New to game capture/ video editing and looking for some tips!

Hello duders!

I'm looking to try my hand at learning how to capture game footage (mainly from my PS5) + cut that footage for a video. The problem is, I am very new to all of this, and I am looking for some tips! Here is what I know so far:

1. My basic laptop will not suffice for video editing requirements or elgato capture (in CPU, GPU, and Ram). What minimum CPU/GPU combo should I be looking for in a new laptop? I know Elgato's HD60 S+ requires a Geforce 10xx as a minimum, but what is optimal?
2. Are there any other pieces of software, other than Premiere Pro, that I should be investing in?
3. I'm in Canada, so prices / laptop availability may vary
4. What other hardware do I need, aside from the elgato device and the actual laptop?

My budget currently is around ~1500 USD- is that more than I would need? I am interested in branching out to streaming at some point, so I would likely want the hardware/software to support that too.

Any and all tips/tricks are appreciated!

I bought a really decent gaming laptop a couple of years ago for around 1,000 so I think you should be right in line for a decent solution at your pricepoint (I admittedly don't know how much El Gatos are as I don't use them!). I don't know what the new hotness is in laptops, though. If you're only going to use it for video capture you probably don't need anything more complicated than a 1080p screen so you might be able to save money by not getting a gaming laptop at all. Likewise I don't think a really good GPU is going to be necessary in the laptop itself as I believe the el gato will do most of the work in recording the footage, but I might be wrong about that and will defer to other experts. Of course if you eventually want to stream anything from the laptop it might be worth investing in a heartier laptop in general.

I don't think you'll need any more hardware than what you're describing aside from cables and such. And a good mic if you intend to be talking over the footage, I guess.

When I was dabbling in video editing a few years ago for our social media stuff I found a free program called Lightworks that I really liked. Obviously something like Premiere is going to be more powerful but is also going to be dramatically more expensive (I think Adobe offers some other options, though, that aren't quite as crazy as a subscription to Premiere?). I think something cheap or free will be the best option to start some simple edits; you'll have to relearn the tools and shortcuts if you do eventually move to something like Premiere but at least it'll give you a feel for the workload.

Watch both Microsoft Store Canada and /r/bapcsalescanada for deals on laptops. Get one with a dedicated GPU. Ideally, if you can, get a 1050ti/1060/1070/2060+/3060/3060ti or better. Double ideally, get a Lenovo as their quality tends to be a bit better than that price point of Asus offering. the 3xxx series will be more expensive, and you may be able to nab a daily deal off the Microsoft store for cheap. Best deals on laptops are there as they do mass sells of a single model for a very good price point, and it sells out within an hour or two. Someone will post the deal on /r/bapcsc.

Reason I suggest a GPU is for editing work, as well as rendering. If you are just concerned about capture and intend to edit/render using a decent CPU without GPU, then get the best CPU you can, as Elgato relies on good multi-core CPUs (i5 minimum).

If it comes with 8GB of ram, get 8GB more. Ensure the machine you get does not have soldered RAM, or if it does, it has expansion ports.

Consider a cooling pad for the laptop if you are going to be doing rendering heavy work.
Consider eventually getting a cheapish IPS monitor to plug into the laptop, or older model one that is 60hz. Good colours are a must, and get it calibrated if you can. Only if you have space for it I guess.

Premier Pro is great. As Matt also said, Lightworks is great, considering its price point (freemium/subscription). If you are a student, find out if your campus can get you an Adobe suite license for nothing.

That's my Canadian advice.

@rorie@ikuorai Thank you both! This is super helpful! Yes, I think the plan is to start with game capture / video editing to hopefully dabbling in streaming as well. It sounds like for both the capture and the editing, GPU performance will be important. It sounds like perhaps a mid-range GPU would be considered bare minimum? Does the Geforce 1650 fit the bill?

In terms of voice recording, is there any soundproofing I need to do around my room?

Edit: Are there any compatibility issues with AMD processors, or should I stick to Intel?

If you want to start dabbling with some video editing for the low, low price of zero dollars, the PS5's built-in video recording is quite high quality and can record in chunks of at least an hour at a time. You can pull those files off the console with a USB drive, and there are some free video editing options out there like Davinci Resolve or Kdenlive you can use to try editing some stuff together.

This is probably not any kind of permanent workflow, but you could get a decent amount done with it, and it's more than enough to let you get a feel for things before you start investing in capture boxes and a Premiere license.

I really like DaVinci Resolve, free with a lot of options. My ancient R7 240 can handle putting a video together on that. I wouldn't worry so much about the tech side and mainly figure out the process of putting something together.

https://www.lenovo.com/ca/en/laptops/legion-laptops/legion-5-series/Lenovo-Legion-5-15ARH05/p/82B5000TUS

Here's a decent deal for a 1650 powered ryzen 5 laptop.

Sign up for Rakuten for an additional 9% off (cashback) when bought through their portal.
As well as code "EXTRAFIVE" for more off.

@ikuorai: What are your thoughts on this laptop:

https://www.newegg.ca/p/N82E16834725086

@conker: Seems like an okay deal, and Gigabyte's offerings have gotten a lot better over recent years.

i7/2060 is a great combo, just not for battery life. It'll be a "plug it in almost always" type thing.

Amazing, thank you! I don't see myself using it to do any serious work unplugged. Will it be sufficient enough for capture/editing, and how future proof do you think it will be?

This is a great idea! And the release of Hitman 3 is the perfect candidate for some practice- thank you, Brad!

@conker:

That laptop is decently future proof. If you want to save some money, get the same GPU, but more ram:

https://old.reddit.com/r/bapcsalescanada/comments/l3pybd/laptop_legion_y540_gaming_laptop_i5_9300h_4c8t/

This is on for 950 right now. Very good deal. Same deal about using Rakuten and stuff to save more.

Hey! Any update? Wich one have you chosen?

You'll want a decent CPU and GPU on your laptop to capture and edit game footage. Aim for an Intel i5 or Ryzen 5 and a GTX 1660. But sometimes, the software makes more of a difference than the hardware. When I started, my 2014 MacBook struggled, but I stumbled upon this free video editor Mac, which surprisingly worked great on my old and my new 2022 MacBook Air.