[collapse="How to youtube like a king"]
[collapse="deinterlace mp4"]
I've noticed that there are a lot of Smash videos out there with
blurry quality. Just pause the video and look at the still frame and what you'll see isn't so clear. Also, take note of how clean the timer looks on blurry footage. This is mainly caused by improperly deinterlaced footage or footage that wasn't deinterlaced at all. Windows Movie Maker can deinterlace your footage, but it blends frames together which doesn't look good. Now compare the two following videos.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiztB2plM7o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZH1WH7jN-g
The first one doesn't have de-interlacing and the second one does. Just pause it and look at everything, especially the timer. If you want this smoother quality, follow the steps below.
1. First of all, you'll need a capture device that can record in .mp4 format. If the device you have with the software you currently have can't record in .mp4 format, you may be out of luck. Skip to the second guide. It contains steps on how to use the ArcSoft Capture Model which may improve your video quality or allow you to record in .mp4 format. I honestly don't know if these claims are true, but I'd like to hear responses from anyone on this.
2. download the ArcSoft TotalMedia Extreme from the following download link, and then install it.
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=F9D8MW6E
3. Record any footage in .mp4 format.
4. Open up ArcSoft TotalMedia Extreme
5. Go to Utilities and click on the ArcSoft MediaConverter
6. You will now see the following window
7. Make sure in the upper left corner, you set Manufacturer to Microsoft and the Device Model to XBOX 360. You could also set manufacturer to Sony and device model to PS3. However, if you try to separate that deinterlaced footage in Windows Movie Maker, you will get a bit of a letter box like in the following video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vO50jM0Qw1Y
Although, I think the quality's better with Sony PS3 than Microsoft XBOX 360. Use your own judgement on what's best.
8. Then add your files, set the local directory for where you want your deinterlaced footage, and hit start. That's it! Wait until everything's done rendering and enjoy your new quality. I use Windows 7 Movie Maker to separate all my recorded footage because it's one of the fastest and easiest programs for it. However, don't use the Windows XP Moive Maker. It's terrible quality.
Or you can just render/split your videos in Windows Movie Maker. It now de-interlaces videos automatically during rendering.
http://explore.live.com/windows-live-movie-maker?os=other
[collapse="Deinterlace Quality Comparisons"]
Comparison of deinterlacing quality
(I maximized them so it'd be easier to see the differences)
ArcSoft Media Converter (Sony PlayStation 3)
ArcSoft Media Converter (MicroSoft XBOX 360)
Windows Live Movie Maker
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[collapse="Recording With ArcSoft Capture Module"]
Recording with ArcSoft's Capture Module
1. When TotalMedia Extreme is installed, open it up and go to record video and select record video.
2. You will then see a blank capture module if your capture device isn't plugged in or turn on.
3. When you device is connected and powered on, hit refresh, then click Format settings and set the bit rate to the highest your computer can work with or set it to whatever you think is the best balance between low file size and quality. I prefer 10.
However, this guide is currently written for the Hauppauge recording device. Different devices will allow you different recording settings.
4. Where it says Video input, select S-Video. S-Video will look less blurry than recording from composite cables. Compare the two. (S-Video cable needed of course)
(The screenshot was from a GameCube with GameStop S-Video cables, so the picture isn't as good as it normally would be)
5. Click XBOX 360 to record in .mp4 format, select a destination folder to record to, and start recording!
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[collapse="Recording with Adobe Flash Media Encoder"][This guide needs a few updates. Will update later...]
If ArcSoft Capture Module can't recognize your device (it can't recognize most), try Adobe Flash Media Encoder. It can bring you just as good quality, but there is a cost to it. When you record in .f4v, you'll get perfect quality, but almost no programs seem to be able to use .f4v files. Or you could record in .flv, but you're going to take a hit in quality. Many programs can use .flv easily, but they can't be deinterlace well. The best you can do to get rid of interlacing is to blend fields. When chosing .f4v and .flv, you going to have to make a choice between quality and usability
http://www.adobe.com/products/flashmediaserver/flashmediaencoder/
For the best quality for .f4v and .flv, simply copy the settings below
General Settings
.f4v advanced settings
.flv advanced settings
If you record in flv, you might want to check the deinterlace option at the bottom. It will blend fields together, which isn't the best option, but flv can't be legitly deinterlaced like other files
deinterlaced flv
interlaced flv
recording to f4v
Even though Adobe Flash Media Player can't open it, it will still upload to youtube in really good quality.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3GCRKDFalE
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[collapse="Deinterlace AVI"]
Quick Add On
How to Deinterlace AVI Videos FAST and EASY!
(Proper post formatting wil be taken care of later)
When you've recorded a video in avi with interlaced footage, follow the steps below to deinterlace it for better quality
1. First of all, open up your AVI video in VirtualDub (Download Link Latter...)
2. Go to the video tab and select filter
[no image (yet)]
3. You will then see the following window pop up
4. click Add to see the following window
5. Select Bob Doubler and then hit OK
6. The following window will appear. Leave the default settings as they are and hit OK
7. Render out the file in your own preferred settings and enjoy your new quality.
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[collapse="How To Record Like A King (Work In Progress)"]
This first step to being able to record well is you're first of all going to need all the right tools. One of them to point out when aiming for quality is the need for a Wii s-video cable. Compare the picture qualities
Yellow composite
s-video test
Some people claim that there's a very slight amount of lag when splitting the yellow cable signal, so by recording from s-video, you'll be preventing that lag. The jump in quality is barely noticeable, but look at the pink edges on the stage to notice the improvement
When you have your decive ready for capturing, go to device settings and format settings on your capture module and copy the settings show below
If you want to upload tournament videos to youtube, I strongly recommend recording individual sets to individual files then uploading those files straight to youtube. The less a file is modified, the less its quality may get weakened. Also, everyone on youtube now has unlimited video length permission so you can upload anything, even if it lasts an hour. If you're going to record and upload straight to youtube, record in .M2TS. It's better than .mp4 but fewer programs support it
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[collapse="Recording commentary"]
To record commentary you're of course going to need a microphone to connect to your pc. You'll also need a mini headphone jack to RCA adapter and program to record and instantly playback recording (Audacity). (note: this method will make game audio record for the right speaker and commentary for the left)
How to connect everything
plug the mic into the mic jack
plug the mini headphone jack to RCA in the headphone output jack on your pc
connect one of the RCA ends of the mini to RCA cable in the red audio input on your recording device.
(to record all of the sounds in the game, set the game audio to mono)
When you have the cables you need, you'll then need to download audiacity
If you want anyone to commentate without having the microphone next to their mouth all the time, go to Windows control panel and set sensitivity to highest. Someone can stand up to 4 or 5 feet away from the mic and be able to commentate (you'll also need to set you volume to 100%)
When you have audacity running, go to edit and then preferences and copy these options
When you're using the ArcSoft Capture Module, be sure to disable preview to prevent a terrible echo from happening. And speaking of echo, Audacity doesn't playback immediatly, so there will be like a 10 frame delay of an echo
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