I don't know if I'm a retard for asking this or not, but how do I record my master runs?

Basically you need a capture card, there are several kinds, or a friend with a capture card who you can send either a memory card to (for a replay) or a videotape to if their card captures VCR signals.

Look up "How to make digital movies" on google, or you can check out this thread (may be very outdated) on Tekken Zaibatsu.

http://www.tekkenzaibatsu.com/forums/sh ... adid=50096

_________________

Cool stuff, Gondee.

_________________

Cool thanks a lot gondee...but could I just use a digital camera?

Yes, you could. It's far from the best way to do it, and your camera has to be able to record 30-second movies or something like that. I used a web cam for a while as well...it's far from the best but it does in a pinch.

_________________

I wish I could make great master runs like you guys. But I'm not good with cameras and stuff.

_________________

I seeeeeeeeeeee...well my digital camera's quality is meh but it can record up to like an hour total so I'll see how it comes out when I try to do it

What codec is best to compress the video? And what settings?

I stumbled on this "Ligos GoMotion", but maybe there are betters.

totally off topic but: Tekken Zaibatsu?

ok gondee i have really be thinking about the whole capture card thing,cause i would like to submit some master runs, but more than that i would like to make some videos. yours were very inspiring, and i got some sick songs in mind. what i am wondering is what everything cost u total including any cables or that kind of stuff, capture card, etc. That and was it a pain in the ass to get it set up. i dont care if its time consuming. (would u do it again if u had to?)

_________________

Yeah, I'd do it again, sure. It was $40 for the capture card (you can get a good one, unlike mine, for 60-80 though) and nothing for any cables or anything. You may have to buy some movie editing software if it doesn't come with the package, and that may run $50-100 for a decent one. But all in all, sure, it's worth it.


Depends on what you compress it as. MPG has no cheap codecs available - it's easily customizable for size anyway, if you have the right program. AVI uses codecs, and the best ones for it are either DivX, or a few others depending on situation. (DivX is by far the most versatile.) AVI can also be turned into WMV (windows media) - that's not a codec but a completely different format like Quicktime (as for codecs for Quicktime, I have no idea. Ask grandmort, ). WMV gives you the best compression for decent quality, and auto-downloads codecs if you have Windows Media Player. Divx can give you better quality but I dont' want to answer "Where do I get the DivX Codec at?"

Haven't heard much about Ligos, but give DivX a try - it's pretty much the standard AFAIK. As for settings for WMV, I use 300-500K a second, no sound (for Master Runs, otherwise 32-48 Khz) and a clarity/smooth motion setting of around 35.


I was a huge Tekken fan (go King!) before I ever played SSX. I don't think Tekken 3 left my PS1 for like 6 months I played it so much.

_________________

Man, thats expensive. I wish you could make a profit off of the master runs.

_________________

That's why not many people can do it - you have to be dedicated and learn quite a bit about it, and it costs. But it's totally worth if you can do it. I think I've used my capture card the most out of anything I've bought for my computer in the last two years, and that includes scanner and printer as well.

_________________

Hey Gondee, you know how on the index page it says all of the members and moderators that are on. I never see your name there. Are you hidden?

_________________

Thanks gondee!


How can you say that WMV is a format and not a codec, but that it gives the best compression for a decent quality? Do you mean you use DivX, and that WMV puts it together a bit tighter (space-wise)?

I was using the StoikVideoConverter, which can turn AVI's to WMV's, and back. I'd like to compress a 1Gig (3:40) AVI to perhaps a 20MB medium quality WMV (with sound). A bit like the EA trailer or the Kaori music clip.

After finding out about how much work and money it takes to record runs and posting them, I gained a bunch of respect for those who do it.



That question came out of the blue. Normally, that isn't anyone business, but I think gondee could be hidden. Imagine that, a sneaky webmaster.

_________________

Yeah, I guess you're right about the question, but it is thought-provoking.

