Recording 360 Gameplay

[chigley]

Anyone got any experience of this? Been doing my research, seems there's two options:

i) Get a digital camcorder with a tripod and record off the TV screen

ii) More complicated, but more stable, by the looks of things: Matt Brett » How-To: Capture Xbox 360 Video Footage on an iMac

Just wondering if anyone's dabbled in this before as it's something I'd like set up for an inter-form CoD4 tournament in school

Cheers

[-null-]

What about plugging the Xbox output into a recorder input (video or dvd recorder) and recording it that way.

[chigley]

Originally Posted by -0707-

What about plugging the Xbox output into a recorder input (video or dvd recorder) and recording it that way.

Is it possible to watch/play it whilst recording though?

EDIT: Just found this - looks like it has an output too.

[-null-]

I think tivo is only available in the US though.

But yes it should be possible to watch as well as record. It would work the same way as recording TV. Plug the xbox output into the recorder and the recorder output into the tv. So long as the TV is viewing the recorder input you should see what is on the xbox.

I just tried it with my PS3 and it works so it should with the xbox.

[chigley]

I like the look of this because you can still play it on your HDTV (as normal, no lag) as well as recording on your computer. Except it needs a router, and there isn't a router anywhere near my form room in school!

Need something like that DRV box I posted above, but I'm not 100% that'd work with the 360 - otherwise I'd have imagined people would've done that rather than messing around with the more complex solutions.

Originally Posted by -0707-

I think tivo is only available in the US though.

But yes it should be possible to watch as well as record. It would work the same way as recording TV. Plug the xbox output into the recorder and the recorder output into the tv. So long as the TV is viewing the recorder input you should see what is on the xbox.

I just tried it with my PS3 and it works so it should with the xbox.

What DVR do you have? Any chance you could send me the test video you made to see the quality?

[-null-]

Its a Samsung DVD-HR730. Its not HD, neither is my TV which is actually pretty crap for gaming.

I've uploaded a test to megaupload here. This actually looks a bit better than it did on my TV. Guess what I'll be working on for my next freebie.

[chigley]

I think that quality's really good! No sound though?

How much did you pay for that recorder? Not in stock on Amazon And... last question - how do you get stuff off the HDD to your PC?

[Rumon]

Originally Posted by chigley

Just wondering if anyone's dabbled in this before as it's something I'd like set up for an inter-form CoD4 tournament in school

Cheers

Just a pre-warning...

Have you asked your teachers if this is ok with them yet? I know when we tried something similiar to this when I was in school they were iffy with it as the game was 16+ rated (like CoD4).

Also as it involves killing, I doubt they'd allow it.

Unless of course it's taking place outside of school?


Also, you may find that connecting it through a dvd/vcr recorder or a TV card may introduce the tiniest bit of lag which is enough to effect anyone's performance. Make sure you find something that is certified as zero-latency.

[chigley]

Originally Posted by Rumon

Just a pre-warning...

Have you asked your teachers if this is ok with them yet? I know when we tried something similiar to this when I was in school they were iffy with it as the game was 16+ rated (like CoD4).

Also as it involves killing, I doubt they'd allow it.

Unless of course it's taking place outside of school?


Also, you may find that connecting it through a dvd/vcr recorder or a TV card may introduce the tiniest bit of lag which is enough to effect anyone's performance. Make sure you find something that is certified as zero-latency.

School have already OK'd it and put up the entry forms etc. The entry fees are going to charity so it's all good.

The lag is something I've thought of... have you had any troubles with it -0707-?

[adammcg]

Simply plug the output of your 360 into a DVD recorder and then plug the output of the DVD recorder into a TV so you can play and record. When you get the finished DVD just pop it into a PC and convert it to a handy format for easy storage.

Easy as pie

[chigley]

Thanks all... two questions remain:

i) Which DVD recorder?
ii) Will there be any lag?

[-null-]

What adam said was what I was doing basically, just recording it the the HD then transferring to DVD so I could transfer to my PC. There also should have been sound with it, it may be out of sync or I possibly didn't have the set up right when I converted it to avi but the DVD does have the sound.

As for lag tbh I never really noticed any but I wasn't really looking for it either.

Also I got the DVD recorder about a year ago when it was on offer on play.com. I think it may be an older model although not 100% sure about that.

If you want advice for DVD recorders etc check this site http://www.avforums.com/, they may be able to help or someone may already have tried it.

[TEMPLE3188]

Just a quick question, when you record the video from the 360 and its burning on to a DVD, what format is the video in on the DVD when you pop it in a PC?

[arj154]

Originally Posted by TEMPLE3188

Just a quick question, when you record the video from the 360 and its burning on to a DVD, what format is the video in on the DVD when you pop it in a PC?

its a ordinary dvd unless u havent finalised it in which case it would be unrecogniseable.

btw i dont know if anyones mentioned this but if you have a ordinary tv tuner in your computer with that yellow componant connector you can use it to record footage although it will be in standard def. Mine does but i havent tryed recording footage yet.

[chigley]

Just an update for anyone interested. I went down the USB capture route, got myself a Dazzle from FreebieJeebies, and set it up last night.

Just made a 30 second montage from a COD4 match last night to test the quality.

The result: YouTube - Dazzle Capture Card Test - COD4 (go to the video and click watch in high quality)

I have to say, unless you click high quality, YouTube kills it. Looks good offline though, which will be fine for our tournament clips

Cheers for everyone that helped.

[whome2]

Originally Posted by chigley

Just an update for anyone interested. I went down the USB capture route, got myself a Dazzle from FreebieJeebies, and set it up last night.

Just made a 30 second montage from a COD4 match last night to test the quality.

The result: YouTube - Dazzle Capture Card Test - COD4 (go to the video and click watch in high quality)

I have to say, unless you click high quality, YouTube kills it. Looks good offline though, which will be fine for our tournament clips

Cheers for everyone that helped.

Hey chigley, which dazzle card? and how did you connect it up?

This could come in quite handy

Thx

B
x

[chigley]

Originally Posted by whome2

Hey chigley, which dazzle card? and how did you connect it up?

This could come in quite handy

Thx

B
x

I used the Pinnacle Video Capture for Mac package. The Dazzle included is the silver (premium) one.

I'll make a diagram of my setup shortly.

[whome2]

nice one.. thanks mate.. might make for some really funky vids

Now i just need to score a few more refs to get the 360

[chigley]

OK here's a setup diagram:

[arj154]

ive done the same thing with my tv tuner in my computer. I just bought a pci tv tuner and made sure it has that RCA yellow video connector so i can record footage if i need to. There only like £20 but they can come in handy if ure a pc user.