Video recording/editing

[CFMM]

Hey look something I can talk about.

For PC screen recording Fraps and Camtasia seem to be the best. They have the most features and once you adjust and play with the settings you can find what works for you. I just recommend having a good processor and/or video card, they seem to lag and drop frames for me on my old PC when I attempted to use them at full screen.

For recording console games it really depends on what console. If you are only doing modern games (PS3, 360, Wii) and want HD recording then go with the Hauppauge HD-PVR. It costs about $200 but it works pretty well. It's a loss-less recorder which means that there is NO delay from the recording device to your television. I previously used one and it worked fine, however this device does NOT work with older systems. The oldest that will work is PS2, and only with PS2 games. You cannot use PS1 games in a PS2 with it. The reason is because older consoles displayed at resolutions too low for the PVR to recognize.

If you want a "general" recording device that works with ALL systems then I recommend the Dazzle DVC100. It's a USB device that features the composite R/Y/W cable ports, and an S-video for the systems that supported that media. Comes with great software, easy to use. I believe the video feed that displays on your PC is real-time without any delay, but I am not certain on that. By habit I use an A/V splitter that I use to split the video game to the TV and PC simultaneously.

Both of those work fine for me.

As for editing, I suggest checking out Ulead Videostudio (whichever the newest version is, I think Pro X4). It features lots of features like multiple video tracks with chroma key (green screen) and multiple audio tracks that you can tweak and adjust for volume and whatnot. It features a lot of professional things but doesn't require tons of experience to learn, good for beginners. I used Ulead VS 11 for my 2010 series GMO2, and I am using Pro X4 to edit its 2012 run.