[Northern California] Norcal Crab Shack

I'll have Friday and Saturdays off, officially, starting next Friday, Saturday. I'll try and make some gatherings in the future.
 
KrayzieCD said:
Cedric: Well Kikoshoo did say he could come at 11am so I guess if you can make it to the BART by 10:30 that would be cool. If that's too early just come whenever.
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10:30 holy shit I better go to bed so I can workout before I go, yeah I should be able to make that.
 
Cedric or Kikoshoo bring your 360 so you can play on your native controllers. Like usual just bring the console itself, no need for any cables, I have them already. Unless you both don't mind playing on PS3, in that case you don't have to bring anything.
 
I got raped harder this time, i should have taken a picture but the amount of matches didn't exceed last time because of the stream and Krayzies booty call.

Also that is some pretty terrible luck NDK
 
NDK said:
1st round I get Woahhzz, 1st match in losers I get Ramon. GGs thanks for comin
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Damn, that is the worst luck ever. Many would have shared your fate, including me, had they pulled the same draw. Oh well, at least try to rape plenty of people in casuals, eat lots of popeye's, and get a head start on SC5.
 
Cedric do you live close by CD? Do you wanna play say Wed night at my place 7-11pm? Xbox console. I didn't see all the messages above ~ I don't check in here after I leave work. KCD called when it's all too late.
Is anyone interested in playing tonight/evening in SF? I'm free 4-7:30. I can take BART if not too far. Quick sessions agains all Taki.
 
I live fairly close but I can't drive for medical reasons. I usually just come out on the weekend to play so I don't have to bart for just a few hours.
 
I have fridays and saturdays off, officially now, let me know what's good.l tryna to SCIV sesh before SCV is released.
 
Alright Krayzie, and anybody else that's interested in streaming, I'm going to post an FAQ guide for HD capture/streaming. There's alot of info so I may be skipping around a bit. If I say anything wrong (which I may), feel free to correct me, or just ask if you have questions. Or if you don't care and dont' wanna see this, that's fine too, let me know lol. This is going to be alot of info, so I'm doing it in chunks.

First of all, you need a decent computer. If you have an old computer, it may not be able to handle all the encoding and programs you'll be running when you are encoding/streaming/recording. How good of a computer depends on what route you plan on getting.
In order to get HD direct feed, there's 3 main companies, each with 2 options. They are Hauppauge, Avermedia, and Blackmagic Design. Lemme break down each one, and their pros and cons. All the prices are what I found on amazon right now, and that's usually the cheapest you can get it new.
edit: now with spoiler tags so there isn't a WOT
Hauppauge Options
1a. Hauppauge HD PVR (USB 2.0 external box)This is a very popular option for video game recording. It cost about 170$. It connects to the computer via USB 2.0, takes Component input, and has a breakout for Component out. This means you can plug this into a computer, plug in your ps3 via component (720p/1080i) and use the breakout and take the component to your TV (without lag), while recording on your computer. It also does most of the encoding in the box, so if you just want to straight up record, it captures in a relatively small file size compared to uncompressed files.

Downside is, this thing does NOT work Nativity with other programs like wirecast or xsplit. You have to use screen capture to select a desktop region, and then use that screen cap to stream. A big hassle and a memory hog if you're trying to capture+stream at the same time, basically having more than one/two video feeds displayed on your desktop at once.

Pros
-Easy to setup
-Breakout for 0 lag and no need for adapters

Cons
-Known to overheat in some models
-NO HDMI out or in.
-Does not work with other programs, needs screen cap workaround.
-Screen may lag a little compared to breakout footage, making it unsuited for gameplay on desktop.
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1b. Hauppauge Colossus PCI Express Internal HD-PVR (Internal PCI-E card)

This is basically just the board of the HD PVR, the difference is that it has an HDMI in port. But don't get too happy, because it can only take in unencrypted/protected HDMI sources, so no PS3 HDMI record for you(Component only). You can however record via HDMI with the 360. It is also cheaper (140$), but reports of the build being kinda crappy do exist, so be careful in buying it used. It can also record at a higher bitrate than the HDPVR, but you'll need a better computer/faster harddrive to take advantage of it. Just like the HDPVR, the software that comes with it is a little inflexible, and you'll have to screencap to stream.

