Semi-decent, cheap capture card? - Hardware & Software

Not sure if this is the right place to ask, but I suppose it falls under the "hardware" category. I was looking through some drawers earlier to find my copy of Warioware Inc, and stumbled upon some capture card I bought years ago for like $10. I am wanting to upload some videos of games from my older consoles, but the problem is that this card is a fucking piece of shit: [video=youtube;MllMO-uXEEs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MllMO-uXEEs[/video] So, my question is, what's a good, cheap capture card that takes standard AV cables? I'd like to keep it the <$60 range, and I don't really care if it comes with editing software or not. Thanks.

What card is that you're using right now? I'll bet with the right settings you could make it look and sound better than that.

[QUOTE=MasterFen006;43885291]What card is that you're using right now? I'll bet with the right settings you could make it look and sound better than that.[/QUOTE] [url=http://www.amazon.com/EasyCAP-DC60-Creator-Capture-High-quality/dp/B002H3BSCM]This one.[/url] It's pretty infamous for its bad quality now, but there weren't many reviews of it when I bought it. If I could get the audio working better, I could keep it. The video isn't really THAT bad, and I could always add filters to make it look a bit sharper.

Changing the input to S-Video would be the first step, after all, 20$ hardware will never be able to convert an analogue single like RCA to something digital effectively. You'll find S-Video most likely to be miles better, as far as audio you could get an RCA to 3.5mm cable to convert it. It's just a suggestion, getting something better would be easier and more guaranteed to give you an better recording, but this is just what I want to throw out there.

[QUOTE=MasterFen006;43885601]Changing the input to S-Video would be the first step, after all, 20$ hardware will never be able to convert an analogue single like RCA to something digital effectively. You'll find S-Video most likely to be miles better, as far as audio you could get an RCA to 3.5mm cable to convert it. It's just a suggestion, getting something better would be easier and more guaranteed to give you an better recording, but this is just what I want to throw out there.[/QUOTE] AFAIK, Sega Genesis (the system I will be mostly playing) only supports composite video unless you mod it. Thanks for the suggestions, but I think I'd rather get another card (if the price is right) than have to keep doing workarounds to get this one working.

Can I also join in this thread? I'm looking for something to capture my PS2 footage for cheap, preferably with component video and I only have USB as an option (USB 3.0 is ok).

Would a PCI card be acceptable? or does it have to be USB?

I went with Roxio Game Capture a few hours after I posted the thread. Sat right at my price range ($50 on Roxio's site, on sale from the normal $100). Only outputs in standard definition, but that is fine for me since most of the games I will be playing have a native resolution of less-than 240p. From what I've read in reviews, the quality isn't bad for the price, and leaps and bounds better than Easycap. [QUOTE=Trekintosh;43891454]Can I also join in this thread? I'm looking for something to capture my PS2 footage for cheap, preferably with component video and I only have USB as an option (USB 3.0 is ok).[/QUOTE] I found a couple of cheaper ones, but know next to nothing about them: [url=http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0036VO2BI/ref=s9_simh_gw_p147_d0_i3?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=1DJFZ3YP52WDCP6VE112&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1688200382&pf_rd_i=507846]Hauppauge[/url], and [url=http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000VM60I8/ref=s9_simh_gw_p147_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=1DJFZ3YP52WDCP6VE112&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1688200382&pf_rd_i=507846]Diamond[/url]. I just watched some comparison videos on YouTube and read reviews on Amazon to make my decision.

[QUOTE=Greetings;43893716]I went with Roxio Game Capture a few hours after I posted the thread. Sat right at my price range ($50 on Roxio's site, on sale from the normal $100). Only outputs in standard definition, but that is fine for me since most of the games I will be playing have a native resolution of less-than 240p. From what I've read in reviews, the quality isn't bad for the price, and leaps and bounds better than Easycap. I found a couple of cheaper ones, but know next to nothing about them: [url=http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0036VO2BI/ref=s9_simh_gw_p147_d0_i3?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=1DJFZ3YP52WDCP6VE112&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1688200382&pf_rd_i=507846]Hauppauge[/url], and [url=http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000VM60I8/ref=s9_simh_gw_p147_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=1DJFZ3YP52WDCP6VE112&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1688200382&pf_rd_i=507846]Diamond[/url]. I just watched some comparison videos on YouTube and read reviews on Amazon to make my decision.[/QUOTE] The roxio actually looks pretty good for me, too. I'm not really interested in recording quality, I just want something to let me play my PS2 on my laptop because PCSX2 isn't playing nice with a couple of my more obscure games. It doesn't render above 480p or so anyways. Please let me know if you can use the roxio to play the game in real time on your computer without any input lag.

