Guide How To Easily Livestream And Record Videos In Optimal Quality, 60 Frames/Second

[EPsilon933]

I finally made the video guide version for the streaming part too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaQiGtNqikA&feature=youtu.be

Can anyone recommend me a better easy program? Something that uses legit deinterlacing rather than field blending? It would be better for the community

 

[-Philip Coast Philip-]

Good first vid (psuedo hd). I noticed in your post from a year ago said you preferred Xvid because x264(vfw) was too confusing to setup to get the right settings. I forget when it was made a bit easier, but now you can just select an option and pick a quality number to get it to be great. Here is a sample of settings I've used before: Preset: fast; Rate control: CRF: ratefactor 19 (or 18, less is higher). Check VDub hack box and you're good to go. Xvid works fine though.

Second vid (streaming): Yeah, OBS (like others mentioned).

 

[Kadano]

Can anyone recommend me a better easy program? Something that uses legit deinterlacing rather than field blending? It would be better for the community

OBS has Yadif2x support. (Most efficient double framerate deinterlacer)

I long moved past needing to deinterlace when I bought the StarTech PEXHDCAP and Gamecube VGA cables. If you have the PCIe slot and money for it as well as space for CRT monitors, I definitely recommend going that route. Sub-µs lag, 480p60 for both playing and recording, excellent color reproduction on the player monitor, easy multi-monitor play with active VGA splitters (which do not lag) … I’d never go back. Especially not to composite.

 

[SpiderMad]

composite is evil

 

[EPsilon933]

Good first vid (psuedo hd). I noticed in your post from a year ago said you preferred Xvid because x264(vfw) was too confusing to setup to get the right settings. I forget when it was made a bit easier, but now you can just select an option and pick a quality number to get it to be great. Here is a sample of settings I've used before: Preset: fast; Rate control: CRF: ratefactor 19 (or 18, less is higher). Check VDub hack box and you're good to go. Xvid works fine though.

Second vid (streaming): Yeah, OBS (like others mentioned).

I tried using x264 again and got it better this time. But then the filesize for best quality ended up being like 7x the size xvid's best quality gave me. That's too much for me

I'll do some testing with OBS sometime and update my easy to learn guide for it sometime later

 

[-Philip Coast Philip-]

I tried using x264 again and got it better this time. But then the filesize for best quality ended up being like 7x the size xvid's best quality gave me. That's too much for me

I'll do some testing with OBS sometime and update my easy to learn guide for it sometime later

"Best" quality? Did you put the slider to "1"?
Well... alright. If you're content, then keep doing that. If you want to learn more about what I attempt to use (what consistently appears to be rated the best encoding algorithm out there at the moment), then read on.

If you're going to encode max settings then it doesn't really matter which codec you pick, but I can understand high quality concerns. If you're going to encode to what is subjectively optimal (i.e. only the quality you need, you can see, that references your source properly and is reproducible by YouTube), then x264 will consistently give you a smaller file size and better quality (at the cost of processing power to decode the video, but most computers have no problem with this nowadays - x264 is just the best algorithm out there for its tier [an additional tier or two was announced this last year, still in development]). The video is going to be converted to either H.264 or VP9 anyway, so it's not like your original file will be entirely preserved of course.

First, this 2012 report places Xvid 6th place below x264's 1st place, showing Xvid to give about twice the filesize of x264 for the same quality level.

http://compression.ru/video/codec_comparison/h264_2012/

Second, here's an archived 2011 report detailing the difference between the then-x264 codec and VP8 (used in non-DASH YouTube videos now), showing that x264 was superior under various bitrates. (I could probably find a new one but I haven't searched, I'm sure the comparisons would be similar.)

http://web.archive.org/web/20110719...research/evalvid/EvalVid/vp8_versus_x264.html

For x264 settings themselves, though, the speed only needs to be fast or faster, and CRF is fine at 19.0, if you're recording matches they should be in the 50-70mB range or something, I forget exactly.

I have a bit of an older article (2011) but it compares settings for encoding 720/1080 video with various x264 settings (starts on page 20, 1080 video on page 22), to show the difference (then) between the relative presets and why "faster" is virtually the same as compared to "veryslow."

http://www.behardware.com/articles/...-cuda-amd-stream-intel-mediasdk-and-x264.html

The article was originally comparing different built-in encoding settings for graphics cards, but it tests various x264 settings as well (x264 was the clear victor, of course). First, notice on the graph below how there's not much quality difference between "veryslow" and "faster" (but there's a drop between fast and veryfast). This same phenomenon occurs for 2-pass encoding, veryslow being near the same as faster, but there being a drop between faster and veryfast. I'm sure things have been reworked since then with the newer builds, but all-in-all x264 does an excellent job with faster presets. (The graph displays an objective video quality metric over time for a rendered scene per each encoding setting).

