How To Capture PAL 60 with Easycap (Xbox360).

[dave8706]

add on to fen's post about vista 32 programs,
vegas pro 9, arcsoft Total media extreme and arcsoft showbiz dvd2 work on this OS
but arcsoft is the only 1's that will capture dvd2 can cap mpeg1 & mpeg 2, total media extreme can only capture mpeg2.
i am still yet to move over to the S-Video capture, from what i understand it gives a somewhat HD capture.
 i capture in arcsot and render through vegas. @ 6mbps.

as youtube is both limited in size and time, i have found another viddeo upload site that doesnot have a time limit,
with a 5GB upload size limit only. www.MegaVideo.com

[EagleReign]

Hi fenberry,
 
I hope you have some time in the near future to review this post. I contemplated posting on this thread at an earlier date but decided to e-mail you instead. I know you are busy in testing multiple programs and answering questions all the time, so it's understandable that it might have gone unread. Regardless, I am hoping you can possibly clear some things up in regards to my following questions on this post in regards to laptop usage...
 
1) My biggest inquiry lies with the additional equipment you mentioned in earlier in this thread. You noted that one would need "2 or 3 RCA 1 female to 2 female Y-splitters" and another "RCA cable" in association with the EasyCap hardware itself. How exactly do you go about using the splitters and the extra cable in wiring everything together? I can't see how all the cords all wire together, exactly. If you could provide a "map" (some sort of picture) or description of how the splitters and cords connect together, it'd be greatly appreciated. Maybe a screen shot of your setup could help clear things up (if possible).
 
2) Also in regards to question 1, are there any known issues with just connecting the yellow, white, and red AV cords of a gaming console directly into the EasyCap outlets of the corresponding colors? It seems like it'd be easier to setup. What advantage does using the splitters and extra RCA cable have over connecting directly to the EasyCap outlets?

3) I've noticed that you've said you've encountered problems with the Ulead Video software in recording at times. What recording software do you currently use? Is it free? Do you recommend AMCap at all, or do you think that the Ulead Video software is fine if one can get it to function properly?
 
4) My final concern deals with HD quality playback. If one has the splitters, RCA cable, and everything else linked properly, can you upload a video in HD, or is it only SD? And how does the S-Video cord of the EasyCap play a part in the wiring process? Is it even used? I've heard that using S-Video settings can produce better quality, but I have yet to hear about someone using the S-Video cable of the EasyCap in a tutorial or gameplay video.
 
On a side note, my current laptop specs are:

Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 (64-bit)
2.53 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Processor
4 GB DDR2 RAM
320 GB, 7200 rpm HDD
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3650 Graphics Card
Max Resolution 1920x1080

I've ordered this EasyCap product from "EasyCap Expertti," whom I believe to also be a member of this site's forums. I should be getting it within a week or so from this post's date.

I believe these specs will allow me to record in very good quality (1080p if applicable) on my laptop, but I'm curious as to how to go about this whole process. Also, I am from the U.S., meaning their shouldn't be AS much potential errors with Pal settings and the like as you might have had. I'm very grateful for your thorough forums and posts and for all the information you've researched and gathered through numerous videos and your own trial-and-error. It has truly reduced search time for me and made understanding a lot easier.

Hopefully you'll be able to comment soon. I value your effort and hard work on this subject.
 
Thanks,
Stephen

[tozol]

mmm OK I'm back. lol

After great success with my 360 capture, that I now use on my gaming website, (www.crankygamersuk.net), sorry for the shameful plug, we have a weekly podcast to..

I'm returning here as now I have a new question...I have just bought a macbook, and yup you guessed it, I'm hoping I can use my easycap60, to use on my macbook.

So really first hurdle question, and one I have been struggling with...I need both help with mac driver, and capture software...any mac users out there had success.

toz

[dave8706]

eagle. i have posted this pic in another thread,  

edit - also you wont be able to capture HD qith the eZcap. the best you can get it by using the S-Video.
you will need a 360 cable with a S-Video out (and has 3 rca, video & audio.)
and a 2rca/phono audio (red/white) cable, with a male jack on other end
conect s-video cable to eZcap. all 3 rca (yellow/red/white) to tv with 2 spliters on audio,
connect the phono cable to the splitters, and jack into Mic input on soundcard.

then in software, select S-video Capture and your soundcard mic for audio,

S-video will give you a low Q HD capture.