[QUOTE=Trekintosh;43894664]The roxio actually looks pretty good for me, too. I'm not really interested in recording quality, I just want something to let me play my PS2 on my laptop because PCSX2 isn't playing nice with a couple of my more obscure games. It doesn't render above 480p or so anyways. Please let me know if you can use the roxio to play the game in real time on your computer without any input lag.[/QUOTE] Sure. It should hopefully arrive today; I'll probably hook up my N64 to test it out with.

Uh, I just noticed something that I think might be bad news for you as you mentioned only being able to output composite video with some of your systems. The Roxio Game Capture only has component input. [editline]13th February 2014[/editline] Not really a problem for me since I only intend to use it with my PS2, which has a component cable, but bad news if you use composite.

[QUOTE=Trekintosh;43895025]Uh, I just noticed something that I think might be bad news for you as you mentioned only being able to output composite video with some of your systems. The Roxio Game Capture only has component input. [editline]13th February 2014[/editline] Not really a problem for me since I only intend to use it with my PS2, which has a component cable, but bad news if you use composite.[/QUOTE] You had me worried there, but it seems to work fine with my Genesis: [img]http://puu.sh/6UX1S.jpg[/img] I'll mess around with it some more later and report back. Edit: Actually, it appears I got a defective one. Even using component cables and a PS3, it wont pick up the video signal. Luckily, Roxio has a 30-day unconditional return policy. Onto the next one?

Sucks. Were you able to play your genesis alright using the computer as a monitor, though?

Stay away from Hauppage - they made some really rubbish TV tuners back in the day.. It's possible they've upped their games now but they were notorious for poor support of their products.

[QUOTE=runtime;43915475]Stay away from Hauppage - they made some really rubbish TV tuners back in the day.. It's possible they've upped their games now but they were notorious for poor support of their products.[/QUOTE] Hit and miss from what I've seen. Some of their high end dual slot tuners are pretty good though.

[QUOTE=Trekintosh;43914133]Sucks. Were you able to play your genesis alright using the computer as a monitor, though?[/QUOTE] I just saw that it worked, and shut it off so I could go to sleep. Once I woke up, the thing wouldn't pick up any video signal at all, even after like an hour of fucking around with it, trying different cables, and different systems. So, I got a refund on it, and ordered the Diamond VC500 instead, which is $20 cheaper than the Roxio. Quality isn't terrible, but I noticed a little bit of audio delay, which isn't too bad so it's OK with me. Since you have a PS2, here's a video of it: [video=youtube;IQHJJsARd68]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQHJJsARd68[/video] Playing on the computer, I didn't notice any lag that really ruined the experience.

Thanks for the info. There's been a new development! I found a $25 amazon gift card. This means that I could get the VC500 for about 5 bucks. However, it means for the same price as a VC500 without a gift card, I can get [url=http://www.amazon.com/Diamond-Multimedia-Console-Capture-GC500/dp/B008KEPWN8/ref=sr_1_8?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1392786386&sr=1-8&keywords=roxio+game+capture]this[/url], a Diamond VG500, which has component input. This is important to me because I loathe composite video with a passion and I don't have an S-Video cable for my PS2. Reviews on this thing seem pretty good, too. Alternately I could get the Roxio, but I see a lot of reports that it arrives DOA.

[QUOTE=Trekintosh;43978960]Thanks for the info. There's been a new development! I found a $25 amazon gift card. This means that I could get the VC500 for about 5 bucks. However, it means for the same price as a VC500 without a gift card, I can get [url=http://www.amazon.com/Diamond-Multimedia-Console-Capture-GC500/dp/B008KEPWN8/ref=sr_1_8?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1392786386&sr=1-8&keywords=roxio+game+capture]this[/url], a Diamond VG500, which has component input. This is important to me because I loathe composite video with a passion and I don't have an S-Video cable for my PS2. Reviews on this thing seem pretty good, too. Alternately I could get the Roxio, but I see a lot of reports that it arrives DOA.[/QUOTE] I use composite cables for pretty much everything but my PS3 and Xbox 360, so I don't know much about component. The GC500 looks about as good quality as the Roxio, and it seems the only major complaint is that it's not true HD, and since the PS2 doesn't output HD, that shouldn't be a problem. Amazon has a return policy, if it doesn't work you can always get a full refund on it.