But yeah if Xvid works for you...

 

[SpiderMad]

For Youtube best quality though, wouldn't the best be somehow converting straight to their recommended format?
The non-youtube file matters zero right now for everyone uploading to Youtube

 

[-Philip Coast Philip-]

For Youtube best quality though, wouldn't the best be somehow converting straight to their recommended format?
The non-youtube file matters zero right now for everyone uploading to Youtube

Sigh, you've cut to the heart of my post, bypassing my x264 proselytization. I guess I didn't realize it but my point is merely saying "200-300 less mB per match is not a bad thing." I guess I should apologize lol

If filesize doesn't matter and upload time doesn't matter will encoding to a different format than YouTube's preferred result in an additional loss of quality? The answer is maybe, but I kind of doubt it: I don't really know if there's quality loss or how much there would be when transcoding between the different encoding standards. Xvid only compresses to MPEG-4 Part 2 standards (which is what the older DivX codec compresses to), while the newer DivX codec adheres to MPEG-4 AVC standards ("H.264"), which is what YouTube uses. So, maybe any codec that already compresses to those standards will eliminate some quality loss: MainConcept/DivX Plus HD, QuickTime, x264 (or if you're watching with HTML5: VP8, VP9). But I really have no clue.

The only thing I can think of is desnyching issues, maybe.

edit: but EPsilon doesn't have those, at least not for 360 and 720/1080 settings (mp4, and I didn't notice any with WebM either), so it's good.

 

[Kadano]

For x264 settings themselves, though, the speed only needs to be fast or faster, and CRF is fine at 19.0, if you're recording matches they should be in the 50-70mB range or something, I forget exactly.

Yeah, I think CRF 19 is the highest quality setting (for readers who don’t know much about x264: the lower the CRF value, the higher the bitrate and quality) justifiable for Youtube uploads. I uploaded something in x264 lossless once to see how it would look, and while it did look worse than playing the file from my PC, I could not see any difference between the lossless Youtube upload and a CRF 20 upload of the same video.

I use CRF 20 for all of my videos and nobody has complained about the video quality so far.

 

[SpiderMad]

I use this

but then its not recognized in Adobe Premiere and I have to use Format Factory to convert it into an .mp4, which makes it loses quality. Wondering what I should do Instead that would work with Premiere.

My audio also gets desynced a lot, but not when I use OBS for some reason.

Also use this http://i.imgur.com/RnGHhg6.png

I also tried using Logarith long ago but it gave me super screwed up looking error video

I would use OBS out of ease, but even on what I thought was the best offline recording settings for it: it doesn't come close to when I'm done with everything using Virtualdub. I might use it until I do figure out how to get things better with Vdub. Gotta find the best offline recording settings for OBS to see what I can get.

@ Kadano @ EPsilon933 @ -Philip Coast Philip- Tell me if I'm optimized

 

[Kadano]

If you want to use VirtualDub: record in uncompressed (requires lots of HDD space obviously) or Lagarith. Re-encode an Avisynth script (QTGMC for 30p/60p) with MeGUI (h264 and CRF~20).

For OBS, you can improve the quality by adjusting the encoding quality balance and setting, changing the preset from veryfast to fast or medium and using custom x264 encoding values (for example "crf=18").

 

[SpiderMad]

If you want to use VirtualDub: record in uncompressed (requires lots of HDD space obviously) or Lagarith. Re-encode an Avisynth script (QTGMC for 30p/60p) with MeGUI (h264 and CRF~20).

For OBS, you can improve the quality by adjusting the encoding quality balance and setting, changing the preset from veryfast to fast or medium and using custom x264 encoding values (for example "crf=18").

I'm gonna try Lagarith again to see if it can work right sometime. Right now though I just recorded a bunch of Smash combos (via replays in PM) uncompressed in Vdub, and wonder if you could give a rundown on what I need to do to install and use MeGUI with your recommended settings.

I'd almost be fine with mine now but like I said, using the x264 gives me a file that still has an .avi extension even though it plays fine and all: but Premiere (even when I switch the extension manually to be .mp4) does not recognize it.

Later tonight or so I'm gonna try installing both the 32 bit and 64 bit version of x264, and see if Premiere then recognizes the files. If not, I might install Vegas and try using that for once.

 

[-Philip Coast Philip-]

I use this

but then its not recognized in Adobe Premiere and I have to use Format Factory to convert it into an .mp4, which makes it loses quality. Wondering what I should do Instead that would work with Premiere.

My audio also gets desynced a lot, but not when I use OBS for some reason.

