switch to adobe but i am stuck with WMM :( premiere the way to go :O

[muffa]

eh that wasn't really the question.

you need a capture device (or AIW ATI card can do it) and use some kind of software to record the tapes as AVI from VCR. there should be software included with AIW cards to do it. otherwise just use google to find one.

and Final Cut pro pwnz Premiere, if you can get an access to Mac then I suggest switching.

[Uriel_Legion]

with a macintosh what should i do?? i can´t install a capture card and i dont know how connect the TV or the Ps2 with the mac

[Hideki]

Well, we´re about buying a capture for recording matches and combos in good quality.

What do we exactly need? Equipment, wires...
Something that don´t exceed the 200$ (in conversion to €) and that could be easy to find in europe.

Lot´s of thx.

[Kadius]

I'd like to see someone put notations for combos in a subtitles track.

Watch it normally, then if there's a combo you can't quite figure out; turn the subtitles on and see the notations. Well, it seems like a good idea to me. :eng101:

[Jet Set Dizzy]

thats a great idea! really id love that.:cool:

[rtl42]

they used to do something like that with the CMs from this one site, but it was kinda awful to watch because then the transcription took up about half the screen, top and bottom x( but subtitles would definitely fix that...

[Harem]

they used to do something like that with the CMs from this one site, but it was kinda awful to watch because then the transcription took up about half the screen, top and bottom x( but subtitles would definitely fix that...

You mean the GGWonderful site?

They need to make more vids~

[Alphakami]

If anyone else is using DVD's as a source media, then editing match vids in Adobe Premier Pro 2.0 is fucking cake. Just rename the .vob file to .mpg and Premier will open it. After recording a DVD I can have a segment edited and encoded in about 10 minutes. This option costs a few bucks, but it's high quality and n00bishly simple.

[TITANIUM BEAST!!!]

I'm thinking of buying a DVD recorder for Accent Core coupled with a component splitter for high quality. Any recommendations on a good recorder to buy?

[Vyze]

Can anyone tell me if Ulead Video Studio 7 SE is any good, and if it works properly on Vista? It seems to be quite cheap, and I don't need to do anything particularly advanced.

Windows Movie maker is just dreadful. The output quality drops a ton whenever you resize the video to be quite small, and I'd rather output in DivX avi rather than wmv.

[KA-GE-MA-TSU-RI]

For recording, if u got a powerful PC u can use PS2 emulation (PCSX2) to play and record to hard disk at the same time on the one computer, so no cables/capture cards/camcorders/dvd recorder/whatever or a real PS2 for that matter is necessary.

I use Sony Vegas for editing. Powerful but clean quick interface.

[低姿勢]

anyone know good way make video smaller while still being good quality? Im useing windows media maker for my video its basicly done, but unfortantly video always seems to come out in teh hundreads of megs catagory and its only like 5 half mins. =[ I know no how make small, me dum. =[ I can make smaller but then it is omega shit poop.

[Kasou]

anyone know good way make video smaller while still being good quality? Im useing windows media maker for my video its basicly done, but unfortantly video always seems to come out in teh hundreads of megs catagory and its only like 5 half mins. =[ I know no how make small, me dum. =[ I can make smaller but then it is omega shit poop.
well if it's for youtube, stick with 320x240? and make it wmv. Then it should only take up about 20ish megs or so. ^-^

[低姿勢]

Thanks I think I got it. All thats left is to give it to a friend to upload so it can be dled.

[zer0kage]

I'm quite lost after browsing through the sea of vid cams and camcorders online.

Any specific vidcams or camcorders which allows for direct feed at a reasonable price please?

[tataki]

where can i find a *working* link to nehle's encoding guide?
and also how do i convert 3rca into 6rca?

[rtl42]

oh shit, it must've gotten pruned =\

i'll PM Nehle and fix the first post. sorry about that.

[Darksoul173]

Ok imtrying to record some matches but i got this problem:
Im using TV iUSB device and when im the rec screen either work smoothly but only with black and white colors
or it got colors but the screen is kinda jumpy

any help on this one

[Emerge]

what should i use for capturing video off of the PC #R?

fraps works like crap whenever someone bursts, so yeah...

if you can tell me how to make fraps work better or if there's another program...help would be appreciated

[Sking]

Ok guys I got this:

I'm planing to record the matches in my laptop with a web cam, but since is a web cam I think that the quality is not going to that fine like a video camera.

The question is:

Is there a program that could record the matches in a good quality ??

Does have the web cam influence in the quality??

