11-09-2013, 10:55 PM
This is a pretty broad topic to cover in a single thread and I don't even pretend to have the best answers to every solution. A lot of this is based on your own personal opinion and preferences when it comes to software... which is what we'll be discussing here.
First when it comes to recording you need to know a few things ahead of time.
1. What am I recording? Is it screen capture from a PC game, an emulator or some other "on screen" source. Or, are you going to capture from a console via capture device.
2. Am I doing live or post commentary. If you're going live commentary, do you want it to be recorded along with your video or separately for editing reasons.
Now that you've addressed those questions... we can get started.
I can't teach you how to capture from every bit of software but I can teach you how to capture from the stuff that I myself use.
First for emulation... I use ZSNES, VirtuaNES, KFusion and VirtualBoy for my standard emulators. I also use DesMuMe for my Nintendo DS stuff.
Most all of these are ready to be captured with programs like Fraps or BandiCam. Both of those programs have their pros and cons and we'll discuss those in another topic here in this section.
Either of these programs can record emulators in full screen mode without too much trouble. Though BandiCam has a little more luck with programs that don't run full screen.
If neither of those two programs are what you want to use, or full screen just isn't your thing... software such as HyperCam, Debut, Camtasia and CamStudio. Each of these again have their pros and cons and they'll be discussed elsewhere.
These programs generally will work better for certain PC games that won't run full screen, DOSBox, certain Steam games and other such things.
If you're going to be capturing video from a console, you'll need some sort of device to capture your audio with. That can be a USB device like an EasyCap or a Dazzle or an internal device like a Hauppauge or ATI card. Internal cards usually have better response time as an IDE device is more suited to high speed data transfer than USB devices are. With newer USB technology though I can't say for sure that currently that will always be the case. USB 3.0 is still pretty new and I'm not sure of what it's able to do.
Once you've got your hardware of choice determined and setup, it's time to look at software for that. Some pieces come with their own software, Coreal... Ulead... Pinnacle... Sony Vegas... and then of course there are other options available to you via the good ol' internet. Debut can work with console capture as can VideoPad which is another piece of software from NCH Software. Microsoft Expression Encoder, Windows Media Encoder, VirtualDub and more are all available to you to use.
Not all software is compatible with all hardware though so it may be worth your time to do a little research about your options before you go and purchase some hardware.
After you've figured out what you're recording for video, it's time to look at the audio option.
The first thing you'll need, obviously, is a microphone. Your options include headsets, desktop and clip on mics. After you've figured out what you'd like to use there, your next option is USB or analog. Each have their own pros and cons as we've seen so far with everything else.
USB mics, generally, have a more clear sound than analog mics, but they can't usually be used with software that records video, however a lot of newer versions of software are gaining that functionality... assuming though your software won't means you'll need to use a second program to capture your commentary. GoldWave, Audacity, RecordPad... there are a lot of options here as well. Which ever you go with will work just fine, but you may need to do some editing... in that case RecordPad won't do the job... more on that in another post. Also note that using a second program for recording you audio will take some processor power away from your video capture. That's just the nature of the beast.
Analog mics will always be available to be captured from with basic software. The downside there is that they are generally more noisy, not quite as crisp. However they don't sound "cold" as most digital forms do. This is more an issue with audiophiles like myself than your average user and viewer.
Once you've settled on a microphone, it's time to decide if you want to do live commentary or post commentary or some combination of the two. I generally will do live commentary for a few reasons. I feel my reactions are sometimes good enough to capture live and it's less work for me to do in post processing. However live commentary also means I can't edit that commentary unless I want to use a secondary program to record my commentary. Of course doing it this way will require me to combine the video and commentary with another program later like Movie Maker or any generic editing software.
Post commentary has a few benefits over live commentary... for one you can go back and redo anything you happen to screw up. It's also easier to do co-commentary in some instances. Streaming a capture between two people can work well, but depending on your internet connection it can be a bit tricky sometimes. Post commentary also means that you're going to HAVE to combine your video and audio with another program later... bringing your software count up to at least 3 programs at this point. One to record video, one to record audio and one to combine the sources and potentially a fourth piece as well to encode that final file into a format you want.
