Is there a new cheap updated switcher like the Atem Television Studio?

Josh Hayes · September 30th, 2016, 12:29 AM

Hey Oren, I purchased one of those cheap gaming boxes to test it out today (along with a slew of other stuff for a whopping 4 big conferences coming up in the next month). Anyway, right when I opened it I could hear something rattling inside so I assumed it was potentially damaged. Tested it anyways and couldn't get that model to work. I set up everything correctly so it's most likely the box. The only potential fail point is that since my laptop is older and doesn't have HDMI out, and I don't have any Thunderboldt to HDMI convertors on hand, I just used my GH4 instead as the outgoing HDMI signal instead. So if for some reason that doesn't work for the capture box, then maybe it wasn't broken.

Unrelated I did notice when I plugged in an external USB powered drive the gaming box would flutter as the power waxed and waned. When I plugged in an external that was DC powered it didn't. But either way it didn't work. I did read that apparently because it records to H.264 and not something like Apple ProRes 422, most people use flash drives of all things to store the captured video. In theory a 32 GB flash drive (according to one of the productions) would be 7-8 hours, so for test 2 I'll try that as well.

Also for laptops that don't have HDMI out but have Thunderboldt, do you purchase a convertor to go that route? I'm assuming with the multiple different kinds of presentation machines they can't all have HDMI out.

Josh Hayes · September 30th, 2016, 01:09 AM

Looks like of these boxes the 3 most popular on Amazon are the following.
*Other than the Elgato systems the other 2 have microphone jacks to record somekind of ambient audio for sync sound.

Elgato Systems
https://www.amazon.com/Elgato-System...apture+devices
-doesn't do 1080 24P though. It's 1080 30P.
*I'm guessing that's going to be the case for everyone probably. Which means I need to run a conversion for 30P down to 24P or else I'll have slipping in the edit when I'm Multi Cam editing it.

Haupauge HDPVR Rocket
https://www.amazon.com/Hauppauge-Gam...2Bdevices&th=1
-also doesn't do 24P.
-powered solely by the laptop. Standalone

AVer Media Game Capture HD2 (points for being the coolest looking)
https://www.amazon.com/AVerMedia-Def...apture+devices
-AC powered
-records Fat32

For the purposes of time for an upcoming conference, I'm going to go ahead and purchase 2 of the AVers, and 1 of the Pocket Rocket and see if either work. before next week. If not, there's no pressure from client, but hopefully they work!

Donald McPherson · September 30th, 2016, 04:57 AM

The audio is for voice over when playing games. If you need more than one converter I would buy different makes as I could not get my two Elgatos to play nice. Bought an Aver and now I can get two streams working.

Josh Hayes · September 30th, 2016, 05:03 AM

Hi Donald. My plan was just to plug a mic in and all it has to pick up is the ambient room sounds so I can match that the XLR feed from the av crew I get at each conference. General setup for me is every camera records onboard audio but a portable audio recorder gets the XLR "drop" from AV with the good audio. I then syne them all together. I'm hoping plugging in an existing mic i own at the podium will pick up the speakers and stuff enough to be like another onboard camera level mic recording. Do you think that works or am I missing something?

Donald McPherson · September 30th, 2016, 11:20 AM

For audio I intend to try this battery powered mixer with a USB adapter. https://reverb-res.cloudinary.com/im...jzx0gkklof.jpg

Josh Hayes · October 2nd, 2016, 01:03 PM

yeah for the conferences I work on, it's a favor for AV to even consider letting me plug one of these boxes into their chain of equipment and record the slides (especially since that's a service they supply) so adding a mixer or something like that is totally out of the question.a small mic on the podium though, isn't.

Josh Hayes · September 27th, 2018, 01:47 PM

Hi folks. Thought it would interesting to check back in on this. Not sure much the end of the thread's conversation about game capture devices but about the original question about a "budget" switcher in the 1K or less range. Anything developed folks know about with a scaler?