Also use this http://i.imgur.com/RnGHhg6.png

I also tried using Logarith long ago but it gave me super screwed up looking error video

I would use OBS out of ease, but even on what I thought was the best offline recording settings for it: it doesn't come close to when I'm done with everything using Virtualdub. I might use it until I do figure out how to get things better with Vdub. Gotta find the best offline recording settings for OBS to see what I can get.

@ Kadano @ EPsilon933 @ -Philip Coast Philip- Tell me if I'm optimized

For settings:
Ok so it sounds like you're going for offline recording settings?

You can change your preset to "fast" or "faster" and you won't see a quality difference, but you'll see a time difference. I think I use "fast".

Unless you're going for a specific file size, using the CRF algorithm set to like 19-ish should give you a more optimized file size, and will give you excellent quality.

For your other problems:
-Synching. This may be because of the ABR setting you have, or it may be because you're recording really long files. It also may depend on the version of VirtualDub you're using, check the preferences for "synch audio to video" just to be safe.

-Lagarith. I believe Lagarith installs itself as a DirectShow filter for Windows, meaning that Windows Media Player will be able to play Lagarith files just fine but something like VLC will have a hard time with it, since VLC by default uses its own codec library instead of Windows'. This means that programs like Premiere should be able to open these files.

-x264 - However, Premiere should not be able to open files you encode with x264 (normally), since x264 presents itself as a VirtualDub plugin/codec hack (technically a hack of the old VideoforWindows filters (codecs) that was eventually succeeded by DirectShow). and so it's not an "installed" codec in Windows.

To work with Premiere, what I'd do is encode as Lagarith, and view your files using VirtualDub or Windows Media Player, edit those with Premiere and then finally encode as "mp4."

 

[SpiderMad]

Yes offline recording, that'll be going to either Youtube directly or Premiere

I found out using the uncompressed .avi works in Premiere well, when originally on my slower PC it was a nightmare. It seems to already do the deinterlace for me even in the preview window.
I can't decide whether to make my clips (the video) widescreen though.
Here's a comparison: which looks better?
Widescreen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7JsFY-5kow
Non-stretched: http://youtu.be/nMQUJBUZBWg

The bad thing about working with .avis is that once I'm done with say the combo video, If I needed to re-edit it a month later I'd have deleted the .avis by then. So if I start using Laragith and use that in Premiere I made save some space and keep them for longer.

I wonder if you delete the .avis but make compressed back-ups of them, then try to load the same Premiere project but with the original videos deleted: would the compressed videos be able to puzzle piece into where the old video was or it would just be confused.

 

[-Philip Coast Philip-]

If you want to use VirtualDub: record in uncompressed (requires lots of HDD space obviously) or Lagarith. Re-encode an Avisynth script (QTGMC for 30p/60p) with MeGUI (h264 and CRF~20).

For OBS, you can improve the quality by adjusting the encoding quality balance and setting, changing the preset from veryfast to fast or medium and using custom x264 encoding values (for example "crf=18").

These are basically what he's doing already though, right? The Avisynth is just doing the deinterlacing and it's using h264 CRF=20, here, VirtualDub has a deinterlace option and uses x264 CRF=about 20 too (18 like you said or 19 like I said).

. . .

I'd almost be fine with mine now but like I said, using the x264 gives me a file that still has an .avi extension even though it plays fine and all: but Premiere (even when I switch the extension manually to be .mp4) does not recognize it.

Later tonight or so I'm gonna try installing both the 32 bit and 64 bit version of x264, and see if Premiere then recognizes the files. If not, I might install Vegas and try using that for once.

The reason you're getting an .avi file is because that's what VirtualDub works with and so it suggests a .avi extension by default - the file itself, however, is actually an .mp4 when you use x264. And the reason Premiere isn't opening it is because of the reason stated above.

Oh and, the picture you posted (http://i.imgur.com/RnGHhg6.png) - yeah, the order in which you have those two is important (deinterlace then resize). I see you're deinterlacing into 30 fps (standard, although I think Kadano prefers 60 fps ). I forget what I left off with from my quality tests but precise bicubic .75 is good, technically Lanczos3 is the best pick there (it's quality is basically the same as bicubic 1.00) but they're all about the same.

Yes offline recording, that'll be going to either Youtube directly or Premiere

I found out using the uncompressed .avi works in Premiere well, when originally on my slower PC it was a nightmare. It seems to already do the deinterlace for me even in the preview window.
I can't decide whether to make my clips (the video) widescreen though.
Here's a comparison: which looks better?
Widescreen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7JsFY-5kow
Non-stretched: http://youtu.be/nMQUJBUZBWg

The bad thing about working with .avis is that once I'm done with say the combo video, If I needed to re-edit it a month later I'd have deleted the .avis by then. So if I start using Laragith and use that in Premiere I made save some space and keep them for longer.

