Capturing video...

One benefit of the new video format is that people who make cool game videos can now enjoy audiences on multiple sites. I found that out firsthand when I ported all of my video files over to YouTube. Within a day, I already had a subscriber!

That was kind of neat, so I decided to create just a handful of new videos, since the stuff I'd posted before was old.

I started by making more mission videos for 1943: The Battle of Midway, one of my favorite NES games. I noticed that while there were several videos for the game on YouTube, they mostly were hacked games. People were playing through the early levels with maximum stats, dying and then saying "Wow, but at least I did really good!"

It's a tough game. My own video had been just for the first stage, so I decided to add videos for a few more of the early stages. I wound up making videos for the first 14 stages in the game, which is a little over halfway through it. That was a lot of fun, and then I surprised myself by writing a review for the game itself (my 404th, I believe).

With that done, I then discovered that I can play games on my television and then just use the output from that to capture content onto my laptop. This is a much handier way to play than looking at a small window in the screen directly, and it allows me now to record Wii footage (which wasn't a possibility before thanks to the unique control methods).

Armed with that knowledge, I captured some PlayStation 2 footage, then some Strikers 1945 from the original PlayStation, then followed that up with some Wii content relating to recent games I've reviewed... as well as other stuff. It's a lot of fun, fairly addictive, and the end result is that the site is now just that little bit more valuable for people who come looking for content for those specific games.

I might keep adding video for awhile now, what with the process being fairly simple. Video is pretty cool and I like the idea of letting YouTube people know that we exist. The way I see it, that's just one more way to spread the word. Plus... it's fun!

Comments 5

wolfqueen001 Apr 27, 2008

Do you by chance use a Dazzle capture card? A friend of mine (Lan, in fact) had his for like less than a year and it suddenly crapped out on him like Friday. It started taking sketchy footage... there'd be black spots periodically throughout the video or something... So nowhe has to get like a new one and it costs $90, he says. I'm wondering if he had just gotten a faulty card or what... Also wondering if he can get a cheaper replacemnt, since he can't afford to spend money on a new one...or at least something that expensive, not with him going to school potentially soon.

Also, I don't have access to one of these fantastic things. The only way I know how to make video is with my emulator, but that only puts it in a format the emulator can read. Is there another way to make videos on my computer? I was wondering how you did it... with all the NES games and all.

Thanks for any help you can give me.

honestgamer Blogger Apr 27, 2008

I use a GameBridge device, which I purchased off Amazon.com for around $25.00. It plugs into the USB port on my laptop, so it's external. Then the RCA cables (or S-Video) plug into it from whatever device I wish to use (in this case, the 'out' port from my television, though you can also plug in cables direct from the video game system in question).

It's certainly the most affordable method I've found. Once the video is captured, I use an AlltoAVI program (free for download online) to convert the files to a format Windows Medi Player will more rapidly read, then I trim the movie if necessary before finally creating my final .wmv file and submitting it to YouTube.

Hm... Wow. Well, I'll certainly tell Lan about this. I hope it helps him feel better about what happened... and that he can use it/doesn't reject it. He can be kind of stubborn sometimes... Don't think he likes to look at alternative options very often.

Hm... Does this AltoAVI thing you talked about only for external video? The only way I can take videos as of right now is through my emulator, but I'm not sure if that converter program you mentioned will convert those files or not. They really are an obscure format...

AlltoAvi converts something like six different formats into .avi files (which can be read by Windows Media Player and Windows Movie Maker). There are other free options available online, as well.

Note that the GameBridge doesn't generate quite the sharp picture that some cards will, but the videos it produces look pretty decent (a lot nicer than they wind up looking after YouTube has had its merry way with the files, anyway).

Ah, I see. Well, do you know offhand if it (or any other converter) can change .nrp files into .wmv or whatever? .nrp is what my emulator saves to, and as that's the only way I know how to make vids with it, then... Hm... Unless there's another video making program I can use that'll work with my emulator.

I just talked to Lan about the Gamebridge about an hour ago... He said he was considering it after doing research for a replacement. I'm wary of mentioning the lower quality, but I suspect he knows anyway, and besides, if youtube makes it worse, anyway, I suppose it doesn't matter that much.

Thanks a lot for all this info, though! It's been useful.