Hoist the main whalesail and fire the cannon!

First up, i’ll give ye a rare liquor from lands afar, named Beneath a Steel Sky.  It glistens with malty adventure!

After that?  Well, a good captain knows to not get his crew too shitfaced too fast, or they’ll be unfit for duty.  Fear not though, the tap shall not be turned off again soon.

Gone are the twice hourly disconnects, as is the god awful 350-500kbit upload speed that’s plagued me for the past 6+ weeks.

Pingtest Result
Speedtest Result

Nice results, though I don’t quite believe the Pingtest result, as i’m getting packetloss in games.. it’s minor, but certainly noticeable.

What I suspect i’ll be doing, is for streams and upload sprees, i’ll be using the router (the one from the above tests) that lets me get that 1.55meg upload, yet causes packetloss (considering the stress on the line, 1% packetloss seems quite good), while using the newer router which syncs at lower upload speeds to assure stability for gaming sessions where I want/need the game running perfectly.

Anyway, long story short is, my connection (touch wood) seems solid again now, allowing me to both stream, and upload the ever growing backlog of HTSF.

LONG LIVE OUR QUEEN CLAIRE.

“Which card?”  I hear all none of you yell.  Well, Vegeta actually gave me the donation about a week and a half agoish, with the original intent to get a Hauppage HD PVR, the cookie cutter capture device used by 9/10 walk/playthroughers (it’s a solid device, that’s why).  The cheapest you’d get one for is 200 bucks, most places being more expensive, and most of them either being out of stock or American (plug problems).

So, i’ve spent the last week or so trying to chase one down at a reasonable price, and in the UK.  The shipping costs weren’t the problem, the problem is when I thought ahead, knowing that i’d most likely be recording for hours at a time.  If I put an American–>UK converter plug on the HDPVR, chases are things would eventually fuck up, as those converters are notorious for getting VERY hot when used for long lengths of time.

So, as I said, a UK version seemed the more prudent option based on the likelyhood of extended periods of use.

The next problem though, was actually finding one in stock.. most places quote 2 weeks at least, and they’re like 170 quid!

The price wasn’t the issue as such, due to the lion’s share of it being donated from Vegeta, but I took objection to a MINIMUM of 2 weeks delivery time, when it was costing 170 quid.

Then Hlaine linked me something, that immediately caught my eye, and after doing some research, I eventually bought.

The Blackmagic Intensity Pro.  Pretty much the only rival to the HDPVR, technically superior, and about 30 quid cheaper too!

The learning curve, and system requirements are the only cons about the BMIP compared to the HDPVR.  The system requirements (like 2-3 drives in a RAID) are only a problem when recording uncompressed footage though (you need the drive speed in order to keep up with the immense capture).  Kinda makes me laugh reading the comments on some videos from people that clearly don’t really know that much about video capture/editing, yet seem to demand that they capture in 1080p uncompressed.  Seriously, there’s some amazing codecs nowadays that are either 99.9% lossless (you won’t lose quality), or will lose VERY minor levels of quality, you won’t even notice, especially not on YT.

Personally, I probably won’t even use the devices own software.. i’ll preview the capture in a program like Vdub, AMCAP or Premiere, and then use Hypercam in the same way i’d record anything else on the PC (bar full screen 3d, where i’d use Fraps).

Hardware problems sorted, with only 1 HDD required, not like 300 in a RAID (in theory, i’ve not got it yet lol).

The real attraction to the card for me though was the HDMI in/outs, whereas the HDPVR had none.  It adds that nice extra layer of future compatibility.  The BMIP also has some nice features linking into Premiere, another pull factor.  Finally, the HDPVR is getting pretty old, I highly suspect support being dropped sometime soon, and i’m also one for trying to do things differently and experimenting with alternative video methods, so something less common/newer certainly appeals.

It’s gonna be a refreshing change to do some console HTSFs.. currently, the only one is the SF4 HTSF, which is HORRIFIC in quality.  Seriously, stay clear of Dazzles.  Everyone recommends em, but they really are a terrible quality (SF4) and problematic (fucked over REmake).  I’d only recommend them if you really want to record some console stuff, and don’t have the money to get something else.  Even then, i’d say put that Dazzle money towards a low-mid end HD camera and a tripod.. you’ll have an easier time, and probably better quality, despite the old “Camera pointed at the TV” technique not being a method i’d really recommend (but still better than a Dazzle).

If you consider a Dazzle is half the price of a semi decent digital HD camera, and 1/3 the price of a BMIP, then if you plan to do play/walkthroughs on consoles for a period of longer than 2-3 games, i’d save the pennies and skip the Dazzle.

Ironically, despite buying a HD capture card, the first major use of the card will be with the Wii.  Here’s a list of games off the top of my head that i’ll be plowing through first (not in any specific order).

Code Veronica X
REmake
RE 0
Darkside/Umbrella Chronicles (probably coop with Claire)
Contra Rebirth
Castlevania Rebirth
Parodius Rebirth
Metroid Prime Trilogy
New Super Mario Bros. Wii (coop with Claire again)
Ju-on The Grudge (it looks a pretty underwhelming game, but seriously funny HTSF material, i’ll be getting Claire to do a run as well, which’ll probably last 5 minutes before she says no more).

And a shedload of others..

So there’s gonna be some good old HTSF genres getting some loving again, namely survival horror.

At some point this year, when i’m running low on Wii material, or something really appeals to me, i’ll be snagging a 360/PS3 as well.  ATM, i’m expecting it’ll be a PS3 around Xmas when the usual price drops happen.

Once again, many thanks to Vegeta.  130-150 quid for a capture card/device was too much for me to stump up atm, so the guy’s really done me a solid there.  Cheers dude!

Thanks to Hlaine as well for the point in the BMIP direction.