Capture Software that works with HD PVR 2

[raveclash]

Ive been using Hauppauge Capture to,well, capture game play footage from my xbox and im getting pretty frustrated with it(and fed up with Hauppauge in general). Ive posted here in the past about my problems with Capture( thread is here: http://bit.ly/1PdF3wO ) and the problem persist. what i wanna know is, is there software out there that works with the HD PVR 2(GE) without taxing my computer too much(Capture when not recording uses about 33% of my processor, when recording its over 50% without any other programs running) and that can produce videos without any problems i.e one that i can import into adobe premiere, add my commentary and render without spending hours of editing.

ive read that Capture4Me and Gamercap work with it but theyre made by the same people who made Capture (NextPVR i believe) so im a little apprehensive about spending $20-$30 on something thats gonna have the same problems or other issues( inb4 i dropped $150 on what is slowly becoming a fancy glowing paper weight ). ive tried OBS and FFSplit, but i keep getting errors so they wont work. It doesnt matter if the software is free or not, as long as it works...although im not interested spending alot on a piece of software

My specs:
Windows 10, 64 bit
Pentium Dual Core @ 2.80 ghz
8 Gb of ram
Intel G33/G31 Express Chipset Family

[jagabo]

Turn off the display of the video while capturing and Hauppauge's software will take almost no CPU at all.

[raveclash]

Thats one of the first things i changed...although, i think the "hardware acceleration" option is still checked :/

[usually_quiet]

Most capture devices that use on-board hardware to encode are limited to the manufacturer's provided software. Hauppauge makes the only capture devices of this type for which I can remember seeing capture software that was developed independently by a third party. At this time, I think you are correct that Menten Holdings Ltd is the only entity developing such software for Windows.

[raveclash]

Thats kinda what i thought. I saw somewhere that OBS and FFSplit/XSplit can do it too but, like i said, i couldnt get them to work. so are capture4me/gamercap (they seem to be basically the same program, just different aesthetics) better than capture or should i stick with capture?

[jagabo]

I run Hauppauge's software on an i3 processor and it only consumes 1 or 2 percent CPU while recording with the display disabled. All it's doing is reading data from the USB port and writing it to a file.

[raveclash]

so i turned off the display and the "hardware acceleration" option and its still crapping out. just tried recording and it crashed 10 minutes in, which seems to happen more often than not. it either crashes or when it doesn't, the video is screwed up(as described in my other thread). ive tried contacting Hauppauge for tech support but having to wait 3-4 days for a response is a little much, i even tried to sign up for their forum for help but i have yet to receive a confirmation email(and that was almost 4 days ago). ive had the pvr for over a month and its been nothing but a headache.

[usually_quiet]

Thats kinda what i thought. I saw somewhere that OBS and FFSplit/XSplit can do it too but, like i said, i couldnt get them to work. so are capture4me/gamercap (they seem to be basically the same program, just different aesthetics) better than capture or should i stick with capture?

I think OBS only works with devices that provide uncompressed output. If only compressed (pre-encoded) output is available, it won't work. I don't know anything about how XSplit works.

The various programs from Menten Holdings Ltd don't have all the same features but they do have a lot in common I don't know if any can produce recordings that are better in any way than those created using Hauppauge Capture.

so i turned off the display and the "hardware acceleration" option and its still crapping out. just tried recording and it crashed 10 minutes in, which seems to happen more often than not. it either crashes or when it doesn't, the video is screwed up(as described in my other thread). ive tried contacting Hauppauge for tech support but having to wait 3-4 days for a response is a little much, i even tried to sign up for their forum for help but i have yet to receive a confirmation email(and that was almost 4 days ago). ive had the pvr for over a month and its been nothing but a headache.

The HD-PVR line of capture devices need to be power cycled on a regular basis, even every day. (To power cycle the HD PVR 2, remove power from the unit for a few seconds and then plug it back in.) Are you doing that?

