Looking to capture 360 gameplay

[Noxous]

Hi,

I'm looking to capture my xbox 360 gameplay via HDMI.

I'm looking at the Blackmagic Intensity Pro and the Avertv HD DVR (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815100049&Tpk=avertv%20hd) but I can't really find the difference between the two. Obviously the AverTV is the cheaper option which is why I'm interested in it, but don't mind shelling out the extra if the Blackmagic is that much better. If anyone has any experience with both cards and can share any information between the difference it would be greatly appreciated.

Also, am I wanted to make sure I won't have any issues capturing my gameplay or any frame rate issues while playing. And if theres any tips or information I should know before making my purchase.

Computer Specs:
Windows XP 32-bit
3GB RAM
AMD Phenom II x4 940 Black Ed. 3.0GHz
EVGA Geforce GTX 285
160 GB Main HDD - runs on IDE
750 GB WD Secondary HDD - SATA


Any help is greatly appreciated.

Edit: Also is it possible to live stream using either of these devices?

[Seraphic-]

http://www.telestream.net/wire-cast/overview.htm
You can live stream with the Intensity Pro, but you need WireCast ($450).

With your hardware you should be able to capture using the compressed codec with Intensity Pro.
Never heard of the Avertv HD DVR myself, but the reviews are not too good.

(sent you a PM)

[neomaine]

My son has been pretty happy with his BlackMagic Pro setup. Because the included capture app (very basic, but functional) introduces a bit of lag (1/4 second or so?) I ran a splitter between his monitor and the capture card.


HDMI to Monitor
Xbox 360 ---- HDMI ---> Splitter ----|
HDMI to Intensity Pro

Though his monitor can handle 1080p, we set the 360 to output 720p. Using this resolution and capturing to MJPEG gives him seemless capturing. No RAID or other crap to keep up with non-compressed capture. He then takes his capture clip into VirtualDub (with xvid VWF) and he clips the segment he wants keeping the 720p resolution and save as a xvid .avi file.

PS: No idea on the live streaming, no experience. Seems it would be fairly intensive though. You'd need something that would re-encode on the fly to do this which would probably be fairly CPU intensive. I wouldn't capture and stream live at the same time.

PSS: Others have recommended/used the Haupage HD PVR but I don't have any experience with it. You could search for a thread or two to see who it was.

PSSS: Now that I think about it, I wonder if VirtualDub would recognize the BMI and be able to capture from it. Hmmm. I see some testing in my near future....

[edDV]

The other obvious option is the Hauppauge HD PVR that hardware encodes to H.264.

[Noxous]

Thanks for all the repies, all the info is helping.

Will there be significant quality loss if I play in 1080p but record in 720p?


As far as live streaming, quality doesn't have to be that great. I'm just curious if its possible stream it through a simple site like UStream or Justin.tv.

And for the Hauppauge HD PVR, I play on a new PC moniter via HDMI. Don't have anywhere to put a compontent cable.

Thanks.

[neomaine]

Noxous,

For the BMIP, you can't play in one and capture in another. Via the splitter anyway. There'll be little appreciable difference between 1080p and 720p. I'd be willing to guess that the game(s) are rendered in 720p anyway. It just means that instead of the 360 upscaling to 1080p, it'll be your monitor. For clean output from the 360, it'll be fine.

Setting your 360 to 720p output allows you to capture at a lower bitrate, and thus less system resources (mostly i/o), but still retain the quality you're probably looking for.