I wonder if you delete the .avis but make compressed back-ups of them, then try to load the same Premiere project but with the original videos deleted: would the compressed videos be able to puzzle piece into where the old video was or it would just be confused.

I would prefer deinterlacing with VirtualDub. I'll check the comparison in a bit.

Correct. Generally in 'NLE's (Vegas, Premiere) the clips you have in the timeline act as placeholders for the file itself; so you can tell the program to reload that clip, but make sure the clips are identical in length otherwise things will get messed up.

 

[SpiderMad]

So have the deinterlace appear above the resize like I do for optimal results?

Should my Vdub come with Lanczos3, how much longer does it take to render with it?

What de-interlace should I use when using OBS?

Premiere's de-interlace looks fine, and I often re-render the clips with Premiere for combo videos. I wonder if I'm using the best settings for Premiere rendering itself, I use the Youtube 720HD Preset.

Widescreen vs Non-widescreen?

 

[-Philip Coast Philip-]

I can't decide whether to make my clips (the video) widescreen though.
Here's a comparison: which looks better?
Widescreen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7JsFY-5kow
Non-stretched: http://youtu.be/nMQUJBUZBWg

So it really comes down to personal preference here. Personally I prefer to keep the original 4:3 aspect ratio, and ideally I would add additional information to the side like who the featured player is or just an identifying art or something like a streamed video might have - but that's beside the point, I like 4:3 because that's how I remember the game because that's what I play it in.

Also, those clips are pretty badass, who/what is that lol? Like dang that Ike.

So have the deinterlace appear above the resize like I do for optimal results?

Should my Vdub come with Lanczos3, how much longer does it take to render with it?

What de-interlace should I use when using OBS?

Premiere's de-interlace looks fine, and I often re-render the clips with Premiere for combo videos. I wonder if I'm using the best settings for Premiere rendering itself, I use the Youtube 720HD Preset.

Yeah, if you resize and then deinterlace - you can try it, the quality takes a hit I think - the filters are applied in the order you list them.

Vdub comes with Lanczos3, it's in the drop-down menu when selecting precise bicubic .75.

I'd have to download OBS again to find out (I have older version) but don't select "blend" look for "edge" or "smart".

The Youtube 720HD preset should be fine, send me a screenshot of the details if you want more information about it.

 

[SpiderMad]

My ike, got more here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJdaOMcepwo

Here's my export settings, I used motion controls > width ratio to stretch everything to fill up the screen and now ima render to see if it looks better.
http://i.imgur.com/CFtYyMA.png

Non-widescreen http://youtu.be/nMQUJBUZBWg
Widescreen Rendered: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1J176yjTN8&feature=youtu.be
which look better

 

[-Philip Coast Philip-]

My ike, got more here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJdaOMcepwo

Here's my export settings, I used motion controls > width ratio to stretch everything to fill up the screen and now ima render to see if it looks better.
http://i.imgur.com/CFtYyMA.png

Non-widescreen http://youtu.be/nMQUJBUZBWg
Widescreen Rendered: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1J176yjTN8&feature=youtu.be
which look better

Those are good settings.
I stopped watching the widescreen one before I stopped watching the 4:3 one.

I think people that stretch 4:3 to widescreen are noobs. But get another opinion.

Makes me want to play Ike lol

 

[SpiderMad]

Those are good settings.
I stopped watching the widescreen one before I stopped watching the 4:3 one.

I think people that stretch 4:3 to widescreen are noobs. But get another opinion.

Makes me want to play Ike lol

Is this any better, not being stretched all the way to have still a bit of black lines?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NA2qyu8xWP8

 

[SpiderMad]

I just realized AriqueNuubs used Widescreen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYgopUL8kk8

 

[Luddoj]

Is there no way to use an Elgato Game Capture HD with this? I've been trying to record 60fps Melee footage with the default Elgato Game Capture HD Software but, even though the program tells me the output is also in 60fps, the final video is only 30fps and I don't know what to do. I'm not very worried about streaming, I would prefer to record footage locally to export it to YouTube later.

Also, if you are already searching for an easy setup or options for OBS, that's great. I've just downloaded the program and tested it yesterday, and it has great potential.

 

[EPsilon933]

Is there no way to use an Elgato Game Capture HD with this? I've been trying to record 60fps Melee footage with the default Elgato Game Capture HD Software but, even though the program tells me the output is also in 60fps, the final video is only 30fps and I don't know what to do. I'm not very worried about streaming, I would prefer to record footage locally to export it to YouTube later.

