High-definition game recorder
Ratings: 5/5
Price: $279.95
www.gamecapture.com
Elgato’s
new Game Capture HD is capable of capturing video directly from all HDMI
devices
Elgato’s new Game Capture HD is capable of
capturing video directly from all HDMI devices – including the iPad, iPhone and
iPod touch, but primarily from games consoles.
The idea is that it sits between the device
and your HDMI television. Video passes through the device and a USB connection
siphons it off to a connected computer (Mac or PC). The software records the
footage while you play along on television.
Gamers are particularly keen on this
because they can play on while recording all footage of their session, then any
particularly impressive gaming video moments can be shared with friends on
YouTube.
Setting up the device is simple enough, and
it comes with a spare HDMI cable so you don’t need to buy an extra one. There
are no batteries or power required and you just plug it in and go.
The software side of things is provided by
Elgato’s Game Capture HD program. With this you just click the record button
and it quietly squirrels away capturing video in the background. You can also
do basic edits (in an iMovie selection-style) where you pick the footage you
want, and then either save it to disk or share it via email or YouTube (and
then via Facebook, Twitter and so on).
You can also export it direct to Apple TV,
iPhone or ProRes (a lossless format used in professional broadcasting).
Where it gets more interesting is its
ability to also capture video from an iOS device. There are two ways to connect
– by using an Apple Digital AV Adaptor or by connecting an Apple TV to the Game
Capture HD and using AirPlay to send the video wirelessly from your iOS device,
to the Apple TV, and then through to the Mac.
Elgato informed us that they found the
quality slightly higher when using the Apple TV method, and we tested both
styles with the new iPad but seemed to get pretty high quality footage either
way.
Editing video clips and sharing them via
YouTube is mercifully simple. Click the Edit tab and you can drag the start and
end of the clips to shorten them, and a Split button enables you to slice clips
into shorter, more manageable segments.
The only shame is we’d prefer it to have
the drag-and-select type functionality found in iMovie, where you don’t have to
splice up clips, but just drag a marquee selection around the area you want.
The editing features are fairly straightforward:
you can’t add voiceover or additional audio to your clips. So you’ll need to
head into a video-editing program such as iMovie or Final Cut if you want to do
something special. But that’s not really a problem because you’d probably want
to use that sort of program for editing at any rate.
Sharing via social networking sites is
simple enough. Once you’ve entered your account details, the Game Capture HD
software takes care of the rest. You can enter a title, description and tags
into the software itself.
Macworld Australia’s buying advice. We really like the Elgato Game Capture HD. The device and software
is simple (in a good way) and it does exactly what it sets out to do: enable
you to record video with the game console or iOS device with the minimum of
hassle.
Legato has just updated its Game Capture HD
software to version 1.0.1, which supports Mountain Lion.