In the long run... when it comes to how to record... it's all down to personal preference. What works for me may not work for you. But, for the sake of information, my software and its uses is as follows...
Fraps for emulation capture. It works, it does the job pretty darn well. The files are usually fairly big in size but that's because the video is lossless quality.
Goldwave for audio editing. When I have to do some post commentary I'll record it and edit it with Goldwave. It's not free but I've been using it for so long I just can't make myself use anything else.
VideoPad for compiling audio and video. When I do post co-commentary (like Castlevania Dawn Of Sorrow), I use VideoPad to combine the video and two different audio sources into a single complete video. It's not the best software around, but it's lightweight and gets the job done really well.
Windows Live Movie Maker. This is what I like to use if I have any light editing to do. Say cutting out random battles in an RPG. I'll put in the splits, delete the clip and add some transitions. It's old school but it gets the job done. Also, I will sometimes use this if I have a single commentary track to add to a video. It depends on what else I need to do with it.
Microsoft Expression Encoder. This is the Omega to my LPing Alpha. Any and all videos I put together go through here at the very end of the process. This program let's me crop, add audio, video or graphical overlays, combine multiple clips, resize, deinterlace and create thumbnails for video start screens. It's not super great for find editing as there are no transition effects or anything, but that's what I use other software for.
If I were to record an episode of some SNES emulation with live commentary, the process would go as follows
ZSNES captured with Fraps > Movie Maker if any editing needs done > Expression Encoder for the final file.
If it's a console game an live commentary it goes as follows...
Console is captured via ATV WonderTV 550 with VirtualDub, commentary is recorded with GoldWave > video an audio are combined in Windows Movie Maker OR Microsoft Expression Encoder depending on editing > Expression Encoder for the final product.
One I've got enough to backup on a DVD, I do so where it then goes into a case till it's ready to be uploaded.
Hopefully this has been an alright starts quite on the very basics of setting up recoding for a Let's Play.
If there are any questions or reviews on software or methods mentioned here, please leave them below.
First when it comes to recording you need to know a few things ahead of time.
1. What am I recording? Is it screen capture from a PC game, an emulator or some other "on screen" source. Or, are you going to capture from a console via capture device.
2. Am I doing live or post commentary. If you're going live commentary, do you want it to be recorded along with your video or separately for editing reasons.
Now that you've addressed those questions... we can get started.
I can't teach you how to capture from every bit of software but I can teach you how to capture from the stuff that I myself use.
First for emulation... I use ZSNES, VirtuaNES, KFusion and VirtualBoy for my standard emulators. I also use DesMuMe for my Nintendo DS stuff.
Most all of these are ready to be captured with programs like Fraps or BandiCam. Both of those programs have their pros and cons and we'll discuss those in another topic here in this section.
Either of these programs can record emulators in full screen mode without too much trouble. Though BandiCam has a little more luck with programs that don't run full screen.
If neither of those two programs are what you want to use, or full screen just isn't your thing... software such as HyperCam, Debut, Camtasia and CamStudio. Each of these again have their pros and cons and they'll be discussed elsewhere.
These programs generally will work better for certain PC games that won't run full screen, DOSBox, certain Steam games and other such things.
If you're going to be capturing video from a console, you'll need some sort of device to capture your audio with. That can be a USB device like an EasyCap or a Dazzle or an internal device like a Hauppauge or ATI card. Internal cards usually have better response time as an IDE device is more suited to high speed data transfer than USB devices are. With newer USB technology though I can't say for sure that currently that will always be the case. USB 3.0 is still pretty new and I'm not sure of what it's able to do.
Once you've got your hardware of choice determined and setup, it's time to look at software for that. Some pieces come with their own software, Coreal... Ulead... Pinnacle... Sony Vegas... and then of course there are other options available to you via the good ol' internet. Debut can work with console capture as can VideoPad which is another piece of software from NCH Software. Microsoft Expression Encoder, Windows Media Encoder, VirtualDub and more are all available to you to use.