Also, if you are already searching for an easy setup or options for OBS, that's great. I've just downloaded the program and tested it yesterday, and it has great potential.

I happen to have the same capture card. I could probably do some testing sometime

I think what's happening is that it's saving 2 fields per frame, making it 30 fps. you're familiar with how interlaced signals work, right? Perhaps if you convert the video to an avi file and deinterlace it in VirtualDub, you could make it 60 fps

 

[Luddoj]

I happen to have the same capture card. I could probably do some testing sometime

I think what's happening is that it's saving 2 fields per frame, making it 30 fps. you're familiar with how interlaced signals work, right? Perhaps if you convert the video to an avi file and deinterlace it in VirtualDub, you could make it 60 fps

So I found out that I had the "Overscan" option deactivated, and that was causing the 60 fps video to become 30 fps. At least I now know that my Elgato and its software works fine.

Still, I would really like to try using Elgato Game Capture HD with your VirtualDub setup. So if you finda way to make that work I would really appreciate the information. I was amazed by your tutorials and I really enjoyed them. Awesome work.

Finally, I have some questions. I have seen your gameplay videos and your recent 60 FPS videos. They look slick and I would like to acquire that kind of quality too. So, do you record your Melee Gameplay using S-Video Cable for Wii + S-Video Splitter + Generic S-Video Cable for your CRT TV? Do you use Component Cables? Does your VirtualDub tutorial works if I use a capture card capable of using component cables? or is it just reserved for Composite and S-Video?

Thanks in advance.

 

[EPsilon933]

Still, I would really like to try using Elgato Game Capture HD with your VirtualDub setup. So if you finda way to make that work I would really appreciate the information. I was amazed by your tutorials and I really enjoyed them. Awesome work.

That won't work. My guide works only for cheap software compression capture cards like GameBridge, EasyCap, Dazzles, etc. Elgato Game Capture HD must be used by its official software to work. Other capture softwares can't use it

Finally, I have some questions. I have seen your gameplay videos and your recent 60 FPS videos. They look slick and I would like to acquire that kind of quality too. So, do you record your Melee Gameplay using S-Video Cable for Wii + S-Video Splitter + Generic S-Video Cable for your CRT TV? Do you use Component Cables? Do your VirtualDub tutorial works if I use a capture card capable of using component cables? or is it just reserved for Composite and S-Video?

I use the exact same technique taught in my guide and I use a Wii s-video cable. The s-video cable goes to my capture card and the composite cable goes to the TV. No need to split the video signal that way. I use component cables sometimes when I have to play on and EVO monitor. I send the signal through the Elgato Game Capture HD and connect the HDMI out to the monitor. It looks best that way since 480p is 2x the original amount of information compared to 480i. I think there might be 2 or more capture cards I've seen that use software compression, meaning VirtualDub would be able to use them. The ones I'm thinking of are https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/intensity/models (Intensity Shuttle for USB 3.0 - $199) and http://www.amazon.com/Generic-YPbPr...&sr=8-1&keywords=component+cable+capture+card (untested. I'm just guessing this from theory. Also, the reviewer rating looks discouraging)

 

[Luddoj]

That won't work. My guide works only for cheap software compression capture cards like GameBridge, EasyCap, Dazzles, etc. Elgato Game Capture HD must be used by its official software to work. Other capture softwares can't use it



I use the exact same technique taught in my guide and I use a Wii s-video cable. The s-video cable goes to my capture card and the composite cable goes to the TV. No need to split the video signal that way. I use component cables sometimes when I have to play on and EVO monitor. I send the signal through the Elgato Game Capture HD and connect the HDMI out to the monitor. It looks best that way since 480p is 2x the original amount of information compared to 480i. I think there might be 2 or more capture cards I've seen that use software compression, meaning VirtualDub would be able to use them. The ones I'm thinking of are https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/intensity/models (Intensity Shuttle for USB 3.0 - $199) and http://www.amazon.com/Generic-YPbPr-Composite-S-Video-Capture/dp/B00ENH92RS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1414986167&sr=8-1&keywords=component cable capture card (untested. I'm just guessing this from theory. Also, the reviewer rating looks discouraging)

Intensity Shuttle is out of my range since I already bought the Elgato Game Capture HD and I'm not really interested in buying another capture card for a long time, or as long as my Elgato is working. However, EasyCap is really easy to find, it's cheap and since VirtualDub lets me use it, I might just get that this week. The thing I want to know, however, is if it's really worth it. I would have to buy a Wii S-Video Cable too, and I don't really know if EasyCap requires me to get a S-Video splittler.

