Someone pointed this out and I’m gonna pop in to say that even though the Yeti was not my cup of tea, it’s still a fantastic microphone. I wouldn’t say it’s a waste of money or anything like that; a lot of it boils down to preference and what works best for you.
Also, if Dxtory is hands-down better than FRAPS, it might be best to move it to top in the list for PC recording (putting FRAPS near the bottom maybe).
I’d recommend a pop filter, which is something you can make yourself with common items found in most homes
Extremely seconding this making it into the OP, a $7 pop filter will do more for the listenability of your voice than pretty much anything else you could spend that money on
I think you’re overstating Avermedia’s issues here. I know my streams have had issues due to trying to circumvent HDCP without a splitter, but if you’re not doing HDCP stuff, I don’t think it’s a major issue. Maybe Elgato HD60-S is that much better? but I think it comes down to the software more than the hardware. I’d still recommend it.
Also if this is really intended as “your first LP guide” the AVISynth part is pretty dense and also Premiere etc. does give you the option to apply templates to other videos - it’s not true at all that only scripts can do that. AVISynth is really best for “I have NO money to spend on editing software, nor will I ever.” GUI-based software is really hands down better for this and any video editing work.
For 0-money video editing, isn’t the option of Lightworks better? I’ve only worked in it for one video, but it seems usable enough and the only huge downside of its free version is the maximum export of 720p, but it’s certainly better than relegating people to a command-line only option.
I think it’s a fair point about Avisynth, same as Fraps. Both I ended up including largely out of respect to their legacy in LP, in a time when free software was garbage and paid software at a reasonable price wasn’t that plentiful.
I’m writing some notes on tweaks I can make to what’s already there and what I can add in tonight; aside from Shadowplay/Share, does anyone think there are important pieces of hardware or software that should go in this first section?
There’s also a really annoying, but totally works, method to getting raw video built in recorders on emulators.
When you record a video to .avi format on a emulator, it can make the game absolutley unplayable. However the recording does not keep the lagging and plays back normal. In order to get around the terrible lagging, you can use a secondary recording option that only records your inputs. With this, you can record you playing using the input option, then you use the replay, and record in .avi. You’ll have to wait quite a while, but it’s great if you currently have no access to any of your tools…
If I may toss a hat in to the ring here, a good cheap microphone solution I’ve found is CAD’s U37 USB Condenser mic.
I don’t know how reliable it is if you have more than one of these plugged in at the same time, but for doing stuff all by my lonesome the quality has generally been pretty nice by my standards. Here’s a recent stream archive I did for the Freedom Planet 2 Sample using this mic. It’s currently under $40 on Amazon, which is very acceptable (I paid $45). It even comes with its own stand, though it’s a bit cheap.
I ended up buying a foam cover and a pop filter for it, for what it’s worth. The filter is heavy enough that it threatens to tip the stand over, but that may just be the weird way I angle the mic (it’s not like it is in Amazon’s pic).
It might have been just my system, but I have had so many issues with Lightworks rendering my videos at the wrong framerate (and with that messing up my commentary completely because it’s sped up). It’s still a good 0 money video editing solution, but if you can get it down the line, Premiere is also good.
Also, if suggesting pricey options is OK and you’ve been doing this for a while/intend to do it for a while, I’ve had a lot of mileage from Electro-Voice’s RE-320. It’s not a USB mic, so you need a sound card for it as well (I went with the Scarlett Solo Focusrite). It’s very good for solo commentary and works well enough for duo commentary if you can place it between two people. Here’s the Blue Snowball VS the RE320 using the same setup.
But again, you can make bad mics sound good with the proper environment and good mics sound bad with the bad environment.
I got my Yeti on sale, which cut the price in half, and I’ve been very happy with it so far. Along with a pop filter, it does wonders for my voice which tends to be low and kinda soft (and I have very sharp S’s which sounded just awful on my previous headset). I actually received comments about my voice being “wonderful to listen too” after I switched. To be fair though, the $30 logitech headset I was using before just wasn’t all that great to begin with.
