Recording Hardware Advice Needed

[UCDGhost]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking to start recording gameplay whenever friends and I have a Project M session. However, I don't have much knowledge on which recording hardware would be best for me. This is where I need your help.

I currently have:
Typical Project M Wii setup
CRT TV w/ a monitor output jack built in
Standard Yellow/White/Red (Video/audio) extension cables
MacBook Air 13' (2014 model)

Basically, I have everything except for a recording device that would send the signal from the tv to the laptop.

Here are the recording hardware pieces I've seen, but I'd like to know what you all recommend.

Diamond Multimedia
Dazzle for Mac
EZCAP, as recommended by this Q/A forum (It also talks about AmaRecTV, which I know little about)

HOWEVER, OTHER OPTIONS ARE GLADLY ACCEPTED. I'm looking for a cheaper device, so the Dazzle is pricey for me, but it's what I found.

So please make any recommendations based of these options, or any prior knowledge you may have!

Also, any tips on the recording process in general would be great! Thank you!

 

[NeumaticSalmon]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking to start recording gameplay whenever friends and I have a Project M session. However, I don't have much knowledge on which recording hardware would be best for me. This is where I need your help.

I currently have:
Typical Project M Wii setup
CRT TV w/ a monitor output jack built in
Standard Yellow/White/Red (Video/audio) extension cables
MacBook Air 13' (2014 model)

Basically, I have everything except for a recording device that would send the signal from the tv to the laptop.

Here are the recording hardware pieces I've seen, but I'd like to know what you all recommend.

Diamond Multimedia
Dazzle for Mac
EZCAP, as recommended by this Q/A forum (It also talks about AmaRecTV, which I know little about)

HOWEVER, OTHER OPTIONS ARE GLADLY ACCEPTED. I'm looking for a cheaper device, so the Dazzle is pricey for me, but it's what I found.

So please make any recommendations based of these options, or any prior knowledge you may have!

Also, any tips on the recording process in general would be great! Thank you!

From my experience the dazzle is the best place to start when beginning to record things, as it is very simple and easy to use. But if you want to still play the game on the tv while capturing you need splitters for the yellow/white/red cables. playing through the preview on the computer screen is very hard especially for a game like smash, because of the delay, so splitters are basically mandatory. you can find some good cheap splitters here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0007LCKJQ?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00
you have to put the splitter into the yellow hole of the dazzle, put the wii yellow cord in one end, and another yellow cord that goes into the tv. you can find one of those here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00

basically all that's left after that is to record. If you're computer is not powerful enough the capture might stutter slightly, so make sure to close any windows that might be taxing you're computer i.e. an internet browser. If you have any more questions, please go ahead and ask away.

 

[UCDGhost]

From my experience the dazzle is the best place to start when beginning to record things, as it is very simple and easy to use. But if you want to still play the game on the tv while capturing you need splitters for the yellow/white/red cables. playing through the preview on the computer screen is very hard especially for a game like smash, because of the delay, so splitters are basically mandatory. you can find some good cheap splitters here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0007LCKJQ?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00
you have to put the splitter into the yellow hole of the dazzle, put the wii yellow cord in one end, and another yellow cord that goes into the tv. you can find one of those here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00

basically all that's left after that is to record. If you're computer is not powerful enough the capture might stutter slightly, so make sure to close any windows that might be taxing you're computer i.e. an internet browser. If you have any more questions, please go ahead and ask away.

Regarding the splitters, lucky for me the CRT TV I use actually has a monitor output, so all I would need to do is plug my wii into the input, then plug my extension cables to the monitor output already built into my TV.

The Dazzle for Mac is pretty expensive, however, if its the best one I'll probably strongly consider it. Are there any cheaper work around that may work nearly as well as the dazzle, or is the dazzle my safest bet?

 

[NeumaticSalmon]

Regarding the splitters, lucky for me the CRT TV I use actually has a monitor output, so all I would need to do is plug my wii into the input, then plug my extension cables to the monitor output already built into my TV.

The Dazzle for Mac is pretty expensive, however, if its the best one I'll probably strongly consider it. Are there any cheaper work around that may work nearly as well as the dazzle, or is the dazzle my safest bet?

Dazzle is probably your best bet, though from what i've seen diamond multimedia could give similar results. also s-video cables give you better quality, but i don't have any experience with that. i'm pretty sure there's another thread around here that talks about recording stuff, so maybe that would be helpful.

 

[UCDGhost]

Dazzle is probably your best bet, though from what i've seen diamond multimedia could give similar results. also s-video cables give you better quality, but i don't have any experience with that. i'm pretty sure there's another thread around here that talks about recording stuff, so maybe that would be helpful.

Alright, thank you for your advice. I'll go looking for other recording threads as well!