[TheSEP42]

I don't really join forums I normally just read them and move on but I have to thank you for you hard work finding out about all this stuff and then writing it all up and posting it on here for us all to read. I have, as you say, learned to research before buying something after having spent a lot of money making leaps of faith trying to buy capture devices to record my Xbox 360 that I think might work and then finding out that they don't. So I thank you for putting and end to all that so that I can finally capture in decent quality and in colour for once.

I eternally thank you, for ever.

seriously.

[fenberry]

Hi fenberry,
 
I hope you have some time in the near future to review this post. I contemplated posting on this thread at an earlier date but decided to e-mail you instead. I know you are busy in testing multiple programs and answering questions all the time, so it's understandable that it might have gone unread. Regardless, I am hoping you can possibly clear some things up in regards to my following questions on this post in regards to laptop usage...
 
1) My biggest inquiry lies with the additional equipment you mentioned in earlier in this thread. You noted that one would need "2 or 3 RCA 1 female to 2 female Y-splitters" and another "RCA cable" in association with the EasyCap hardware itself. How exactly do you go about using the splitters and the extra cable in wiring everything together? I can't see how all the cords all wire together, exactly. If you could provide a "map" (some sort of picture) or description of how the splitters and cords connect together, it'd be greatly appreciated. Maybe a screen shot of your setup could help clear things up (if possible).
 
2) Also in regards to question 1, are there any known issues with just connecting the yellow, white, and red AV cords of a gaming console directly into the EasyCap outlets of the corresponding colors? It seems like it'd be easier to setup. What advantage does using the splitters and extra RCA cable have over connecting directly to the EasyCap outlets?

3) I've noticed that you've said you've encountered problems with the Ulead Video software in recording at times. What recording software do you currently use? Is it free? Do you recommend AMCap at all, or do you think that the Ulead Video software is fine if one can get it to function properly?
 
4) My final concern deals with HD quality playback. If one has the splitters, RCA cable, and everything else linked properly, can you upload a video in HD, or is it only SD? And how does the S-Video cord of the EasyCap play a part in the wiring process? Is it even used? I've heard that using S-Video settings can produce better quality, but I have yet to hear about someone using the S-Video cable of the EasyCap in a tutorial or gameplay video.
 
On a side note, my current laptop specs are:

Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 (64-bit)
2.53 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Processor
4 GB DDR2 RAM
320 GB, 7200 rpm HDD
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3650 Graphics Card
Max Resolution 1920x1080

I've ordered this EasyCap product from "EasyCap Expertti," whom I believe to also be a member of this site's forums. I should be getting it within a week or so from this post's date.

I believe these specs will allow me to record in very good quality (1080p if applicable) on my laptop, but I'm curious as to how to go about this whole process. Also, I am from the U.S., meaning their shouldn't be AS much potential errors with Pal settings and the like as you might have had. I'm very grateful for your thorough forums and posts and for all the information you've researched and gathered through numerous videos and your own trial-and-error. It has truly reduced search time for me and made understanding a lot easier.

Hopefully you'll be able to comment soon. I value your effort and hard work on this subject.
 
Thanks,
Stephen

Hi there Stephen -

I typed out a whole lot of stuff, and sadly, it refreshed it, and poof - gone 

Not to worry

I wish to apologize for the lack of response - I've had many many things going on, however it's been far too long since I posted here - I hope you can forgive me.

***1***

Definitely



Hopefully this will suffice - It's entirely up to you if you want to use 2 or 3 of the female splitters - I can imagine for the thrifty people looking for this product, that only 2 is needed - One for Yellow Video and the other for either Red or White Audio.

However for gaming recording, I tend to use 3, simply for the fact that I can hear both Audio channels at the same time for the TV.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

***2***

You're right, you can certainly put the RCA cables directly from the game console to your Easycap and bypass all the need for the y splitters and extra RCA cables - the only thing is that for a slower computer (which from your specs DOES NOT seem to be the case - that's a very nice beast you have), the frame rate is terrible for playing and recording at the same time using *just* the laptop screen -

When I moved over to my current Vista laptop, with a 2GHz Processor and 1 GB of RAM, it wasn't an issue anymore - I'm actually using the Easycap right now plugged directly in - All in all it's up to you, but in your case those splitters are not needed unless you want to watch your gameplay while playing on a big screen...