From your video I can asume you are using Elgato Video Capture as your capture card, and your results are so crisp I would like to try your method out, but since my Elgato HD won't work, I have the EasyCap alternative, but will the quality be as good? Would you recommend investing in another capture card?

Also, what's the filesize of your output videos captured in 1080p 60 fps with VirtualDub? If the filesize is too big is there a way to reduce the filesize without reducing quality?

 

[EPsilon933]

Intensity Shuttle is out of my range since I already bought the Elgato Game Capture HD and I'm not really interested in buying another capture card for a long time, or as long as my Elgato is working. However, EasyCap is really easy to find, it's cheap and since VirtualDub lets me use it, I might just get that this week. The thing I want to know, however, is if it's really worth it. I would have to buy a Wii S-Video Cable too, and I don't really know if EasyCap requires me to get a S-Video splittler.

From your video I can asume you are using Elgato Video Capture as your capture card, and your results are so crisp I would like to try your method out, but since my Elgato HD won't work, I have the EasyCap alternative, but will the quality be as good? Would you recommend investing in another capture card?

Also, what's the filesize of your output videos captured in 1080p 60 fps with VirtualDub? If the filesize is too big is there a way to reduce the filesize without reducing quality?

It's up to you if you want to invest some money into maximizing video quality. My technique doesn't require an s-video splitter

Elgato Video Capture is the card I use. The quality should be as good. I have tried using an EasyCap before, back in 2011, and the audio sounded bad. This was about half a year before I developed my recording & rendering technique, so it might be better than what I remember. If you want to be more sure on getting a good card, dazzles are also really good. Hauppauge USB-LIVE-2 is also good for what it's worth (I think $40). However, this is a very slight ringing sound in the audio. It's not noticeable unless no game sounds are happening and you're wearing headphones

1080p60's bit rate is 20480 Kb/s. My moment videos tend to be <100 MB. I'm just going off of memory, but the file size is never a problem for me. you could probably afford to give up a few 1000s of Kb/s without losing much quality on youtube. youtube videos are secretly blurrier than what most people realize they are. Staying above youtube's quality ceiling should be ok. I just recommend using the highest bit rate to get a perfectionist picture

 

[Luddoj]

It's up to you if you want to invest some money into maximizing video quality. My technique doesn't require an s-video splitter

Elgato Video Capture is the card I use. The quality should be as good. I have tried using an EasyCap before, back in 2011, and the audio sounded bad. This was about half a year before I developed my recording & rendering technique, so it might be better than what I remember. If you want to be more sure on getting a good card, dazzles are also really good. Hauppauge USB-LIVE-2 is also good for what it's worth (I think $40). However, this is a very slight ringing sound in the audio. It's not noticeable unless no game sounds are happening and you're wearing headphones

1080p60's bit rate is 20480 Kb/s. My moment videos tend to be <100 MB. I'm just going off of memory, but the file size is never a problem for me. you could probably afford to give up a few 1000s of Kb/s without losing much quality on youtube. youtube videos are secretly blurrier than what most people realize they are. Staying above youtube's quality ceiling should be ok. I just recommend using the highest bit rate to get a perfectionist picture

Thanks for all the information so far. I'm now considering buying an Elgato Video Capture, but I have a doubt. Does it has the delay that the Elgato Game Capture HD has? Or does it record in real time? The delay is the thing that kills the Elgato for me, as livestreaming becomes a real pain when you have to sync everything up and sometimes the results are not what I expect.

 

[EPsilon933]

Thanks for all the information so far. I'm now considering buying an Elgato Video Capture, but I have a doubt. Does it has the delay that the Elgato Game Capture HD has? Or does it record in real time? The delay is the thing that kills the Elgato for me, as livestreaming becomes a real pain when you have to sync everything up and sometimes the results are not what I expect.

The display on VirtualDub lags by only like 5 frames. you'll be fine. I know recording in 480p will get you very desynced audio. It's meant more for capturing 720p/1080p signals. Show me a sample video of what happens with your current card

 

[Luddoj]

The display on VirtualDub lags by only like 5 frames. you'll be fine. I know recording in 480p will get you very desynced audio. It's meant more for capturing 720p/1080p signals. Show me a sample video of what happens with your current card

That's good to know actually. As I said, I'm very happy with my Elgato Game Capture HD, the only thing that kills it for me is that I stream using overlays and microphone for commentary, etc. When recording the gameplay, I'm 2 seconds ahead of what is happening on screen. I use OSB or XSplit to stream, and in those softwares you can actually delay your webcam and your microphone to go with the Elgato, but the delay the Elgato has is not stable. When streaming GameCube/Wii, the delay is about 1.5 seconds, but for Wii U is like 3 seconds or something like that. It's not that the gameplay audio is desynched, it's the (gameplay+audio) and my (webcam+mic) which are not synched.

