Need to buy present for recording gaming (Elgato?)

sherbie28 · 9 March 2017 at 3:08PM

My nephew (15) has mentioned he would like all the bits and bobs needed to record his gaming and possibly upload to Youtube etc. I've been looking at this: Elgato Game Capture HD60 with Elgato Chat Link Cable. What else would he need? He's got an Xbox One, a laptop (not sure of specs). I also bought him the HyperX Cloud II headset at christmas, would that work as a mic? He doesn't have a webcam, would he need one mounted to his tv or would one in the laptop work? I'm not sure what else he would need, I would appreciate any help. Thanks

Chickabiddybex · 14 March 2017 at 1:33PM

Is he wanting to visually record what's on the screen and his voice to go along, or record full video of himself as well?

Does he have a Kinect?

If you answer those I can answer your question - most likely he already has everything he needs though.

sherbie28 · 23 March 2017 at 1:59PM

Hi, I'm not sure about kinect. I think he does want to have commentary and whatever's on the screen at the same time (Fifa). He has this laptop ACER Aspire V5-573P-54208G1Taii 15.6". He did mention that he thinks it only works well if you have a Mac, cos that's what most of the youtubers have? He said the software needed to do it all might cost a lot. I didn't think about things like that I thought the elgato just recorded it, the mic picked up your sound, webcam your face (picture in picture) and then you could upload it to youtube. I didn't realise you had to mess about with video editing software.

dekaspace · 24 March 2017 at 2:11AM

It sounds like they naively think they will be popular on youtube if they record video.

Most big name Youtubers started pre 2009 and even then had equipment costing at very least near £1000 if not more as that includes video cameras, that is why he says a mac.

It can be used on PC though no problems and far cheaper but means multiple programs and users need to be more technical, thats the point of things like Mac and other Apple products, its expensive as its no offense meant "for dummies" like those books you used to get as it does a huge amount of work for you.

Chickabiddybex · 27 March 2017 at 10:49AM

Does he want himself physically recording too? Like a video of him on top of a video of what he's doing on screen? So you can SEE him? And please ask him if he has a kinect.

If he wants you to buy him things the least he can do is answer 2 really quick questions for you! And if you want us to help it's the least you can tell us

You don't need that Elgato thing though regardless. The XboxOne is already more than capable of recording itself. He might need to download a free app in order to do it, on both his console and his PC. But you deffo don't need a Mac. In fact with an Xbox I'd stick to PC seeing as Microsoft make both.

His laptop is a pretty decent one. The problem is, it's not good for image editing. It's lacking in the graphics department. It will probably just about cope but it will be slow. So you want something with dedicated graphics. Is he likely to give up on this after a while? Does he tend to do thinsgs like ask for a guitar for xmas and then stop playing after a month? If so, I'd wait a while before splashing out on a new laptop. He will be able to cope if he only edits in standard definition rather than HD. Might be a bit slow but compared to what I had to put up with when I was his age (dial up!!) he'll cope.

But... he will eventually find he needs something better. Cheapest option is a PC rather than a laptop. But if going down this route, he may as well just buy a gaming PC and do all his gaming and recording in one place!

Anyway, sounds to me like he will need some sort of video editing program. I'd advise him to start out just using Windows Movie Maker which is free. Get to grips with recording, practice editing videos, just get the hang of it basically. Once he's done that he will know exactly what he needs in terms of editing software. Different people want to do different things. Some like to put special effects on top of videos, some like to do other things. He will know what he needs by then. (And that's gonna be between £30 - £200 depending on what he wants!)

Chickabiddybex · 29 March 2017 at 12:10PM

Haha scrap most of the above - I just realised that I have pretty similar specs on my laptop (same graphics, same processor) and I edit videos sometimes (using Windows Movie Maker) and it's worked fine. To be honest it wasn't even slow!

So to summarise: he doesn't need to buy anything at all to get started. Just needs to download free apps onto his Xbox and PC so they talk to each other. If he wants to make the most amazing videos ever he can upgrade various pieces of equipment, but you don't buy someone a Ferrari to learn to drive. And he won't know which pieces he needs to upgrade first until he's started doing it.

forgotmyname · 29 March 2017 at 2:11PM

Most youtubers dont have macs, out of the 20 or so channels that i subscribe to only one uses a mac daily.

None of the others rate them that highly on value for money. One actually repairs apple products and wont purchase an apple laptop. He buys fairly cheap windows laptops because the build quality is the same as an apple one which is 3x the cost or more.

Its easy top get dragged into the you need this and that but its £££. Then find they only use it a couple of times before they realise very few people actually watch their channel.

sherbie28 · 6 April 2017 at 1:17PM

Hi,
He does want to have picture in picture so he can see himself on the screen during the gameplay. I have been looking at using the xbox to record but as far as I can see it seems to be that you can only capture 5 minutes at a time?

Chickabiddybex · 7 April 2017 at 11:10AM

In that case the best thing is probably a Kinect if he doesn't already have one as you can do SO MUCH else with it too. Anyway, that has a camera on it so it can record him. And then he needs the Upload Studio app for his Xbox One.

You can record up to 30 minutes. Check it out: https://gamerant.com/xbox-one-upload-studio-30-minute-limit/

The app is free but you can do so much with it, it works with the Kinect and he can edit clips and all sorts.

sherbie28 · 7 April 2017 at 12:33PM

He doesn't have kinect.

Chickabiddybex · 10 April 2017 at 9:00AM

In that case my advice is to get him a Kinect and tell him to look up the Upload Studio app. Might be worth running it by him first though

Need to buy present for recording gaming (Elgato?)

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