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

***3***

 Yes yes - Depends on your operating system

For Xp - I say Windows Movie Maker all the way - good clean interface, nice capture settings and everything works well, even editing is a one stop shop, so it's good if you have XP

For Vista, I say Ulead 10.0 - by far the most robust and useful program for Vista recording -

I've used AMcap for both machines - neither of which seems to work well with - either the sound doesn't record, or the file is 1 minute = 1 GB or so - so I'd steer clear of it -

For editing and overall encoding, I'd strong suggest using something like Vegas (which I haven't used but most people tend to), for XP Windows Movie maker works like a charm, and for Vista Pinnacle Studio 12 Ultimate - I downloaded it (*cough cough* keygen *cough cough*) and it works very very well.

My settings for Ulead are as follows

 



Funny thing with Ulead as well - I had heaps of trouble installing it - it just wouldn't work - and then one day I tried it again, and low and behold it works! - though the capture settings are well hidden away...

File -> Preferences -> Capture

then click "Allow access to Capture device settings"

Allows me to change settings like NTSC J, NTSC U, NTSC 4.33, PAL and SECAM - pissed me off royally until I found out where it was...




++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


***4***

 Ahhhhh HD - an multi-layered answer is needed.

Yes you can record in High Quality, RCA (which is called Composite) goes up to SD quality (and it's actually very very good when you bump up the bitrate - almost 780i level) -

However to get the most bang for your buck, and to go full HD, you'd be looking to invest in an S-video cable for your Console.

Setup for this is almost exactly the same as the picture I put up above using MS Paint, however this is a slight difference.

S-video can play back up to 1080p, but only for the visuals - it comes with Red/White Audio cables as well - so basically it's just plugging the S-video cable from your Console, directly into the S-video plug on the Easycap, and the audio going into Red with Red and White with White -

For Ulead 10, (though I haven't tested it fully), you'd be getting roughly 780p playback which is awesome.

For my Wii, I have Component cables, alas I have yet to figure out how to get them to plug into the Easycap as yet - another afternoon's adventure I'm sure -

For the highest possible I believe you'd need something pricey like a HAVA Platinum, which goes right up to 1080p

http://www.amazon.com/HAVA-Platinum-HD-TV-Device/dp/B000UJE1O2



http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31hWGVwgqwL._SL500_AA280_.jpg

I'm not 100% sure if the Easycap DC60+ can go up that high, but it comes pretty damn close...

I'm sorry again for the delays - it's been a monster few months to get through - changing job, moving house, constant floods of emails from subscribers etc - however thank you from the bottom of my heart for your patience...

Fenberry

[fenberry]

eagle. i have posted this pic in another thread,  

edit - also you wont be able to capture HD qith the eZcap. the best you can get it by using the S-Video.
you will need a 360 cable with a S-Video out (and has 3 rca, video & audio.)
and a 2rca/phono audio (red/white) cable, with a male jack on other end
conect s-video cable to eZcap. all 3 rca (yellow/red/white) to tv with 2 spliters on audio,
connect the phono cable to the splitters, and jack into Mic input on soundcard.

then in software, select S-video Capture and your soundcard mic for audio,

S-video will give you a low Q HD capture.

Very well put - Thanks for ferrying the answer as well - I feel ashamed of not visiting here more often...



Well done sir!

/Salute

[fenberry]

I don't really join forums I normally just read them and move on but I have to thank you for you hard work finding out about all this stuff and then writing it all up and posting it on here for us all to read. I have, as you say, learned to research before buying something after having spent a lot of money making leaps of faith trying to buy capture devices to record my Xbox 360 that I think might work and then finding out that they don't. So I thank you for putting and end to all that so that I can finally capture in decent quality and in colour for once.

I eternally thank you, for ever.

seriously.

My sincerest pleasure -

This is exactly why I wanted to put this up - it took a lot of running around to track down stuff, search on google, and especially organise myself with not 1 but 2 Easycap's, trial and error and testing it all out with eventually a few months of practice -

The last thing I would want is for someone like myself a year ago to have to sort through all the crud out on the interweb and try and come to similar conclusions -

It is an honour to hear that my work has given you reason to register for this forum - thank you ever so much!

Reaching out to people who I may never meet in real life, but being still being able to effect them is a joy and a wonder even for me now - your story is very graciously accepted - and I thank you again for taking the time to read, post and comment on your own personal experiences - My point is proved very clearly thanks to you - that help is indeed always in need.

Kindest Regards and hope your recording goes well

Fenberry

[tozol]

Guys, just to add,

For anyone having problems with software and stuff, all I can say is quite simply if you have win xp, then look no further than its very own "movie maker" software, it is all I use when on the pc, and its done in less than 5 steps.

And if course a bit of minimal editing allowed on there to.