[QUOTE=Greetings;43980516]I use composite cables for pretty much everything but my PS3 and Xbox 360, so I don't know much about component. The GC500 looks about as good quality as the Roxio, and it seems the only major complaint is that it's not true HD, and since the PS2 doesn't output HD, that shouldn't be a problem. Amazon has a return policy, if it doesn't work you can always get a full refund on it.[/QUOTE] Yeah, I wasn't concerned about being in true HD. I knew that without USB 3.0, true HD was impossible, not enough bandwidth. With the PS2, component is miles ahead of composite in quality, even at non-HD resolutions. The ps2 is even capable of 720i in some games. A few games even did 1080i. But none of the games I want to play can do that, so I'm not worried. However the color on component is better and everything feels sharper at 480i, so I want component in so I think I'll get the VG500. And like you said, they have a return policy so I'm not too worried.

[QUOTE=Trekintosh;43987918]Yeah, I wasn't concerned about being in true HD. I knew that without USB 3.0, true HD was impossible, not enough bandwidth. With the PS2, component is miles ahead of composite in quality, even at non-HD resolutions. The ps2 is even capable of 720i in some games. A few games even did 1080i. But none of the games I want to play can do that, so I'm not worried. However the color on component is better and everything feels sharper at 480i, so I want component in so I think I'll get the VG500. And like you said, they have a return policy so I'm not too worried.[/QUOTE] If you do get it, assuming that the VC and VG come with the same software, be sure to keep the video format the default for best performance. AVI makes the game unplayable on my laptop (though somewhat playable on my more powerful desktop) and the resulting file is choppy in most cases due to frame skipping, and huge in file size. Unfortunately, the quality is way worse and outputs the native resolution instead of 480p, but it gets rid of the sound delay and makes it much more playable while recording. Default (.MPG, 9.44mb): [video=youtube;U3isTJCdF-A]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3isTJCdF-A[/video] The .hack Infection video was with AVI and re-encoded with x264, was about 3GB before encoding. The MPG4 setting also works fine and outputs an avi. Or if you're really hurting for hard drive space, you can try WMV.

Thanks for the tip. Hard drive space is of no concern, it's unlikely I'll ever record, and even I I did, it wouldn't be for very long. Playing quality is my only real concern.

My VG500 arrived today! It's really quite good. Simple set up on my laptop, the software runs well and is easy to configure. Video quality is excellent with component output with my PS2, far sharper than I was expecting, even when upscaled to 1080p. No input lag beyond what I would get just playing on a TV, too. No sound lag when just playing, but when I'm recording it's about half a second or so, nothing too horrible. Definitely easy to get used to. The software is easy as hell to use, too. I didn't install the PowerDVD software that came with it, since I've got Aftereffects, so I can't comment on it. Only thing I'd like is more file formats for recording. Does the capture device function as a camera? Can I open like Windows Movie Maker or whatever and capture straight from it to save as something else? Anyways, I've got a sample video uploading now. I'll post it once it's done.

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6TCWRk2MGU[/media] [editline]4th March 2014[/editline] Oops, looks like I was too slow for the automerge. Sorry. [editline]4th March 2014[/editline] I've also found I can select the capture device as a source in XSplit Broadcaster, which makes it easier to stream and record. Additionally, it lets me get rid of the rather annoying letterboxing around the sides of the video.

[QUOTE=Trekintosh;44122149][media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6TCWRk2MGU[/media] [editline]4th March 2014[/editline] Oops, looks like I was too slow for the automerge. Sorry. [editline]4th March 2014[/editline] I've also found I can select the capture device as a source in XSplit Broadcaster, which makes it easier to stream and record. Additionally, it lets me get rid of the rather annoying letterboxing around the sides of the video.[/QUOTE] Glad it works for you. Getting somewhat off-topic here, but since you mentioned streaming, I want to try it out. What is the minimal video bitrate for acceptable video quality? I have shit-tier internet and am currently using my laptop, so I can't preset to use strong compression.

[QUOTE=Greetings;44169187]Glad it works for you. Getting somewhat off-topic here, but since you mentioned streaming, I want to try it out. What is the minimal video bitrate for acceptable video quality? I have shit-tier internet and am currently using my laptop, so I can't preset to use strong compression.[/QUOTE] Uh, that video was recorded in MPEG2 mode and I didn't touch the bitrate slider. That video file was 136mb or so, which is puny for an 8 and a half minute video. I'll try recording a minute or so with the slider at maximum and see if it makes a difference.

So yes I didn't upload the next video but i have very good reason: I hadn't been to my computer since shortly after I recorded it. Here it is now. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsTL4eJ7R7k[/media] Enjoy me having my ass handed to me on a really early mission. [editline]10th March 2014[/editline] This is with the bitrate set to maximum in MPEG2 mode. [editline]10th March 2014[/editline] and filesize is 387mb.