September 30th, 2016, 12:29 AM	#46
Josh Hayes Major Player Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: San Francisco, Ca Posts: 264	Re: Is there a new cheap updated switcher like the Atem Television Studio? Hey Oren, I purchased one of those cheap gaming boxes to test it out today (along with a slew of other stuff for a whopping 4 big conferences coming up in the next month). Anyway, right when I opened it I could hear something rattling inside so I assumed it was potentially damaged. Tested it anyways and couldn't get that model to work. I set up everything correctly so it's most likely the box. The only potential fail point is that since my laptop is older and doesn't have HDMI out, and I don't have any Thunderboldt to HDMI convertors on hand, I just used my GH4 instead as the outgoing HDMI signal instead. So if for some reason that doesn't work for the capture box, then maybe it wasn't broken. Unrelated I did notice when I plugged in an external USB powered drive the gaming box would flutter as the power waxed and waned. When I plugged in an external that was DC powered it didn't. But either way it didn't work. I did read that apparently because it records to H.264 and not something like Apple ProRes 422, most people use flash drives of all things to store the captured video. In theory a 32 GB flash drive (according to one of the productions) would be 7-8 hours, so for test 2 I'll try that as well. Also for laptops that don't have HDMI out but have Thunderboldt, do you purchase a convertor to go that route? I'm assuming with the multiple different kinds of presentation machines they can't all have HDMI out. Last edited by Josh Hayes; September 30th, 2016 at 02:06 AM. Reason: Added flash drive info.

September 30th, 2016, 01:09 AM	#47
Josh Hayes Major Player Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: San Francisco, Ca Posts: 264	Re: Is there a new cheap updated switcher like the Atem Television Studio? Looks like of these boxes the 3 most popular on Amazon are the following. Other than the Elgato systems the other 2 have microphone jacks to record somekind of ambient audio for sync sound. Elgato Systems https://www.amazon.com/Elgato-System...apture+devices -doesn't do 1080 24P though. It's 1080 30P. I'm guessing that's going to be the case for everyone probably. Which means I need to run a conversion for 30P down to 24P or else I'll have slipping in the edit when I'm Multi Cam editing it. Haupauge HDPVR Rocket https://www.amazon.com/Hauppauge-Gam...2Bdevices&th=1 -also doesn't do 24P. -powered solely by the laptop. Standalone AVer Media Game Capture HD2 (points for being the coolest looking) https://www.amazon.com/AVerMedia-Def...apture+devices -AC powered -records Fat32 For the purposes of time for an upcoming conference, I'm going to go ahead and purchase 2 of the AVers, and 1 of the Pocket Rocket and see if either work. before next week. If not, there's no pressure from client, but hopefully they work! Last edited by Josh Hayes; September 30th, 2016 at 02:08 AM.

September 30th, 2016, 04:57 AM	#48
Donald McPherson Major Player Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Aberdeen Scotland Posts: 815	Re: Is there a new cheap updated switcher like the Atem Television Studio? The audio is for voice over when playing games. If you need more than one converter I would buy different makes as I could not get my two Elgatos to play nice. Bought an Aver and now I can get two streams working.

September 30th, 2016, 05:03 AM	#49
Josh Hayes Major Player Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: San Francisco, Ca Posts: 264	Re: Is there a new cheap updated switcher like the Atem Television Studio? Hi Donald. My plan was just to plug a mic in and all it has to pick up is the ambient room sounds so I can match that the XLR feed from the av crew I get at each conference. General setup for me is every camera records onboard audio but a portable audio recorder gets the XLR "drop" from AV with the good audio. I then syne them all together. I'm hoping plugging in an existing mic i own at the podium will pick up the speakers and stuff enough to be like another onboard camera level mic recording. Do you think that works or am I missing something?

September 30th, 2016, 11:20 AM	#50
Donald McPherson Major Player Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Aberdeen Scotland Posts: 815	Re: Is there a new cheap updated switcher like the Atem Television Studio? For audio I intend to try this battery powered mixer with a USB adapter. https://reverb-res.cloudinary.com/im...jzx0gkklof.jpg

October 2nd, 2016, 01:03 PM	#51
Josh Hayes Major Player Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: San Francisco, Ca Posts: 264	Re: Is there a new cheap updated switcher like the Atem Television Studio? yeah for the conferences I work on, it's a favor for AV to even consider letting me plug one of these boxes into their chain of equipment and record the slides (especially since that's a service they supply) so adding a mixer or something like that is totally out of the question.a small mic on the podium though, isn't.

September 27th, 2018, 01:47 PM	#52
Josh Hayes Major Player Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: San Francisco, Ca Posts: 264	Re: Is there a new cheap updated switcher like the Atem Television Studio? Hi folks. Thought it would interesting to check back in on this. Not sure much the end of the thread's conversation about game capture devices but about the original question about a "budget" switcher in the 1K or less range. Anything developed folks know about with a scaler?