Pros
-Cheap
-Breakout for 0 lag and no need for adapters

Cons
-Cheap build
-Does not work with other programs, needs screencap workaround.
-Screen may lag a little compared to breakout footage, making it unsuited for gameplay on desktop.
-/+ Unencrpted HDMI IN, does not take ps3 HDMI recording.
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Avermedia Options
2a. AVERMEDIA AVERTV HD USB DVR (USB 2.0 External box)
Pretty much exactly like the Hauppauge, but no reports of overheating. The product itself came out way later, and thus has a much sleeker look. Just like the Hauppauge, there are inputs for component, and a breakout for component. It does have an HDMI out port, but don't get happy (NEVER get happy with these devices!), since it is only for playback of recorded media at a later time. Costs about 160. Only works with other programs through screencap (see the trend yet?).

Pros
-Easy to setup
-Breakout cable for 0 lag and no need for adapters

Cons
-Useless HDMI port
-Does not work with other programs, needs screen cap workaround.
-Screen may lag a little compared to breakout footage, making it unsuited for gameplay on desktop.
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2b. Avertv HD DVR PCIe (Internal PCI-E card)
At 94$(!) it is the cheapest of the bunch. But don't get happy. At all. Instead, get real mad, as the two slots on the damn card are both IN slots. One is for HDMI in, the other is Component in via cables. There's 0 passthrough on this thing. You can view PS3 via HDMI (:D) but you can't record due to HDCP (D:). A workaround is using a program called fraps to record the window, or use screencap, you know the drill (or just component in and record). It would work for playing+recording if you had a splitter, but that would bring up the cost to the same as the other boxed solutions, so why bother? And this thing STILL doesn't work through other programs, so you'll be running it through a screen cap anyways. Horrible design.

Pros
-Cheap

Cons
-Lack of a breakout slot/cable
-Crappy software
-Bad design overall, cheap components, may get blackscreen
-Does not work with other programs, needs screen cap workaround.
-Screen may lag a little compared to breakout footage, making it unsuited for gameplay on desktop.
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Blackmagic Design options
3a. Blackmagic Intensity Shuttle (USB 3.0 External box)
Now we're at the super bigboys hardware... and by that I mean oh my god my wallet. This thing costs about190$, and requires your computer to be kinda... excessive. You'll need a Raid 0 with 3x harddrives or better setup to record the uncompress footage with this thing (or just use the compressed motion jpeg option, which works well with a SATA 6GB/s 7200rpm harddrive.) You'll also need a x58 chipset or better and a good CPU to handle the device/software. It also is very picky about which USB 3.0 chip you have too. You need to be using a Renesas/NEC, or Fresco Logic FL1009 controller, so no luck if you're getting some boards which have something like a EtronTech EJ168.

If you somehow are lucky enough to have a rig that can handle this thing, you'll have the clearest direct feed out of all the other devices (other than the internal card counterpart of this box). This device also has the benefit of working with programs like wirecast and xsplit, simply add it to a layer as a camera, and it will show up perfectly.


Pros
-Best looking recorded footage
-Breakout to component
-Works with popular programs like wirecast and xsplit
-sleek design on the box
-USB 3.0 means there's the lease lag displayed on PC compared to other boxes


Cons
-Not easy to setup, needs you to set both ps3/360 and PC input/output correctly. (Will provide notes if requested)
-Expensive
-Stupid requirements for the computer, lack of supported chipsets, needs USB 3.0
-/+ HDMI in lets you record unencrypted video (360 ok, ps3 not ok)
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3b. Blackmagic Intensity Pro (Internal PCI-E card)
This also cost about 190$, same as the shuttle. However, since it's an internal card, the requirements are not as strict, though you still need a good board, most likely somewhere in the core i7 family, but at lease you don't have to worry about USB 3.0. Still need a RAID setup for uncompressed, or a fast 7200rpm for motion jpeg compressed footage.
The advantage this card has over the shuttle version is that this thing has HDMI out, no matter what you input. So you can input component and have HDMI breakout at no lag. Only con is that, like all other devices, it cannot record PS3 via HDMI due to HDCP. Other than that, there are no other real cons that other devices suffers from.

