Streaming/Capture Questions (For Dummies)

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MormonWarrior

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I'm going to be building a pretty powerful PC sometime in the near future, and I'd like to start streaming and capturing video feed from both my PC and my video game consoles. This ranges from old Nintendo consoles (NES, SNES, N64, etc.) to more modern ones (PS3, 360, Wii U, GBA/DS/3DS) and I don't know what the best general option is. I've heard of El Gatos and Raspberry Pis and all that sort of stuff but I really don't know where to start or what to do. If anybody can give me some beginner's pointers or point me to some essential articles and such, I'd much appreciate it.

I'd like to do Let's Plays and Twitch streaming and all that, or Endurance Run-style content like the Giant Bomb guys.

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ThePhantomnaut

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#2  Edited By ThePhantomnaut

I know the Elgato Game Capture HD provides support for systems using HDMI and composite/S-video (through a separate adapter). For the PS3 (not PS4 until a future update), the Game Capture HD has a special cable that will strip the HDCP signal if playing in 1080p. For older consoles, you will need to split the composite signal before connecting to the Game Capture HD.

There are other alternative devices like the AVerMedia Live Gamer Portable and Hauppauge HD PVR 2 Gaming Edition but they are limited to particular inputs although they do what's needed.

As for software, some of the devices including the Elgato Game Capture HD have recording and streaming software but others like XSplit and Open Broadcaster Software are more flexible.

As for tutorials, there should be lots of capable streaming tutorials from searching on Google. I will probably edit this post with some.

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MormonWarrior

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#3  Edited By MormonWarrior

@thephantomnaut: "split the composite signal"? What does that mean? What would I need to do that?

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killerclaw

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PC streaming is decidedly more simple than last-gen consoles. PC streaming only requires a good enough upstream link and a program like: http://obsproject.com/ , you can find instructions through a simple Google search.

Console streaming is more difficult, and is also depended on what output you have/are using on the console. You'll need a capture device which will be able to take an input and make it available for storage on your PC, then at that point the manufacturers PC software will usually let you broadcast from there.

Keep in mind that the console streaming will be more expensive and you'll need to do research in order to make sure you have the right output on your console to match the input on the capture device. This is all useless if you have a low upload speed on your internet connection as well, check that before anything! (Unless you only want to do pre-recorded stuff).