Nintendo Game recording blues

[Jethro]

Well one of our members has been asking whether we will do game reviews, thought we already did though admittedly low on the queue. Anyways after some discussion it was decided that we might just have a go at one of those game recording video review style things. You know play through the game with added commentary, trying to show what the game makers got right and what they got wrong.

This is a log of how we went about things, with hopefully an actual video of the game play at the end where you will get to hear my trans Tasman accent.

Day One

Our initial decision was which platform to start with. Our choices were Playstation 4 or 5, xBox, or Switch. We decided due to actual room limitations to go with Nintendo's Switch which of the major consoles has the smallest desktop footprint. So then it was which game; immediate choices were Alien Isolation, Breath of the Wild, or Luigi's Haunted Mansion 3. We decided on the Italian plumber, mainly because it is a much smaller game than the others, oh and it was on sale down our local ebGames.

Next step setup the actual Switch and make sure that thing is working. We actually had three Switches to choose from, weird I know, but daughter had one setup for whatever she's playing - which is normally some sort of first person shooter, and I've got one setup to my TV for whatever game I'm pretending to know how to play. So the third one was pulled out of storage and dusted off.

Switch dock setup and hooked to monitor 2 of my computer, Switch console inserted, and Pro Controller hooked up. Everything was left to charge. Which of course after six or so hours nothing did! Tech support called in, which involved much grumbling and choice language as for no apparent reason nothing was working. Console plugged into another docking station, a few beers later, and hey its charging, so issue is with the original dock. Turns out the power cord was on the fritz, so down to ebGames to get a replacement, Matt my dude there just happened to have a couple of spares out the back, and well no one was going to notice if one fell off the back of a truck. Back to what we have started to ironically call our recording studio, new power chord installed, and things are looking up. Everything currently charging, got enough charge to check the console was operational and the switch screen could be seen on monitor 2. Big thumbs up, stage one done and dusted.

Tomorrow the video capture card and mic arrive, so am expecting a lot more issues as we didn't exactly go top of range on anything at this stage.

 

[Kevin]

What setup did you decide on for the video capture? Routing the HDMI through a PC to capture the output or some type of standalone video capture unit?

 

[Jethro]

We went with a generic capture card that uses HDMI source and target, currently we don't want to blow the budget on expensive equipment for something we are trialing. The unit is external, with HDMI input/output, mic in, headphone jack out, and USB C connection to the computer. Apparently plug and play, I'll believe that later today when I see it.

Recording has to be done on the computer, we're thinking OBS as that's easy to use, and getting some video editing software later (one of our tech guys knows all about this stuff apparently and is going to get something happening).

Anyways off to make coffee and face up to the day, think I have an assignment due, not entirely sure, also have a meeting with the course supervisor to nail my study plan for the final push to the Diploma.

 

[Jethro]

Day 2

Our vid card and microphone duly arrived, and a couple of us were ready to rock.

The vid card is external and is about the size of a credit card, though a lot thicker naturally. Easy enough to setup, usb connection to the computer, first HDMI connection from the Dock to the card, second HDMI connection from the card to a computer monitor. Oh and the mic plugged directly into the card.

Having done all that we had a coffee, complained about the Knight's latest fiasco, and then had a go at getting it all working. No problems at all after changing the USB slot on the computer, visuals clear and everything being picked up on the monitor.

We then fired up OBS and set the USB as the source and wow no problems at all. Ready to record a demo, all working fine till we noted no sound what so ever! Now this took some research, but found a vid on youtube showing us the error of our ways. On the pop up where you set the source for the visuals there is a barely notable slider to the right and the sound setup is below the fold line. Easy peasy, just had to select USB as our sound source, issue resolved. We had to do the same for the mic, so not quite the plug and play claimed.

We're going to record episode 1 tomorrow, well later today, and then next day edit the raw footage.

Our editing software of choice is apparently kdonlive, so another learning curve there.

Warning to anyone choosing the cheaper capture cards, remember to unplug as apparently some of them ship with no heat sink.

 

[Jethro]

Day 3 and 4

Just a whole bunch of problems with mic levels. The game and in game sound was working with zero issues but I couldn't get the mic level to work. Tried numerous youtube vid approaches, nothing was working. Time to call in a gaming expert.

Jess arrived to help, well to have a couple of beers and help, well to have a BBQ a couple of beers and help. After mucking around in OBS, she declared that the mic could not be on the sound card as the sound level would be exactly the same for game and mic. So she installed on the PC, selected the PC mike option, and we are rocking.

Day 5

Finally we have our first raw footage, been a job of work getting there. We recorded the introduction stuff and the tutorial at the start of the game. An hour of unscripted, bad controller game mayhem ensued.

Our next task is to somehow edit this into something cohesive, which means learning another software package. This could be our first major challenge.

 

[Jethro]

Day 6

Still working our way around the editing package, but took the time to record episode 2. Having some problems with the controller, seems to have a mind of its own, but that would be two episodes in the can.

Next job is to try and get an intro screen recorded in kdenlive, add some music, and then add the gameplay.