Pros
-Best looking recorded footage
-Breakout to component, AND HDMI (nice for people who prefer HDMI/only uses ASUS monitors)
-Works with popular programs like wirecast and xsplit
-No need for USB 3.0
-Direct feed has almost no lag, very usable for real time commentary/casual play.

Cons
-Not easy to setup, needs you to set both ps3/360 and PC input/output correctly. (Will provide notes if requested)
-Expensive
-Requires good computer
-/+ HDMI in lets you record unencrypted video (360 ok, ps3 not ok)


This card is basically what I have now. Here's a quality test I did on it if you want to see the footage of a motion jpeg compressed recording:
 
(Double post, but I think this needs a break between post for the next section)

So finally, your setup should look like this:
Untitled-1.jpg

Edit: Now with updated SC4 sample
The next few things are optional, but they do add in that extra bit of stuff.
Hardware:
Webcam/DV_HDV camera - (ex: Logitech C910 50$) You can set up mutiple ones so one goes to the commentator's table, the others goes to the players/crowd. Get dat hype on camera! Make sure to get good ones that doesn't take forever to focus, or are super blurry. That 5.99 webcam from tjmax isn't gonna cut it.

Audio Mixer: (ex: Behringer Xenyx 502, 35$) Get this and you won't regret it. Not only can you adjust how loud everything is on the stream with a physical volume knob, you can also add in microphones and other audio equipment in. Works well when the software side doesn't let you adjust volume easily/distorts the sounds.

Flowchart:
PS3--> Component video cables ---> your capture card
--->White/Red Audio cables ---> Mixer ---> capture card

Microphone: Can get either an analog one or a USB one. With an analog one and a mixer, you can actually dedicate a mic to the room and capture game/crowd hype in one go, without desynching your recording/stream. Remember that the video feed on your computer is delayed by 1~ish second unless you have the intensity pro, so if you record game audio through a USB mic (which will not have that lag), everything will be desynced/echo'd. If you only want to use it for commentary and adjust the levels correctly though, a USB mic is fine for this. Get a pop filter as an extra to make your voice sound gdlk.

Extra splitters and adapters: if for some reason you need to split video or just audio, having these will make life alot easier. That RCA to 3.5mm jack is going to come in use if somebody brought over a monitor but their speakers are too quiet, and you have some cheap pc 2.0 speakers handy.

Software:
Adobe CS5 Suite (or just illustrator and photoshop): If you know how to use these, they will be very useful in editing icons, banners, logos, etc and everything you want to throw at the stream.
Editing with some extra hardware/software can make the stream more than just "direct footage".

Sony Vegas or Power Director Pro: video editing. Vegas has tons of encoding options and supports pretty much every format out there. Has a very traditional editing layout. Power Director is editing in easy mode, but can still get the job done, though you have to do some extra work if you want your own encoding settings. Both now takes advantage of GPU acceleration as well as CUDA, so if you have a good graphics card this will help out alot in real time editing, playaback, and encoding.

Wirecast or Xsplit: Streaming software. Wirecast is more professional, has more options, etc. Think of it as the Vegas of streaming, also lets you do a local recording of the stream, so it's useful when you're trying to stream and record at the same time. Xsplit is the new kid on the block, still free in beta IIRC, but maybe it's a full version now. Very easy to use, but local recording quality is not as good a wirecast, and encoding options are very limited.
 
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