[jagabo]

You can build a simple capture graph with GraphStudio or GraphEdit to capture from the HD PVR devices. Look through these forums for examples.

https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/362568-%5BSOLVED%5D-Capture-Graph-Failing-for-HD-PV...=1#post2304531

[raveclash]

The HD-PVR line of capture devices need to be power cycled on a regular basis, even every day. (To power cycle the HD PVR 2, remove power from the unit for a few seconds and then plug it back in.) Are you doing that?

the PVR is connected to my desktop (which is on for most of the day), i put it into sleep mode every night...does that count ?

the only thing(or the main thing) thats got me frustrated is the fact that, after switching the way i record(from recording game play and vocals on one CPU to recording vocals on my laptop and game play on my desktop), i was able to record two videos that were perfect( no dropped frames, no I-frame blending, no shenanigans). i was able to import them into premiere, import commentary, sync both up without a hassle and render all with in a few minutes. but since those two videos, every recording session has ended up with messed up videos and i havent done anything different. thats what has me puzzled

[jagabo]

The HD-PVR line of capture devices need to be power cycled on a regular basis, even every day. (To power cycle the HD PVR 2, remove power from the unit for a few seconds and then plug it back in.) Are you doing that?

the PVR is connected to my desktop (which is on for most of the day), i put it into sleep mode every night...does that count ?

USB ports can remain powered even when the computer is sleeping or off.

[usually_quiet]

The HD-PVR line of capture devices need to be power cycled on a regular basis, even every day. (To power cycle the HD PVR 2, remove power from the unit for a few seconds and then plug it back in.) Are you doing that?

the PVR is connected to my desktop (which is on for most of the day), i put it into sleep mode every night...does that count ?

No, that doesn't count. I mean the HD-PVr 2 has to be disconnected from its power source, the 6 V DC adapter plugged into the wall. It probably wouldn't hurt to unplug HDMI and USB since they are also capable of supplying power.

[raveclash]

No, that doesn't count. I mean the HD-PVr 2 has to be disconnected from its power source, the 6 V DC adapter plugged into the wall. It probably wouldn't hurt to unplug HDMI and USB since they are also capable of supplying power.

Ok, so every so often ill just unplug the wire for a few seconds. ill see if that works *Fingers Crossed*

[gll99]

In your other thread you say you are using Audacity for the commentary audio and that is when you are having issues. Why don't you use the mic option in the Hauppauge Capture program to record the commentary. In the advanced options under audio encoder you can set it to use multiple audio tracks for the audio in case you need to split edit and remux the commentary later.

[raveclash]

I use audacity because of the effects (Normalize, Equalization,Compressor etc.) plus i dont have enough USB ports for the mic lol

[gll99]

The lack of usb ports is solved with a $5 - $10 hub and if you really need to adjust the audio you can do it post capture.

I also noted that at one point in the other thread you said you had been successful but then made the statement that you had captured to your on-board drive.

Soooooo it appears it may have been the latest version of Capture (1.0.33252 or whatever). i uninstalled that version(and the drivers), and reinstalled the previous version(1.0.33232) and i recorded a test video and it was perfect(everything was synced up in premiere) so yeah...take that as you will

PS: I also forgot to change the directory settings, it was recording the video onto the PC it self instead of the external hard drive.

Were you saying you had no problems capturing from both the PVR2 and Audacity when using the hdd attached to the MB? If that's the case then it would point to an external hdd speed issue or a possible usb port conflict. Try to attach your hdd or the PVR2 on the rear of the desktop. Sometimes there are separate pairs of 2 or 4 usb ports so test on each pair to make sure they are not competing with the front ports. (I've assumed you use the front ports for convenience)

[raveclash]

i only record video to the hdd due to the size of the files. the audio is recorded directly onto the laptop then transferred over via usb

I actually have both the hdd and pvr hooked up to the back ports so i might switch one to the front just to see if it makes a difference but i did try another "test" but this time with the directory set to the public video folder on the pc and still got the same problem :/

[gll99]

Ok at 1st you were doing both on the PC but I see you used someone's suggestion to split the process between the PC and laptop but you say it didn't help.

So if now I have it correctly the commentary capture is a red herring at this point. Since it's done on a separate laptop and you are transferring it after the fact it has no bearing on the PVR2 capture going bad.

You capture game play on the PC to a 1TB external hdd and your video skips frames and messes up. Is it correct to say that when you capture to your on-board hdd it's fine but you want to use the external drive due to lack of space on your main hdd. If so then as I said your problem must be connected to the usb port or the external hdd.

