Record 3D Games from PS3?

[Vuze]

Hello there,

I am all new to this board

I am about to get myself a 3D TV - that in mind, I was also thinking about getting some 3D ready games for my PlayStation 3 and being a YouTuber, I was thinking about if I could record the true 3D of the game. I do not know how the console displays the 3D content and as I got no 3D TV/3D game yet I cannot try.

Does anyone know by chance? =)

Kind regads,
Vuze

[Brad]

The short answer is "not really" and the longer answer is "maybe, if you want to buy a bunch of hardware to convert to a stereoscopic format that can be captured." You will also have to deal with HDCP since the PS3 will only do 3D over HDMI and everything it sends out is encrypted.

The audience for 3D YouTube videos is tiny so I wouldn't bother.

Xbox 360 has been done, with considerable effort

[Vuze]

Alright, thanks for clearing that up

Guess I will stop here then

[pandy]

Not sure that on PS3 HDCP is always ON

[yoda313]

Actually there is another option for some games.

Assuming there is an anaglyph option you can record that way. It will be recorded in anaglyph. Arkham City and the Game of the Year edition of Arkham Asylum are two such games that have anaglyph 3d options.

That way it can be recorded in the clear without regards to hdcp if you capture via component to a hauppague hdpvr or similar high def recording unit. Of course you could do sd over composite but will lose considerable fidelity that way obviously.

[Brad]

Not sure that on PS3 HDCP is always ON

Well I have a PS3 and this card, so I do know this.

In a PS3 Debug model it's an On/Off binary setting: http://theundergrowth.com/cdumpmag/?p=1203

[pandy]

Not sure that on PS3 HDCP is always ON

Well I have a PS3 and this card, so I do know this.

In a PS3 Debug model it's an On/Off binary setting: http://theundergrowth.com/cdumpmag/?p=1203

OK - i must check this in near future with HDMI analyzer however seems that this is bit weird, for movies i can understand HDCP but for games? i see no point in protecting PS3 CG video... (just thinking loudly)

[Casio1987]

Not sure that on PS3 HDCP is always ON

Well I have a PS3 and this card, so I do know this.

In a PS3 Debug model it's an On/Off binary setting: http://theundergrowth.com/cdumpmag/?p=1203

OK - i must check this in near future with HDMI analyzer however seems that this is bit weird, for movies i can understand HDCP but for games? i see no point in protecting PS3 CG video... (just thinking loudly)

Because it's copyright infringement to record gameplay, where you don't own the full rights of the game itself.

[Casio1987]

Hello there,

I am all new to this board

I am about to get myself a 3D TV - that in mind, I was also thinking about getting some 3D ready games for my PlayStation 3 and being a YouTuber, I was thinking about if I could record the true 3D of the game. I do not know how the console displays the 3D content and as I got no 3D TV/3D game yet I cannot try.

Does anyone know by chance? =)

Kind regads,
Vuze

There are no (see edit 3) 3d capture cards on the market today that can record PS3 3D content.
The PS3 3D output is framepacked and there are no capturecards for 1280*720*2+30 or 1920*1080*2+45 hdmi 1.3 input.
There are also no hdmi 1.4 capture cards.
Then, the output from the ps3 over hdmi is hdcp'ed.

Maybe in a few years there will be affordable hdmi 1.4 capture cards, but then you are stuck with the hdcp, unless you can get your hands on hdcp strippers or chinese capture cards that allow hdcp content to be shown. Another option is a converter for framepacked content where one frame gets splitted into two frames. But then you are limited to capture 720p/30 for the only card on the market afaik that can record ps3 footage @ 720p/60 input. Afaik, the ps3 output 3d in 720p/30, as the gpu is not strong enough to render 60fps, so they capped it at 30fps.

Anyway, stick with this card (the c027 / h727). If you want to record ps3 3d footage, you need a converter or it won't happen (for now and I bet it won't be for a long time).

EDIT:
The 3DFury / HDFury4 is a solution in combination of the c027 / h727...
It can input frame packed frames (hdmi 1.4 and hdcp compliant) and output frame sequential. This still means you can only capture fps /2 of framepacked output (limitation of capture card, for not having 120hz / hdmi 1.4 input).
Here comes the catch... It's around $500,-... Shipping is in january 2012.

This probably will work, since hdmi 1.3 and 1.4 got the same videobandwith. Only 1.3 is missing the two extra wires (audio return and ethernet), but you won't need them. This means you can capture from devices with hdmi 1.4 or the ps3 (hdmi 1.3 framepacked) with that card, ONLY by using such a converter.

EDIT 2:
I'll make my explanation simpler with some easy statistics:

Capture card input = 720p/60 & 1080i/30.
Framedpacked -> Framesequential (pageflipped) converter.

Framepacked 3d output: -------- Framesequential 2d input: -------- Muxed for 3d:
720p/60 ---------------------------- 720p/60 ------------------------------- 720/30
1080i/24 --------------------------- 1080i/30 ------------------------------- 1080i/15

The choise is yours. Is it worth it the $500,- for now?
Probably not, until affordable hdmi 1.4 / hdmi 1.3 1080p/120 capture cards come on the market.
But... this may take years, since there are not that many 1.4 output devices, rather displayports got a much higher bandwith than hdmi 1.4, which comes in handy for 1080p 3d gaming, where 24 fps is too little.

Who knows what the future will bring. For me... I'll wait and see what interfaces the PS4 will come with. Then, I come back to compare all products and solutions.

EDIT 3:
Red fonted text is obsolete.

There are cards on the professional market for capturing hdmi 1.4, but they are expensive. Minimum goes from $1000,- and they don't display hdcp content, so you need a hdcp stripper (+$500,-) and have capable hardware. The ones that do display hdcp, are only used in the restricted professional video industry, which are approved and not for sale for consumers.


After revising all current solutions, the 3DFury seems to be affordable in relation to having all the equipment for 3D (PS3, 3D display, capture card, pc, etc.). The 3DFury is pretty powerful after reading it's specs.

In this case, you can do something like (pseudo):
PS3 3D output (framepacked 720p/60) -> 3DFury (converts framepacked to framesequential) -> Capture card (hdmi 1.3 720p/60) -> VirtualDub + Avisynth (avisynth script for reconstructing hdmi 1.4 compliant 3d file: muxing even frame + pixel blanking space (30 PAB) + odd frame).

Ofcourse, your capture card must be able to stream hdcp content to 3rd party software (using preferable directshow).

This is the way I would go for now (if +- total cost of $750,- is not a problem for you).