_________________

Gondee, do you have any suggestions for some better capture cards? I'm not looking for something like an All-In-Wonder since I already have a video card, i'm just looking for one dedicated to capturing/watching video. I would like to be able to set it up where I can play PS2 permanently on my computer screen, if that's at all possible, without buying one of those converters for $100. Is it possible to do this through a video capture card?

I would like one that records in 640x480, but i'm not sure how much these are or if they are readily available. if you know of any that fulfill my requirements, or are at least close, please let me know. Thanks.

gondee- thank you for the info on capture card cost etc.

allright im gunna do it! although i do have one more question for u bro! since i am really interested in making some sick ssx3 music videos as well as master runs, do u know of a good(and most importantly easy to use), video making software programn? if it could do all the kind of stuff u did in your Kaori video i would be more than happy. thanx again!!

_________________

WMV is a format, not a codec. The same way Quicktime is a format. All formats use codecs to compress their videos - Quicktime uses them, WMV uses them (I use Windows Media Codec version 7), AVI and MPEG use them (though MPEG doesn't have nearly as many available as AVI).

WMV is the best compression format available (other than stupid REAL Player format, yuck) because it streams the videos. They lose quality a little but their size compression is unmatched. I also like it because the majority of people who download the videos already have Windows Media Player on their machines and it will auto-download the codecs if they don't have them. If I uploaded them in DivX, every other question on the board would be "I can't watch the vids! What do I do?" And every answer would be "Download DivX" <sigh>



Look for anything from Pinnacle if you don't want to go with the All-in-Wonder series. A lot of their cards come with the Pinnacle software, which if you don't have Adobe Premiere, is the most widely used software I've seen to do videos of any sort. Plus, Pinnacle is pretty easy to use.


Yep - even a TV/Tuner card can do it. That's what I have and I play my PS2 on my computer almost exclusively these days because it's close to my internet connection.



Most cards can do that, but go for a slightly expensive card if you don't want to record your 640x480 movies in MPEG-2 (DVD) Quality. That's the only selection I have for recording at the size, but my card is a $40 POS that I bought on a whim and am now stuck with because apparently it loaded all sorts of uninstallable files on my system that prevent other cards from working. You all may remember my tribulations when I tried to upgrade to a slightly better card a few months ago.

Titan, like I said above, look for Pinnacle software - it's high quality and does the trick pretty well. They're also fairly cheap if you can find one on sale (look for older versions as well - they do the same thing.)

_________________

sweet- Pinnacle it is! i am going over to seattle in a couple days so i will pick up what i need whaen i am over there. i already know that my first video will be an inroduction to allegra and griff. i have a great quote on my computer(no idea what movie its from), but i will show a line up of all the old ssx3 characters, and while im showing them you'll hear gary busey(in this heavy ass voice) say,"the veterans u see standing before u have been through all kinds of heavy shit, and they've always gotten the job done,(switch to images of Allegra and Griff), now your new soldiers these hotshots, how much action have they seen, and are they battle tested?" Michael Ironside," how bout a few tests, just to get u on board" and then pow- action action action of allegra and griff all put to a killer song which i have yet to decide.

anybody know wht movie that quote is from, ive never been able to figure it out.

for anyone who doesn't know who Michael Ironside is. he is the guy who played Rictor in Total Recall(the one who gets his arms ripped off by the elevator at the end, and arnold says,"see u at the party Rictor", and throws his arms at him- good stuff. he is alo the voice behind splinter cell(sam fisher)
he has one the coolest sounding voices on the planet!!

_________________

I'm currently using VirtualDub to both capture and cut a clip, but not to compress anything. This works very quick and quite straightforward.

After that I use the Stoik Converter I mentioned earlier here, to compress both sound and video from 1Gig to somewhere between 10 and 15 MB. Also very quick, and easy.

Both programs are totally free of charge.

Since nobody mentioned this here:

Apart from using a capture card or tv-card, you can also use a digicam to record your SSX run (or anything else). You can then transfer it to your computer to edit and compress.

Anyone looking for capture card info could do a lot worse than going here.

http://www.dvdrhelp.com/

and for encoding etc...

http://www.lukesvideo.com/