Can anyone help me with this?.... Thanks

[rtl42]

no program can increase a bad quality recording. so, unless you have an awesome webcam, it's going to be, at best, bad quality. (still, sometimes it's better than nothing...)

[Hsien_Jo]

What would be a good video capture device to use? Ive heard of Dazzel from shishi-rendan.com when they had a thread about recording matches and such, I think it was Dazzel 80 specifically. Is this good to use? Or is there something else that might have better quality?

[klinediscream]

There are a lot of video capture options that allow direct capture from a Composite cable to USB port on your computer for good quality, here are some examples with pricing:

http://www.usbgear.com/USB-Video-Capture.html

Personally I'm using a GrabBeeX+deluxe from the Taiwanese VideoHome company. (Taiwanese are good at capturing video in the same way as Johnny and May, if you know what I mean. :grin: ) It takes advantage of USB2.0 so it's a bit faster (pricier too however) and they have the drivers that support Windows 2000, XP, and Vista. You can use their GrabBee Application Software to capture, or Windows Movie Maker can capture from the Device once you have it installed. Personally, I use a free video editor called Virtual Dub for capturing and editing but it might be too advanced for the regular user.

[KA-GE-MA-TSU-RI]

Got a good PC (3ghz+ CPU would be good enough)? Use PCSX2 the PS2 emulator and record directly to hard disk, which is what I do.

[bucklemyshoe]

so would this http://www.usbgear.com/computer_cable_details.cfm?sku=USBG-VCR&cats=125&catid=125 alone be enough to record matches?

[DandyStepper]

So this is what i have
http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r230/xerxes_photos/tvtuner1.jpg
And it works and all, but the files are way to big. How does one compress video files.

[rtl42]

Microsoft Windows Media Encoder (9?), just do a search for it on MS's home page.

VirtualDub works, too, just google it.

[DandyStepper]

Microsoft Windows Media Encoder (9?), just do a search for it on MS's home page.

VirtualDub works, too, just google it.

Thanks, im using WME and it works fine except for the no sound. If it helps im using a VCR to playback the video through the Tv Tuner.

[rtl42]

- you're sure the sound on the VCR is okay?
- are there any sound settings on the TV tuner that you can fiddle with? (sorry, i've never used the TV Wonder before)
- what about your sound card, maybe a compatibility issue with the tuner? (i think that happened to a friend of mine, once)
- double-check the sound settings on WME?
(i'm just trying to isolate where you're losing the sound)

hope someone else knows a bit more to help out, i'm just going by the seat of my pants here.

[DandyStepper]

- you're sure the sound on the VCR is okay?
I connected the VRC to my tv, sound works
- are there any sound settings on the TV tuner that you can fiddle with? (sorry, i've never used the TV Wonder before)
I dont think so, but i wouldnt know where to check
- what about your sound card, maybe a compatibility issue with the tuner? (i think that happened to a friend of mine, once)
The sound card i use is a Creative SB Live, i dont know how to check its compatibility
- double-check the sound settings on WME?
when using WME the options it gave me for audio device is: Default Audio Device, Creative SB Live, and Multchannel Wave Source(which gives me an error message :The parameter is incorrect (0x80070057)
(i'm just trying to isolate where you're losing the sound)

hope someone else knows a bit more to help out, i'm just going by the seat of my pants here.

Many thanks, the sound not working isnt really an issue, i mean i can always put crappy anime music to these vids, cause everyone loves it :kitty:

[rtl42]

oh, thx for the error message. google gave me these:

http://forums.streamsolutions.co.uk/showthread.php?t=3612
http://www.skibumsplace.com/IPB/index.php?showtopic=1017&st=20 sorta helps, it's a bit more specific
http://www.tech-archive.net/Archive/Media/microsoft.public.windowsmedia.encoder/2005-12/msg00065.html

sorry but you may be out of luck :( before giving up, try updating your drivers and see if it works.

[DandyStepper]

oh, thx for the error message. google gave me these:

http://forums.streamsolutions.co.uk/showthread.php?t=3612
http://www.skibumsplace.com/IPB/index.php?showtopic=1017&st=20 sorta helps, it's a bit more specific
http://www.tech-archive.net/Archive/Media/microsoft.public.windowsmedia.encoder/2005-12/msg00065.html

sorry but you may be out of luck :( before giving up, try updating your drivers and see if it works.
I tried the updating the drivers, still doesnt work, but whatever. Many thanks, at least i can get vids up now.

[XAQshinor]

^nice. we should try to play today, i texted chaz but no response yet.
tomorrow is good too since there is no school =D.

Also about the encoding, try Sony vegas also. Sp00ky messes with that i think
and it works fine.

