Quest Failed: Record Half-Life 2 In 720p

gaoptimize wrote on 8/16/2005, 12:59 PM

Hi,

I wanted to share my failed attempt to find an affordable way to record my Half-Life 2 and Ghost Recon gaming (and in the fall X-Box 360) in 720p. I searched the web to no avail. The most promising solution came from a company called "BlackMagic Design" with a capture card called DeckLink HD

http://www.blackmagic-design.com/products/hd/

Apparently, it works with Vegas 6.

Reading through their info, it appears that the card requires "SDI" video as an input, which I don't think my PC or X-Box 360 will be able to output. $600 is a little pricey also. I always wondered why the videos on "Cinematech" on G4TTV left something to be desired technically. Now I know.

-Tom

Comments

Spot|DSE wrote on 8/16/2005, 2:44 PM

You can get a device from Convergent Design or Miranda that will convert the RGB out from the Xbox and ingest it to Vegas via the BMD card, at 720p if you'd like. But that's a LOT of cash to spend for a game recording....

BlackMagic's MultiBridge will also accept the RGB and convert it, just like the Convergent Design box.

farss wrote on 8/16/2005, 2:56 PM

Simplest way is the Sony 1024 scan converter, we've used it on XBox and slot machines. Also a LCD monitor with a camera in front of it will work quite well.
Bob.

TheHappyFriar wrote on 8/16/2005, 7:40 PM

depending on your machine, you can use a program called FRAPS. It takes RT screenshots & saves them as TGA's. I belive it does audio too.

Another thing to look in to is if HL2 supports demo to TGA/AVI conversion. I KNOW Doom 3 supports this but never looked in Half Life 2. If it day you may be lucky enough to choose your export options (I know Doom 3 lets you choose the aspect ratio & output res, all independant of what your hardware/monitor supports).

Several people have move full blow short films with Half Life 2 (I'm Seeing Breen & a re-do of the court room sequence from "A Few Good Med") so I'm sure it's possible.