The Roxio Game Capture HD Pro allows gamers to capture their console game play on their Windows PC for video proof of your gaming prowess with editing software to put those finishing touches to video or capture and stream live on the internet.
Ease of Use, Performance: 3/5
Look & Feel: 4/5
Features 4/5
How much I enjoy 4/5
Total: 4/5 Stars
Roxio creates a variety of video and photo editing software for both home and business use and also manufactures a creative console video capture device that allows gamers to save video directly from their favorite games onto their computer. The Roxio Game Capture HD Pro connects between your gaming console and your television or monitor to capture video and audio from your game to save to your computer over a USB connection.
The Game Capture device is a component or HDMI connected device that allows simultaneous capture and continued gameplay while gaming on your favorite console and video game. The device is easy to set up with simple connections using two inputs of HDMI or Component cables and the same output to your monitor or television and the USB output to your computer.
The Roxio Game Capture HD Pro comes with the capture device, a USB cable, drivers and software CD and quick start installation guide but you will need either HDMI cables or component cables depending on your console. An Xbox 360 or Wii connects with either the HDMI or component cables and the PlayStation 3 only connects using the component cable to the console but you can connect the Game Capture to a TV or monitor using an HDMI cable.
The computer powers the Game Capture HD Pro as well as captures video while you game and later uses the video editing software or you can stream directly to Justin.TV which was much easier than I thought it would be. Over the weekend I worked a bit at Live Streaming with an account at Justin.TV which was a bit confusing when researching the streaming site until I found out that Twitch.TV is the gaming section on Justin.TV.
The Roxio Game Capture Pro easily set up and captured a live stream and sent it directly to the live streaming site where I was able to view it later as well as edit the name and description after it saved on the site. You can also just as easily set up the Roxio program to save the video and audio to your computer’s hard drive and edit the video using the Roxio Videowave editing program.
You can splice, edit and add voice narration as well as titles and transitions but the video editing program is a basic one and not a very feature filled editing program which mainly lacks a cut tool for clips. I found working with clips and editing them down to the useful parts was a bit repetitive because you can only cut the beginning and end of clips off when editing in the timeline view.
This means when you add a full clip of recorded video to the timeline you will need to start the clip in the editor and set the beginning of the clip and the end then let it process that clip. If you want to add a different section of video from the same clip you need to add the clip to the timeline and reposition the start and end points of the same clip but to the different times of the clip to get a different section.
This reading the same clip when I want four different sections only means a little extra time and effort of which I am more than willing to deal with when it comes to the price of the video capture solution and how easy it is to use. I had the Roxio Game Capture up and running in minutes after buying the requisite composite cable for the PlayStation 3 and found I did not have many problems that retrying did not solve.
I did have the live stream cut out for some reason but I am sure it was my internet connection and not the game capture itself so the problems I did have with live streaming was negligible. I have had online video gaming also loose the connection from time to time so this is not something I would be concerned with and the live streaming does make a great way to share your gaming prowess with the world.
I could not get the UpLoadTo Facebook to work but I am not sure if this is even a worthwhile feature as I would much rather save the video and upload directly to the site or to my own site and just share a link to it on Facebook. Roxio is getting back to me on the problems I am having but I’m not going to hold my breath as this is not a major feature I see people using all that often.
The Roxio Game Capture HD Pro does work well with the PlayStation 3 but only over the component connections due to HDCP protection that the console system uses to protect copyrighted material. The HDMI worked well for my Wii console as well and I streamed a section of gameplay to Justin.TV of Skylanders Giants that can be viewed following this link.
The Roxio also captures PC Gaming as well for a simple solution to capture, edit and share the gaming you do over the computer but this is not a main function of the system as there are better solutions for that like Fraps. This does make a great all in one solution as it does have the editor that easily cuts down the boring parts of a video and can let you show off the meat of your gaming easily and simply.
The Roxio Game Capture HD Pro does cost about $120 and is readily available on the internet and in stores like Best Buy; the Roxio is about the lowest cost device that captures console gameplay I could find. I highly recommend the Roxio Game Capture HD Pro for a great console video gaming capture device that allows you to stream and edit video of your best gaming moments to savor and share.
Game Capture HD Pro at Roxio
Game Capture Video at Justin.TV/Twitch.TV
Game Capture Video at JeffsReviews.com