[bizarro]

Anyone heard anything about this particular capture card? (http://www.amazon.com/Diamond-VC500-Touch-Capture-Device/dp/B000VM60I8/ref=pd_bbs_3?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1218091329&sr=8-3)

Diamond VC500 One Touch Video Capture Device

[bizarro]

Can anybody with a capture device tell me what they use, and how well it works?

[Chomite]

Anyone tried Dazzle Platinum?

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Customer-reviews-for-Pinnacle-Dazzle-DVD-Video-Creator-Platinum/sem/rpsm/oid/151064/callingModule/9/pageno/4/sortby/1/order/D/rpem/ccd/ExpandedModule.do#custRatings

I watched few reviews/tutorials on youtube and so far, it seems to work great. Easy to carry around in case you go out of town to record matches on your lab-top...I just want to hear experienced opinions on this one with GG.

(also, does this allow you to play GG on PC monitor? I saw the preview screen on youtube tutorials but I don't know if I can make that any bigger)

[Saros]

I'm surprised no one even notices the Pinnacle Video Transfer.
http://www.pinnaclesys.com/PublicSite/us/PinnacleLife/PinnaclePVT

Pros:
- Hardware encoding
- No PC/laptop required, record direct to USB drive
- Small and easy to carry around
- works with any device that outputs

Cons:
- records using what appears to be proprietary Apple Quicktime format, can't edit it with my normal VDub (open source proggy)
- it's a dumb device. You can't choose what codec you want to record in. Or change any of the default recording settings, including bitrate, resolution, and interlacing.
- no widescreen resolution (but for our GG purposes, irrelevant)

So if you're willing to bear with having to buy their software to encode (VideoSpin its called), it's not a bad choice. I think there should be another way to encode using other non-proprietary tools but I haven't had the time to check yet.

[Tech Romancer]

Can anybody with a capture device tell me what they use, and how well it works?

I use the one-touch capture device you mentioned. Its USB based, comes with both installation and movie editing program, cheap (forty bucks as opposed to dazzles ninety and up) has good quality (I haven't even fiddled with the video settings yet). Also supports S-Cable and regular video input. You can see my youtube account in my sig for examples.

The downside would be that, like many other capture devices, you would have to feed the console hookup directly into the device to capture stuff, meaning you wouldn't able to play on your television and record on the comp. at the same time unless you split the signal, restricting me to games that allow you to save replay data. But a distribution device and y-splitters are only costing me around 20 bucks over at Amazon, so it is not too bad.

[Saros]

The downside would be that, like many other capture devices, you would have to feed the console hookup directly into the device to capture stuff, meaning you wouldn't able to play on your television and record on the comp. at the same time unless you split the signal, restricting me to games that allow you to save replay data. But a distribution device and y-splitters are only costing me around 20 bucks over at Amazon, so it is not too bad.

Uh, I have not yet seen a TV that does not have video-out ports. Try looking behind your TV. I use a really crap China brand TV from 5+ years ago and it already has video-out ports. Two sets in fact (though that only means you get to see three sets of crap output).

I need someone to sponsor me a new TV. Thankyouverymuch, :keke:

[Saros]

I don't know if you guys realise this yet, but there is a fairly big difference between a software encoder and a hardware one.

Software encoders require a computer to do the processing. And if your computer is not fast enough, you suffer issues. On the other hand, you get a lot of flexibility in choosing encoding settings.

Hardware encoders, reasonably cheap ones like the Pinnacle VT I'm using, may not be able to change their settings, but they work fine for GG purposes. Just plug in a thumb drive/iPod/USB harddisk and away you go. They also do not suffer from desynch/dropped frames issues.

Seeing the prices of some of these USB devices listed here, I can tell that they are software encoders. These USB boxes merely act as a converter from TV signals to USB. You still need to fiddle with recording software to start recording.

I used to do that, but I was never happy with the inconsistency of the framerate, and the audio synch. Using a Core2Duo 1.6GHz, 2GB RAM, GeForce 8500GT, it still drops frames, lags, audio desynchs. I got sick of it. I'm not going to upgrade my PC just to video record.

After finding the Pinnacle VT, I never looked back.

[Tech Romancer]

Uh, I have not yet seen a TV that does not have video-out ports. Try looking behind your TV. I use a really crap China brand TV from 5+ years ago and it already has video-out ports. Two sets in fact (though that only means you get to see three sets of crap output).

I need someone to sponsor me a new TV. Thankyouverymuch, :keke:

I have my old television from 2001. The only thing it has in the back is input for cable.

[Saros]

Whoa, that bites. Still, it isn't exactly the fault of the capture device that you can't record and play at the same time is it?

