Video Capture devices for Wii and Mac?

[Snowman9189]

Hey, just throwing this out there, Im very good at video production and would very much like to make my own Brawl Combo vids, but Im wondering what people use for capturing their replays from their Wii and what ones are compatible with a Mac and iMovie 09?
I heard Elgato Video Capture is good, but i dont know if it captures Wii footage. Any suggestions people?

 

[ajp_anton]

If it captures anything at all, it will also capture everything else.
*Googles*
It has both composite and S-video inputs, so yes, it will work.

 

[Snowman9189]

Cool, thanks man, preciate it. Now any idea where I can get one perhaps?

 

[thegreatkazoo]

Cool, thanks man, preciate it. Now any idea where I can get one perhaps?

Elegato has support for the HD PVR, so you can check that out on the Smash in HD thread here.

http://www.hauppauge.com/site/products/data_hdpvr.html

Aside from that, support for Macs (other than a Dazzle :&) and recording are few and far between.

I would recommend you spend the extra dollars.

However, if money is tight, you can get the aforementioned on the OP for around $75: http://www.google.com/products/cata...log_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CDEQ8wIwAg

 

[ajp_anton]

Why would you want to pay for HD when smash isn't in HD?

$75 if money is tight? Haven't I mentioned the my capture card (used for this) costs $50?

 

[thegreatkazoo]

Why would you want to pay for HD when smash isn't in HD?

$75 if money is tight? Haven't I mentioned the my capture card (used for this) costs $50?

It's called upscaling homes, the same thing you use in the link that you sent. Only this does it better. =P

As well, the age of component jacks will soon enough come to an end, and composite jacks will soon replace them (the audio ones will probably stay, though.)

Also, if you have any other next gen systems, you can record your videos in HD in an instant.

Worth every penny.

 

[ajp_anton]

I don't see how that will upscale better than I do, unless it uses some new algorithm only they know about.

I see the point in preparing for the future though (I assume you mixed up component and composite), but it won't help for any present version of smash.

 

[thegreatkazoo]

I don't see how that will upscale better than I do, unless it uses some new algorithm only they know about.

I see the point in preparing for the future though (I assume you mixed up component and composite), but it won't help for any present version of smash.

I use Sony Vegas for editing and such, so I assume that my upscaling is in good hands. =D

I transposed the two there, so that's a good catch. I just don't want people thinking on the Dazzle train 100% of the time. I used to have one, and I can say that they are very overrated.

That said, his alternative is a good, cheap option for Mac, which doesn't exist very much on that OS. It could be worse--he could be a Linux person.

 

[ajp_anton]

After a quick Google search, I found that the resizing algorithms used in Vegas are bicubic or bilinear when the quality is set to "best" or "good". Those two are pretty much at the bottom of the food chain.
Congratulations =)

edit:
Well, bicubic isn't actually that bad. It's just that there are better ones.

 

[Snowman9189]

Uh, thanks guys, for that.. interesting exchange. I dont need HD SMash Video if it isnt in HD in the first place, but thanks for thinking of me lol. I suppose Ill have to get on to buying that...

 

[thegreatkazoo]

After a quick Google search, I found that the resizing algorithms used in Vegas are bicubic or bilinear when the quality is set to "best" or "good". Those two are pretty much at the bottom of the food chain.
Congratulations =)

edit:
Well, bicubic isn't actually that bad. It's just that there are better ones.

Link please?

Not to sound short, but unless you're using something one better, this would be relevant because? :S

Then again, you could be using Final Cut. So, feel free to enlighten me as needed.

Yes, Smash doesn't go in native HD because it doesn't output any higher than 480p.

Snowman, here's a link: http://www.google.com/products/cata...log_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CCsQ8wIwAg

 

[ajp_anton]

Sony support, search for "334" (Render quality).

"Best" uses bicubic scaling with integration, while "Good" uses bilinear without integration.

The "top tiers" are lanczos, spline, blackman, gauss. There may be more but these are the ones I'm somewhat familiar with.
Of course it comes down to what you're using the clip for and what pleases your eyes the most, but most of the time you want a sharp image (bilinear fails) with minimal ringing (bicubic fails when going for a sharp image). Especially when upscaling and going for a "HD-look", you want one of those "better" ones.
I used spline36 in my clips.

 

[thegreatkazoo]

Sony support, search for "334" (Render quality).


The "top tiers" are lanczos, spline, blackman, gauss. There may be more but these are the ones I'm somewhat familiar with.
Of course it comes down to what you're using the clip for and what pleases your eyes the most, but most of the time you want a sharp image (bilinear fails) with minimal ringing (bicubic fails when going for a sharp image). Especially when upscaling and going for a "HD-look", you want one of those "better" ones.
I used spline36 in my clips.

Need a program here...

 

[ajp_anton]

Oh... Avisynth

 

[Snowman9189]

Thanks for the link greatkazoo, see yuh round.

 

[Omni]

Is there a way to record your own voice/commentary while using the Elgato?

 

[thegreatkazoo]

Is there a way to record your own voice/commentary while using the Elgato?

The software supplied doesn't seem to have any built in mic capabilities (as far as the website goes anyways), but what you can do is use the mic supplied in some Macs (or use your own) and use Audacity to record the commentary. Drag and drop the audio onto the supplied software (or again, use your own), and you should be good to go.

 

[Omni]

So you mean like... run Elgato (recording vid) and Audacity (recording sound) and put the two together? That's ingenius!

What program should I use to put those two together?

 

[thegreatkazoo]

So you mean like... run Elgato (recording vid) and Audacity (recording sound) and put the two together? That's ingenius!

What program should I use to put those two together?

Contrary to the OP, I will post this on this thread as opposed to a VM reply for posterity's sake.

Info coming soon, hang tight.

Well, you have a few options. iLife should have some basic options which lets you drop the audio track. Final Cut Express is another good one, but Final Cut Pro is for the most discerning editior. iMovie should work as well. Media100 is one of those which would make your eyes pop out.

My recommendations? Go with either iMovie or Final Cut Express for easy editing and intuitive controls.

Chances are, you may even have a computer lab with this software installed. I know @ my time @ Gay Tek we had a whole multimedia studio for just this.

Hope this helps.

 

[Vlade]

Even windows media player would be able to do it, but there are better programs out there for audio syncing and video editing in general.