One massive thing though, I could do with some help with though.....

The Mac, I know it has worked with the mac I have footage somewhere, but what amazes and annoys me, is the fact the only thing that got to work was, software called.. " videoglide", for which now just refuses to work since I updated it.

So really if there is anyone out there who can get something new or even video glide to work again on the ma with easycap , please contact me.

toz

[Tumalu]

I get some massive LAG when I use windows movie maker after 20 or 30 seconds or so and it's unplayable on the computer screen. Any idea how I could solve this problem?

[fenberry]

Tozol, you're 100% right

For xp, Windows Movie maker is absolutely essential - I haven't tested ulead on xp yet, however I have recorded many hours of footage on xp using WMM, since it's functional, it's robust and doesn't crash every few mins like Vista Movie maker does, and it's simply the most easy to use.

Hmmm - I'm not sure about Mac's (though I find mac's awesome), I haven't tried to do anything with an Easycap on it...

Have you tried Debut? It's a free software which might be useful - I haven't used it on anything other than xp though -

http://download.cnet.com/Debut-Video-Recording-Software/3000-13633_4-10684791.html


------------------------------------------------------------


Hi, Tumalu

I'd strongly suggest having a look through the image I posted on this page about how to set things up -


http://img696.imageshack.us/img696/8656/fenberrysetup.th.jpg
 

Unless your computer is really powerful, it lag's terribly when you record - the only way to combat this is to set up a y-splitter onto at least the white and yellow RCA cables from your console, and have a second RCA cable running to your TV -

If you're just trying to watch your console on your computer screen, then you may not be able to record - however if you've got a TV close by, you'll have the TV to watch the action perfectly, and your computer will be used to record it

[FTW]

Hello,

Complete noob here....

After much looking around it appears that the DC60+ or the EZCap116 are what i need...i've got a PC and a laptop i'd want to use it on which are running Windows 7 32Bit and Windows 7 64Bit...

The main device i want to use it with would be my Xbox360.

Both machines are powerful so shouldn't be any issues with performance requirements but just wondering if anyone had tested these on Windows 7 and found what software is best to use for this...

I've seen the ClimaxDigital version on Amazon for £18.99 in the UK, is this an official one? Don't want to end up buying a knock off that doesn't support what i want.

Thanks

[liam_abrown]

Hey guys!

I want to capture from my Xbox. I want to play in good quality so I have been researching and people seem to be using composite cable with it switched to standard TV as a pose to HDTV, plugging in the comp cables to the tele and the yellow vid to the EasyCap. I have tried this myself and the video signal does come through both the connections but the picture quality is the same (576i or something). I have heard that it should come through the component cables as 420p/720p ext but mine won't. when I try changing the res it does switch to 420p/720P which ever I pick but once I confirm it then goes back to the standard TV pic. Any ideas how other people have managed to get there's to display in high res and mine won't?!?!?

Thanks

[junnitta]

First of all thanks fenberry for all your efforts making this informative thread and the guys participated in this.
I read all the posts on this topic and searched for one alike question (actualy found it wasn't answered) but couldn't find the answer. The thing is I wanna play my Gamecube only on my Laptop screen (completely independent of TV). And I don't wanna record video the important thing is that I can play.
1- Is this possible with easycap? (I want to buy DC60+ one after I read all this, I don't wanna have NTSC/PAL game problems.)
2- Will I get much lag even though I won't record video?
(Intel Centrino 1.6 GHz, 712 MB DDR, 64 MB Intel on board GPU. Yeah I know my computer specs sucks but I just got this one )
3- Can I get the audio from Laptop speakers and wlll it be enough plugging the red-white audio jacks into EasyCap. I read something about you need to plug audio inputs into Line in in some EasyCap models. I hope the one I'll buy won't be one of those cause I don't have Line in, I only have Mic and speaker outs.

Thanks in advance.

PS: I am considering buying this one (it is said to be DC60++ I don't know whether it is fake or not) Do you think it is good deal?

[bigweeal]

That's a fake and comes with a version of ulead that does not work on vista upwards. It needs to say "ezcap" on the unit.


You would need to get ezcap DC60+ as it will come with ulead 10.0. This program lets you watch what you want to capture in full screen mode so it will be ideal for playing games. Don't get the ezcap116 as it comes with arcsoft software that does not give you a full screen option.


Sorry to say, but I think you might be struggling to get the real one working with your spec.

On the manufacturers site it states:
System Requirements:
           • P4 1.7GHz CPU or above