Not all software is compatible with all hardware though so it may be worth your time to do a little research about your options before you go and purchase some hardware.
After you've figured out what you're recording for video, it's time to look at the audio option.
The first thing you'll need, obviously, is a microphone. Your options include headsets, desktop and clip on mics. After you've figured out what you'd like to use there, your next option is USB or analog. Each have their own pros and cons as we've seen so far with everything else.
USB mics, generally, have a more clear sound than analog mics, but they can't usually be used with software that records video, however a lot of newer versions of software are gaining that functionality... assuming though your software won't means you'll need to use a second program to capture your commentary. GoldWave, Audacity, RecordPad... there are a lot of options here as well. Which ever you go with will work just fine, but you may need to do some editing... in that case RecordPad won't do the job... more on that in another post. Also note that using a second program for recording you audio will take some processor power away from your video capture. That's just the nature of the beast.
Analog mics will always be available to be captured from with basic software. The downside there is that they are generally more noisy, not quite as crisp. However they don't sound "cold" as most digital forms do. This is more an issue with audiophiles like myself than your average user and viewer.
Once you've settled on a microphone, it's time to decide if you want to do live commentary or post commentary or some combination of the two. I generally will do live commentary for a few reasons. I feel my reactions are sometimes good enough to capture live and it's less work for me to do in post processing. However live commentary also means I can't edit that commentary unless I want to use a secondary program to record my commentary. Of course doing it this way will require me to combine the video and commentary with another program later like Movie Maker or any generic editing software.
Post commentary has a few benefits over live commentary... for one you can go back and redo anything you happen to screw up. It's also easier to do co-commentary in some instances. Streaming a capture between two people can work well, but depending on your internet connection it can be a bit tricky sometimes. Post commentary also means that you're going to HAVE to combine your video and audio with another program later... bringing your software count up to at least 3 programs at this point. One to record video, one to record audio and one to combine the sources and potentially a fourth piece as well to encode that final file into a format you want.
In the long run... when it comes to how to record... it's all down to personal preference. What works for me may not work for you. But, for the sake of information, my software and its uses is as follows...
Fraps for emulation capture. It works, it does the job pretty darn well. The files are usually fairly big in size but that's because the video is lossless quality.
Goldwave for audio editing. When I have to do some post commentary I'll record it and edit it with Goldwave. It's not free but I've been using it for so long I just can't make myself use anything else.
VideoPad for compiling audio and video. When I do post co-commentary (like Castlevania Dawn Of Sorrow), I use VideoPad to combine the video and two different audio sources into a single complete video. It's not the best software around, but it's lightweight and gets the job done really well.
Windows Live Movie Maker. This is what I like to use if I have any light editing to do. Say cutting out random battles in an RPG. I'll put in the splits, delete the clip and add some transitions. It's old school but it gets the job done. Also, I will sometimes use this if I have a single commentary track to add to a video. It depends on what else I need to do with it.
Microsoft Expression Encoder. This is the Omega to my LPing Alpha. Any and all videos I put together go through here at the very end of the process. This program let's me crop, add audio, video or graphical overlays, combine multiple clips, resize, deinterlace and create thumbnails for video start screens. It's not super great for find editing as there are no transition effects or anything, but that's what I use other software for.
If I were to record an episode of some SNES emulation with live commentary, the process would go as follows
ZSNES captured with Fraps > Movie Maker if any editing needs done > Expression Encoder for the final file.
If it's a console game an live commentary it goes as follows...
Console is captured via ATV WonderTV 550 with VirtualDub, commentary is recorded with GoldWave > video an audio are combined in Windows Movie Maker OR Microsoft Expression Encoder depending on editing > Expression Encoder for the final product.
One I've got enough to backup on a DVD, I do so where it then goes into a case till it's ready to be uploaded.
Hopefully this has been an alright starts quite on the very basics of setting up recoding for a Let's Play.
If there are any questions or reviews on software or methods mentioned here, please leave them below.
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Support The Groove Machine!: https://www.patreon.com/jasonsgroovemachine
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jasonsgroovemachine
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JasonGrvin