Let's Talks Let's Plays

[thejackyl]

So me and a friend of mine are planning on doing some Co-Op Let's Plays. However we don't have some necessary video recording hardware.

We're both playing on his 360, and he's going to be recording via webcam (bear with me, please. I know that's horrible) because we don't have the hardware to record it like normal.

My question is, what exactly will we need to record the video/audio so that you can see/hear the game as well as our commentary. Note: This is just something we're doing for fun, so I don't want to blow a crapton of money on it.

 

[Fishyash]

Ideally, you would want a microphone and some sort of capture device. A few years ago people would be using Dazzle DVD recorders, but nowdays the standard seems to be HD PVRs. A high quality camcorder also works alright if you already have one, but it could cause subject to flickering (which is probably garunteed with a webcam)

I doubt a brand new dazzle shouldn't cost more than $50 (hopefully), and you should be able to get one cheaper 2nd hand.

However you will probably have to spend a little bit of money on it unless you are playing on PC, where fraps should suffice.

Spoiler: that is unless...

you want to be a potential Retsupurae target...

 

[ubersyanyde]

I recently started LPing without spending anything. This might not apply to you, but I just asked a bunch of friends if they had any of the equipment I needed and managed to borrow a DVC100 and Samson Q1U mic. If you can't find anyone willing to lend you equipment then you can probably get a cheap (less than £15) capture card on Amazon and use a laptop microphone instead. You can get free software like Audacity and GoldenVideo to use with the hardware. If you're recording PC games definitely go for Bandicam as your screen recorder.

Just a suggestion because you are gonna get so much shit for recording with a webcam, regardless of whether you're doing it for fun.

 

[thejackyl]

I told him we should hold off on recording until we get some decent equipment. I'm not too worried about our commentary's sound quality (I can get a few mics for about $30), but he's insistent on recording today.

I wish we could do PC games but I have a desktop that I'm not transporting back and forth, and his laptop isn't good enough for gaming. But if we're going to be LPing new games we play I don't think an HD PVR is going to break us completely. Though I'd rather not spend $200 on a new one.