Try getting a 2nd hand one, being able to play and record is worth it.

[Pirateyoshi]

what should i use for capturing video off of the PC #R?

fraps works like crap whenever someone bursts, so yeah...

if you can tell me how to make fraps work better or if there's another program...help would be appreciated

I second this. Fraps is pretty nice, but is there any better before I commit to buying one? Or is there a better, possibly free verison of a PC capture? :I:

[Kix]

So I have this video camera and I have a video capture card and it's all plugged in. I have these drivers for the card but I don't know how to directly record it and can't find a driver for the camera itself. What do I do? I want to get stuff posted up from SBIII.

[低姿勢]

*peeks in*

Anyone have any trouble with windows vista 64 bit ultimate? I finally got a new cpu so I was going to upload all those videos I made a couple years ago that I didnt get a chance to. But I cant get anything to work with this dazzle thing I have. I dled all the 64 bit drivers and everything. WMM, Vdub nothing works....

Anyone else have this problem?

[bjholmes2]

I'm looking into this:

http://www.usbgear.com/computer_cable_details.cfm?sku=USBG-VX3&cats=125&catid=614%2C125

Does anyone have any good info to share with me on this before I commit to it?

[bucklemyshoe]

I got a similiar product off amazon.com for 15$ it works like a charm.

I record to VHS via VCR and than use that device to transfer the video to computer.

I would check amazon first, 60 bucks seems like way too much.

[Arvoyea]

I'm thinking about getting Dazzle Video when I get my TV for my room next semester, so I can finally start making vids. How does the process work in the first place?

[tataki]

What program and format should I use when I want to convert raw AVI into something small but still keep it a good quality?

[Rinse-n-Repeat]

I'm thinking about getting Dazzle Video when I get my TV for my room next semester, so I can finally start making vids. How does the process work in the first place?

I actually got myself one of those...well Dazzle Plus or whatever it is called. Works nicely. Just make sure that your tv has an RCA input (yellow, white, red plug) and an outputs. The input is for the game system and the output is for the dazzle's RCA cable (meaning u need another red white yellow cable) which connects from the output to the dazzle video capturing device which then connects to the usb of your comp. The one i got came with the pinnacle software which is where u can record the vids and whatnot. You can check out my youtube page for vids that i recorded using the dazzle capturing device.
BTW, if you don't have an output from your tv, you can always use a vcr or something that will allow you to reroute everything, but that's so complicated.

[Hellfromabove]

I got some uncompressed HD vids that I want to compress and ul to youtube but don't want to lose resolution or anything. I was going to be using AE to add in some watermarks and such. Anyone got any ideas on what to do?

-Tha Hindu

[Arvoyea]

I second this. Fraps is pretty nice, but is there any better before I commit to buying one? Or is there a better, possibly free verison of a PC capture? :I:

Just change the FPS in the game's configuration to 30 instead of 60. Have Fraps record at 30 also.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGfb1L-yVoc

Works even when I am playing. ;)

Thanks Rinse-n-Repeat. So, I need a TV with two inputs, or does output look different?

[Rinse-n-Repeat]

Well Arvoyea, I think actually all you need on your tv is one input for your game system (eg: ps2, xbox) and one output, to connect from your tv to the dazzle video capturing device.

Oh, if you're asking about whether having two inputs is different from having one input and one output, i think it is cuz the output is so the video/audio gets transferred to your comp, if you had two inputs then you'll be basically sending your comp screen to the tv (which doesnt work with dazzle cuz i tried xD) and the game to your tv. Although im sure if you have multiple sets on your tv, then chances are one is for input and the other is for output, most tv's like that have one input and a bunch of outputs.

[Arvoyea]

Ok, I'm still confused. So, I just need to get a tv with inputs and outputs and hope I'm doing it right?

[Rinse-n-Repeat]

Basically yeah. You just need to kinda have it in front of you to understand what im talking bout. But it seems you basically have it. Just plug your system to the inputs of your tv. Connect the dazzle to your comp and then connect that to your output on the tv and thats it.

[Arvoyea]

Update: I have a TV now, with an input and outputs. But there is no video output, only audio outputs. There's an S-video. Would that work?

[SmileJunkie]

Update: I have a TV now, with an input and outputs. But there is no video output, only audio outputs. There's an S-video. Would that work?

Yo man, same guy just different account.
Hmmm....i havent used the S-video before, but assuming u have the correct cable for the S-video, it should be fine. If not, then you're gonna need to use a video splitter, but i doubt it. As for using the S-video, there is a plug for it on the capture card, you just need the cable to connect them.