Recording retro game footage

[The Adventurer]

So... like about a billion people out there I often contemplate starting my own retro video game show on Youtube. Because I'm a guy with opinions, so why not? However, in my quest to do what everyone else is doing I'm not quite sure what exactly I should be focusing equipment wise. I'm on a seriously tight budget, and maybe that's enough to not bother at all, but I'm still curious about how much I might be able to get away with.

Getting gameplay footage from my TV seems straight forward. Get a DVD-Recorder, plug my video game console AV cables through it, and record everything in an format I can easily edit (AVI for use with Windows Movie Maker, because I am a clown). But maybe there are things I'm not taking into consideration, like... do I need a DVD recorder that has AV inputs and outputs? S-Video support? Will my recorded footage be easy to manipulated on my PC, or will it be in some kind of $600 movie editing software to use? Is there a digital recorder that can do all this without needing to fumble with DVDs at all?

Like I said, I'm really hoping to find a dirty cheap DVD-Recorder at a Flea Market or Thrift store and just roll. But my gut says its never that easy. So I turn to getting advice from those who might do this sort of thing for fun.

[PreZZ]

Recording with a dvd recorder will probably look like crap on youtube, and you will waste TONS of dvds each time you need footage and transfer to pc and edit everything you recorded. If you want to record with true hardware, I highly suggest an haupaugge hd pvr. If you want to do it for free, some emulators on pc do record gameplay and it is very good quality, but also takes a lot of gb of memory. I would definitely use emulators instead of a dvd recorder, and its free! here is a sample i recorded last year http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l73HeMhaPNA

[The Adventurer]

Yeah, not really interested in doing it with Emulators. Authenticity reasons and all that. Thanks for the advice though.

[MarioMania]

Just point it to the TV and Record, that's what I do...

[PreZZ]

If you need footage on real hardware i could help, let me know.

[Rickstilwell1]

Just buy one of those cheap Hong Kong USB capture cards that comes with ULead Video Studio software for $10. It works great. All I do is run my AV in into my VCR, use coaxial out to my TV and use channel 3 on my TV to view the game (no input lag that way and can actually see the game on the tv instead of having to look at the computer), then I run the RCA out from the VCR to the capture card.

I use my computer's stereo mic/line in for audio rather than the capture card's audio jacks because the capture card's audio jacks sound like crap. It's easy to select the line-in option in the software though.

[Edmond Dantes]

Getting gameplay footage from my TV seems straight forward. Get a DVD-Recorder, plug my video game console AV cables through it, and record everything in an format I can easily edit (AVI for use with Windows Movie Maker, because I am a clown). But maybe there are things I'm not taking into consideration, like... do I need a DVD recorder that has AV inputs and outputs? S-Video support?

You hook the system into the input on your DVD recorder. If your consoles use those red-white-yellow cables, then yes a recorder will need to have those as inputs (not necessarily as outputs, however).


Will my recorded footage be easy to manipulated on my PC, or will it be in some kind of $600 movie editing software to use?

If you handbrake it to an AVI or MP4 file with certain codecs (FF4mpeg works for me) then you can edit with Windows Movie Maker.

[ProjectCamaro]

Use a video capture card, that's the only way it's going to look good.

When I see a video on YouTube where someone pointed their camcorder at their TV I immediately close the browser. You know instantly it was done by an amateur, the quality is NEVER good, and with so many people doing gaming videos you can find someone who actually took the time to do it right.

[Polygon]

Use a video capture card, that's the only way it's going to look good.

When I see a video on YouTube where someone pointed their camcorder at their TV I immediately close the browser. You know instantly it was done by an amateur, the quality is NEVER good, and with so many people doing gaming videos you can find someone who actually took the time to do it right.

This is my suggestion as well. Pointing it at the TV causes so many problems. I don't mind it so much and I'm willing to put up with it for certain channels that I really like. However, I would do it using a capture card. I'm planning to start my own channel as well and this is what I'll be doing.

[The Adventurer]

I... wasn't planning on pointing a camera at the TV.

[The Clonus Horror]

Here's what NES plugged into a DVD Recorder, then from a DVD Player via S-Video to a Dazzle DV100 USB Capture Device and edited with Windows Movie Maker looks like:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bAQ1zQ67n0

It's what I've been using.

Some Genesis Footage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyqN0_iEa3U

[Edmond Dantes]

Actually, the "point a camera at the TV" idea can work, depending on how good the photographer and the camera itself are. I've done it a few times and got pleasing results.

Also, the first two episodes of Happy Video Game Nerd were made by webcamming a TV, but I doubt most people would be able to guess without knowing what tell-tale signs to look for.