A few more things:

As a test, you could try to reverse the process. Capture the video on the laptop while still using the external drive and the commentary on the PC. This would eliminate the 1TB hdd as a problem and likely point back to the usb port you chose on the PC.

Reduce the video bitrate (Quality settings) and make sure you have no special options set (ie scaling and encoder options at default)

Did you get the Showbiz software disc with your unit. It's no longer available or supported but you could install it if you have it. They can co-exist on the same PC. If you have it don't re-install the older driver just the software.

[texas1]

i had the same problem with the standard capture software that comes with Hauppauge PVR2. Problem was frame skipping and sometimes it would freeze entirely during recording.

So I went with Arcsoft Showbiz (Video Editor) which luckily came with my PVR2. This software works flawlessly.
I loved the HD 1212 and the older version of Arcsoft and was very happy to have the newer version of Arcsoft with the HD 1504 GE Plus

[gll99]

i had the same problem with the standard capture software that comes with Hauppauge PVR2. Problem was frame skipping and sometimes it would freeze entirely during recording.

So I went with Arcsoft Showbiz (Video Editor) which luckily came with my PVR2. This software works flawlessly.
I loved the HD 1212 and the older version of Arcsoft and was very happy to have the newer version of Arcsoft with the HD 1504 GE Plus

My HDVR1 1212 came with a Hauppauge PVR1 hardware specific version of the Arcsoft Total Media Extreme software which incorporates the capture module and my HDPVR2 1512 came with Arcsoft Showbiz which also contains a capture module. These are the 2 software I use to capture on 2 separate PCs. The 1512 also came with WInTV7 but I don't use it. I've also installed the newest standalone Hauppauge Capture program which the OP is using but I've only needed it to add an external audio source from the mic jack when I test captured an internet source PC to PC via the HDPVR2. Other than that Showbiz works very well for my needs.

[jagabo]

the HD-PVr 2 has to be disconnected from its power source, the 6 V DC adapter plugged into the wall.

Oh yeah. I forgot the HDPVR 2 uses an external power supply. My other capture device gets power from the USB port.

[usually_quiet]

i had the same problem with the standard capture software that comes with Hauppauge PVR2. Problem was frame skipping and sometimes it would freeze entirely during recording.

So I went with Arcsoft Showbiz (Video Editor) which luckily came with my PVR2. This software works flawlessly.
I loved the HD 1212 and the older version of Arcsoft and was very happy to have the newer version of Arcsoft with the HD 1504 GE Plus

My HDVR1 1212 came with a Hauppauge PVR1 hardware specific version of the Arcsoft Total Media Extreme software which incorporates the capture module and my HDPVR2 1512 came with Arcsoft Showbiz which also contains a capture module. These are the 2 software I use to capture on 2 separate PCs. The 1512 also came with WInTV7 but I don't use it. I've also installed the newest standalone Hauppauge Capture program which the OP is using but I've only needed it to add an external audio source from the mic jack when I test captured an internet source PC to PC via the HDPVR2. Other than that Showbiz works very well for my needs.

It's true that Arcsoft Showbiz used to be included on the installation disc that came with most of Hauppauge's HD-PVR line capture products. I used Showbiz with the Colossus sometimes and it did work reasonably well for capturing TS files. However after Arcsoft ended support and development for all their video products, Hauppauge replaced Showbiz with Hauppage Capture.

If someone wanted to use Showbiz, with an HD-PVR 2 now they would need to obtain it from Hauppauge. I don't think the standard version of Showbiz works with Hauppauge's HD-PVR products.

[raveclash]

You capture game play on the PC to a 1TB external hdd and your video skips frames and messes up. Is it correct to say that when you capture to your on-board hdd it's fine but you want to use the external drive due to lack of space on your main hdd. If so then as I said your problem must be connected to the usb port or the external hdd.

ive tried capture on the external drive and on-board drive but both mess up. ive also moved the external drive to one of the front usb ports.

As a test, you could try to reverse the process. Capture the video on the laptop while still using the external drive and the commentary on the PC. This would eliminate the 1TB hdd as a problem and likely point back to the usb port you chose on the PC.

Reduce the video bitrate (Quality settings) and make sure you have no special options set (ie scaling and encoder options at default)

Did you get the Showbiz software disc with your unit. It's no longer available or supported but you could install it if you have it. They can co-exist on the same PC. If you have it don't re-install the older driver just the software.