Knowing that VirtualDub only lags 5 frames is great, as I can stream and record at practically real time and that's something I would really like.

Yesterday I tried recording a 720X480i 60 FPS Composite Video using my Elgato Game Capture HD. I then took the .mp4 file into Sony Vegas and transformed it into an Uncompressed 720x480 30 FPS .avi. Then moved it into VirtualDub, added Deinterlacing (doubling frames) and Upscaling it to 956x480. I uploaded my results to Youtube:
Video 1:
http://youtu.be/287t_KiW_sQ
Video 2: (added Filters: Contrast/Brightness & Sharpen, just to test them out)
http://youtu.be/uo36wxqCYHY

Recording with the Elgato Game Capture HD is definetely no problem. I'm happy with the results, as I don't have to worry about my commentary being ahead or behind the actualg gameplay. The problem is the streaming part.

So I guess I will keep recording 30 FPS videos with my Elgato, then moving them into VirtualDub to edit them and make them look better, with 60 FPS Fake HD just for YouTube.

 

[The Phenom]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmhLy0wzge4&feature=youtu.be , didn't cover the sides of the video as to yours:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqOqC9Nj1QY

Can it probably be because of the cheap usb/audio&video recorder $15-$25?
I imported my file in virtualdub, followed your video guide. Any feedback is appreciated =)

*Subscribes*
---------
CLASS OF 2009!!!™

EDIT: sorry for the poor quality of my character in the vid.

 

[kekon]

Yo, this thread saved me from losing my mind, not only that, it's better than what my old set up was. I just wish my S-Video plug wasn't so big, it straight up can't fit into the plug because the design of the wires doesn't let it fit into the port.

 

[Hibernian99]

what about
for mac?

 

[EPsilon933]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmhLy0wzge4&feature=youtu.be , didn't cover the sides of the video as to yours:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqOqC9Nj1QY

Can it probably be because of the cheap usb/audio&video recorder $15-$25?
I imported my file in virtualdub, followed your video guide. Any feedback is appreciated =)

Did you also record in VirtualDub? The aspect ratio looks too tall. Are you sure it was 4:3?

what about
for mac?

Sorry, but there is no native version for Mac OS X or Linux

I don't think my technique can work on macs

 

[Hibernian99]

Did you also record in VirtualDub? The aspect ratio looks too tall. Are you sure it was 4:3?



I don't think my technique can work on macs

ok thx anyways

 

[The Phenom]

Not recorded in virtualdub, but i know well enough to not stretch Melee vids, should be 4:3. also, when i do transfer it to virtualdub for the upscaling i put 4:3

newer vid. :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOlpMyVyDq0

bonus for REPLYING:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sb1eqnNJbfI

 

[-Philip Coast Philip-]

Not recorded in virtualdub, but i know well enough to not stretch Melee vids, should be 4:3. also, when i do transfer it to virtualdub for the upscaling i put 4:3

newer vid. :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOlpMyVyDq0

bonus for REPLYING:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sb1eqnNJbfI

Couple problems with the first video:

1. The audio is desynched, and continues to desynch over time.

2. The video is frame-blended when deinterlaced.

3. No 9s.

4. No sick grab combos on falco? Really now.

5. Dair combo too real (???)

For the audio, this could be because you are capturing too much video at once and your setup can't handle it (so record smaller segments), or may be because you are trying to encode the video on the fly, which may be too taxing for your computer. Or your setup sucks balls and there's nothing you can do about it.

I say, record smaller segments (like only a few matches at a time), and also, try recording "raw" the first time (uncompressed video, or, no compression - which will take up a lot of space) and then compressing the video afterward - this will also give you the best quality, if you so desire. For the 'frame-blending', take a took at my posts... nevermind, the images I linked in those posts expired (I was going to send you here and here). Basically, look into your video settings somewhere (either your capture device or your recording software) for 'deinterlacing' and choose a different option other than "blend" (this can also be done on the second-time through, if you go that route). But the way your video is being 'deinterlaced' is the reason for your video being 'doubled' and showing faint one-frame ghosts of your character every time you do something.



Also the above may be why, but I'm really surprised you haven't made a combo video called "Phenias and Qerb".

