Simple capture device for streaming?

HDL

I've been looking for a long time for one that will allow me to easily stream games to sites like Justin/Twitch TV. So far, I haven't found anything that seems reliable except for maybe these:

Elgato Video Capture
Hauppauge HD PVR Gaming Edition

I'm not so sure about the first one because it seems like it's meant for creating ready-made video files for storage/uploading purposes. I've read that the Hauppauge only works with the Elgato EyeTV software. It's too expensive anyway, and I'm looking for something simpler.

Does anyone here have an inexpensive device that works well, something similar to a Dazzle? What about splitters? I want to make sure I can route the game video to my TV so I can play without any kind of delay or frame rate issues.

I also need something compatible with CamTwist and Flash Media Live Encoder.

seanstar

I grabbed a refurbished older-gen Elgato EyeTV unit some years ago, and it does seem to be decent for capture or play-through to screen. If the quality is all the way up, and/or you're recording, there is a frame or two of lag between the incoming signal and what you see on-screen, but I think that would be common to pretty much any system. I've played games like Bonk and Xenosaga through it for recording without noticing the lag. F-Zero games not so much :P I don't think the EyeTV software has a live-streaming option, but it might work with some secondary software that streams a screen region or arbitrary window contents.

menace690

Perhaps this will help?

http://community.justin.tv/forums/archive/index.php/t-4948.html

Mucx

I'd go with the Elgato. The lag in the modern versions are extremely minimal.

Also, interesting to see people here talking about TwitchTV... its getting really popular and many of the streamers are making a living off the back of it. What do you think about the service itself and the website? (I have been contacted recently to go work there & lead the UI / Vis design).

HDL

I did some more searching and learned that apparently Elgato isn't recognized by CamTwist. :(

You can work around that by using whatever software Elgato comes with and just screen capturing the capture preview, but that's not as ideal in Lion because CamTwist apparently cannot maintain desktop capture when you switch spaces (screen goes black). I'm wondering how big the capture preview is anyway.

It's amazing how little options Mac has for video capture. You would think that more companies would've jumped on the opportunity by now.

By the way, Blackmagic and Matrox are definitely out of the question.

Mucx, I like Twitch but I dislike the filters on the left side of the home screen, and how the links to people you follow are not there like they are in JTV. It's also better getting the drop menu automatically when you hover over it like JTV. On Twitch you need an extra click to see it.

menace690

Try a combination of

http://apiwiki.justin.tv/mediawiki/index.php/VLC_Broadcasting_API

http://www.videolan.org/vlc/download-eyetv.html

and of course vlc. http://www.videolan.org/

menace690

Found this too.. Looks like a similar idea
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9YEGKXCN24

HDL

Wow, I've never seen so many steps necessary just to do basic streaming. It's interesting to see that it can be done that way, but I think I'll stick to CamTwist + FMLE. It's so much simpler, plus it has many more options like PIP, text/graphic overlays, transitions, shot previews, scaling, chroma key, etc. Thanks for posting it though, it never hurts to know what options one has available.

Though I'm wondering why he typed HD PVR ($30). I'm pretty sure that thing costs nearly $200, too much for my pocket right now. I'd get a Blackmagic anyway, it works natively with OS X, CamTwist, and even has a Thunderbolt connection.

Mucx

He meant Elgato, Hauppage etc for the HD PVR part I am sure. I think he mentions a Hauppage device in the commentary.

I agree the steps to do this are both long and extremely geeky... this is a serious limitation to getting people streaming stuff from their Mac's. Is it that complicated on the Windows side? Is it user friendly via CamTwist etc?

I think if enough customers annoyed Elgato and similar companies then streaming to JTV could be built into their software. As it stands, this is just insane and, unfortunately for companies involved (JustIN, Elgato, Hauppage etc)... off-putting.

As an alternative thread, if you could fire up an emulator and stream your gameplay easily with TwitchTV style features... would people here watch that? (it would require no peripherals like Elgato, just emulator software and a good net connection).

HDL

If you don't mind not having direct capture, it's very easy to stream on Macs if you use a camera with FMLE alone or in tandem with CamTwist if you want some extra effects/options. I've already been doing this for a while, and it's like 500 steps less (and easier) than all that VLC stuff. If you feel like spending an arm, there is also Wirecast which has a lot more features than FMLE.

On Windows the difficulty is about the same, except there are more options. XSplit is probably the most flexible piece of software on it right now. Before anyone asks, no it doesn't work in Wine. :(

As far as emulators and stuff on the desktop, the same FMLE + CamTwist combination works miracles. Perhaps I'll make a separate thread specifically to explain how to use them, as this thread is more about external devices.

seanstar

HDL wrote:
You can work around that by using whatever software Elgato comes with and just screen capturing the capture preview, but that's not as ideal in Lion because CamTwist apparently cannot maintain desktop capture when you switch spaces (screen goes black). I'm wondering how big the capture preview is anyway.

It's however large you want it to be, modulo the number of pixels your particular unit supports and/or the capture quality settings. Mine is only an old standard def unit, but I've blown it up to fullscreen on my 27" iMac before. In fact, it's hooked up right now to run my Japanese PC-Engine (it can tune custom channel frequencies, which is the only way to hit the Japanese channel 2/3 on J-NTSC, since the system doesn't have composite-out). ... In other news, I should find time to get around to that RGotW on Parodius I was thinking of...