1. I tried recording on the laptop but capture just kept crashing/freezing on me.
2. I have the quality set to default(11.00 Mbps) with all other settings default except i have the quality set to constant rate instead of variable, seemed like variable would always result in it crashing.
3. I found Showbiz and tried to use it but it kept saying that the device is not available or its in use even when there are no other programs running.

Some other things:
Every so often i get an error message(in Capture) about a system.null reference, if it happens again ill get a screen grab of it.

The problem popped up (again) after i installed the latest capture update (1.0.33252) and driver (1.6.33232) so i uninstalled that and re-installed the previous version (1.0.33232) hoping that it would work again but it only worked for one video so i dont know if that screwed something up somewhere.

[texas1]

Youtube has an Arcsoft Showbiz "how to download" video. I'm not sure if that will solve the issue with the PVR 2 since the software may require Hauppauge specific drivers. But anyway, it's worth a try.

[gll99]

Did you run hcwclear.exe between removal and the re-install. If you don't it can leave old traces and may not install properly. This and the following steps may be a critical to a clean install so I'm interested to hear your answer.

I also had to temporarily kill/pause my virus checkers because they blocked some parts of the program. The installer doesn't seem to have a working wait feature. When the virus checker asks for permission to deny or make changes the install program seems to skip a step in background and misses some files or changes.

Don't forget to unplug (power) and replug (power) on the HDPVR2 and then reboot before you run the software after the re-install.

[gll99]

Youtube has an Arcsoft Showbiz "how to download" video. I'm not sure if that will solve the issue with the PVR 2 since the software may require Hauppauge specific drivers. But anyway, it's worth a try.


https://www.yxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Quoted Link above edited by gll99 so it points to nothing

I didn't check but that could be warez so I wouldn't recommend it. The version I'm discussing came with the HDPVR2 while Hauppauge was supporting it. It still works fine and I kept some of the updates on my PC it's still ok to use if you own the device and have the software but it is a hardware specific version for the HDPVR2.

[johns0]

Removed the link since it's warez as you found out and texas1 please do not post anymore warez links.

[raveclash]

Did you run hcwclear.exe between removal and the re-install. If you don't it can leave old traces and may not install properly. This and the following steps may be a critical to a clean install so I'm interested to hear your answer.

I also had to temporarily kill/pause my virus checkers because they blocked some parts of the program. The installer doesn't seem to have a working wait feature. When the virus checker asks for permission to deny or make changes the install program seems to skip a step in background and misses some files or changes.

Don't forget to unplug (power) and replug (power) on the HDPVR2 and then reboot before you run the software after the re-install.

i didnt run hcwclear the first time, i didnt even know about it, but the second time(just now) i did a full removal and then re-installed it and it still messed up. ill try another install but ill pause my anti virus first and see if it changes/fixes anything... EDIT: it didnt :\

[gll99]

Are you using an hdmi cable from your xbox? If so did you try switching it.

Have you tried capturing from another source ie... a cable box via component. To see if the problem persists?

One last thing I can think of but I'm a bit reluctant to say it.

When I bought the HDPVR2 I had odd connection / capture problems. The image would break-up and I'd lose connection. I returned the unit and got another and the problem improved but it was still not right. Like you I tried all kinds of things. Finally I decided to switch the USB cable and used the one that came with the HDPVR1 and my problems were solved. I find it hard to believe that I received 2 units with bad usb cables but it seems that way to me.

[raveclash]

Are you using an hdmi cable from your xbox? If so did you try switching it.

Have you tried capturing from another source ie... a cable box via component. To see if the problem persists?

I do use an HDMI cable to my Xbox but ive never thought of switching the two hdmi cables. ive tried everything else so why not lol
I have not tried recording another source, so ill give that a try as well i guess

One last thing I can think of but I'm a bit reluctant to say it.

When I bought the HDPVR2 I had odd connection / capture problems. The image would break-up and I'd lose connection. I returned the unit and got another and the problem improved but it was still not right. Like you I tried all kinds of things. Finally I decided to switch the USB cable and used the one that came with the HDPVR1 and my problems were solved. I find it hard to believe that I received 2 units with bad usb cables but it seems that way to me.

Thats really odd, but i guess anything is possible