 

[William Sciambra]

How to livestream​

1. Download both Adobe Flash Media Encoder here (here)
(You will need to log in to Adobe's site in order to Download Flash Media Encoder (FME) and be logged in to Twitchtv's site to get the config file)
2. Install FME. When it's finished, open it
3. Copy your stream key here (here)
4. Paste your stream key in the Stream textbox
5. To select between capturing from composite or s-video cable, click the wrench next to where it says your device name and on the new window, go to the Crossbar tab. In the Input drop down menu, select which cable you want to record from
6. These default settings will allow you to stream but they wouldn't make it look good. You can use my recommended settings shown in the collapse box if you'd like[collapse="my ideal settings"]Video
Format: H.264
Frame Rate: 59.94
Input size: 720x480
Bit Rate: 3000 Kbps
Output Size: 640 x 480
Deinterlace:

Audio
Device: microphone
Channels: Mono
Sample rate: 44100
Bit Rate: 128
Volume: full

All unmentioned settings are left as default

If you don't have a good enough connection speed, you could try cutting the bit rate down to 1500 Kbps and the output size to 360x240 to improve stream performance. Ideally you should have 1000 Kbps of padding on your upload speed to stream well. Go to http://www.speedtest.net to check your internet connection speed

If your computer isn't very powerful, use 720x480 for the output settings so it doesn't have to resize anything

For some reason, this program doesn't recognize the audio of capture cards well. You'll have to use microphone audio. It's better anyway, assuming you could only use either game audio or real life audio. You can get both, just with lesser game audio if the microphone is close enough to the TV

6. Click start[/collapse]6. Click start

How to youtube​

1. Download the latest releases of VirtualDub (link), Lagarith (link), and Xvid (link)
2. Install the Lagarith and XviD codecs. VirtualDub doesn't exactly get installed. To use it, move the downloaded file to a directory you'd want to have it and extract its contents there
3. Open VirtualDub (VD)
4. Go to file > Capture AVI
5. Click device and check if VD is using the capture card you want to use
6. If you're not getting any video input, go to Video > Video source and then select from either composite or s-video
7. Go to Video > Compression. When you're there, select Lagarith and leave the default settings as they are
7. Go to Audio > Compression. When you're there, select MPEG Layer-3 and then select 320 kBit/s, 48,000 HZ, Stereo
8. Go to File > Set capture file and name the recording file any name you want it
9. Go to Capture > Capture video to begin recording. To end the file, go to Capture > Stop capture
10. Whatever you do, don't hit Capture video again. Once you have a file, remember to hit ] on your keyboard to set a new file. If the previous name ended in a number, the new file will increment it by 1 or will add 1 to the end of the name to make a new capture file. Not doing this will overwrite the previous file


Editing the footage you've just captured

1. Reopen VD or go to File > Exit capture mode
2. Go to File > Open video file and select the capture file you want
3. Go to Video > Filters. Click Add, then click deinterlace. Under Deinterlacing mode, select Interpolate using Yadif algorithm and under Field order select Double frame rate, top field first. Click OK on the latest window to get out (If you want the video to be 60 frames/second on youtube, the resolution will have to be 720p or 1080p)
4. While still in filters, click Add and then click resize. Look for a radio button that says Compute height from aspect ratio and click it. Look for where it says Framing options, select Crop to aspect ratio. Look for the text boxes next to where it says Absolute (pixels). Type 1080 in the right text box
4.5. To get the correct aspect ratio for videos in widescreen, look for Compute height from ratio and enter 16 and 9 in the 2 text boxes. Look for Letterbox/crop to aspect ratio and enter 16 and 9 in those boxes as well
5. Go to Video > Compression. Select Xvid MPEG-4 Codec and then hit Configure
6. Go to Profile @ Level and change it to Xvid HD 1080
7. Hit Target quantizer so that it changes to Target bitrate (kbps). Set the value to 20480
8. To edit out footage you want to discard, move the slider along the time bar. Mark the beginning and end points of the sections you want to cut out using the ← and → (I can't find the best ascii characters for this) and hit delete on your keyboard to get rid of what was selected
9. Got to File > Save as AVI and save the file



Youtube pre-upscaled quality comparison

480p

720p

1080p

Before the upload

(It's difficult to notice the improvements with the Yadif algorithm. If you were to deinterlace with ELA, everything would look super smooth. Yadif is preferred still because ELA smooths things out too much to the point of blurring the image)


Video quality from worst to best

Gamecube composite

Wii composite

Gamecube s-video

Wii s-video

Credit
SypherPhoenix taught me how to record in really good quality. My technique is a bit modified from his

thanks for the info!

 

[EPsilon933]

thanks for the info!

Glad to help

Also, I made a few updates to the streaming portion of the guide (What to type in for the FMS URL text box, how to export archives to youtube, and how to download archives). Sometime within an hour or so, I'll have quality sample images of what the stream quality looks like

 

[Rise]

My CRT has an audio output R/L. Can i use that instead of splitting the audio?