I will say that the Yeti is definitely much bigger than I was expecting, but didn’t really get in the way since my desk space is decent. Getting a mic stand would probably solve most space issues. Either one that sits on the floor and has a mic arm, or one that attaches to a desk like those drawing lamps.
Hey everybody, I found the post limit, it’s 32000 characters.
So do people think I should post each major section of the guide as a new post in this thread and link to it from the OP, or create new threads for each? In fact, as I type that now the answer sounds pretty obvious.
Well, I’ve added most of part two of the guide, and that’s all gonna go here in the next day or two when I finish it off and can’t fit it in the OP. I also removed some of the outdated software recommendations, and I’ll definitely get to putting Shadowplay in the OP at some point.
I’m looking at getting Vegas so I can start using something that’s not AviSynth, but it turns out there’s like three versions. Can someone familiar with the software please break down for me the limitations of each?
I’m looking at getting Vegas so I can start using something that’s not AviSynth, but it turns out there’s like three versions. Can someone familiar with the software please break down for me the limitations of each?
I don’t know about Vegas 13, but I remember using the “Studio” version of Vegas 9 for a while and it was identical to Pro except you were limited to 4 video layers, 4 audio tracks and you couldn’t use third-party plugins.
Judging by this product comparison page, that limit has been boosted to 10 layers for the basic $50 version. The $80 version tosses in hardware-accelerated video encoding, which, depending on the volume of video you’re going to be putting out, sounds pretty essential. Without hardware accelerated encoding, your videos will likely take 2-3 times longer to render (read: hours instead of minutes).
If i can make a couple suggestions, pixlr is a pretty feature rich photoshop clone (and free) web app that i find really good for making quick image edits.
I also don’t see this advice very often, so I try to spread it when I can: an XLR condenser mic will almost universally get you far higher quality recordings in the same price range of USB mics. The downside is you will need a mixer and potentially a powersource. It will take up more space but likely still be within the range of or cheaper than the USB mic (with the bonus of upgrading your mic not fucking with your whole setup)
I personally use a Behringer c-3 XLR into xenyx802 mixer, plugged directly into my PC via L-R 1/4 cable to standard stereo 3.5mm, though i might actually recommend getting the next step up microphone from what im currently using if you can.
I’m gonna throw this suggestion in here, HitFilm 4 Express is a semi-professional level editor, almost comparable to Sony Vegas or Adobe Premier, I say almost because it does lack a few features, but it does have the necessities, multiple timelines, masking, frame exportation and moving tracks. It also comes bundled with quite a few stock special effects that aren’t in the other programs. There are a few short comings however, you are limited the formats you can output to (MP4, AVI and GIF) and some visual effect you would think would be standard are behind a pay wall.
There is also a paid version but if you want to dump money into editing software, I would recommend going with one of the big 2 (Premiere or Vegas). I would generally only recommend HitFilm to people who are just dipping their toes into the pool of editing with out diving into the cost sea.
Two other things unrelated to Hitfilm, I second getting a XLR microphone, I’ve been using a AudioTechnica AT2035 Condensor Mic run through a Behringer U-PHORIA UM2 audio interface for the past year or so for my streams and voice acting endeavors, and it sounds wonderful, the initial price may be a little steep when first buying in but it is so worth it.
Last thing, please learn to use the noise removal effect in audacity or audition, it one of the most useful audio related things I’ve ever learned.
Everybody thank Bob for increasing the post limit by a tad. And then two or three more tads. He put a zero on the end of it is what I’m saying.
Added webcams, put in some more easy links to follow, and I think I’ll have either the next or next-next section of the guide be a collection of thread recommendations, to highlight posts from here all in one place. If that’s not the next thing I work on, it’ll be writing or finding some simple guides to some of the software, as requested by a couple of people already.
For now, though, that’s pretty much all I have to offer on just the hardware and software side, at least until I learn more about SSLP software. I’ll be back sometime soon with another thread to go over the basic LP workflow, putting the various things you’ve acquired here to use to actually make your LP video and thread, and answering some questions I see asked around fairly often.
I actually had a question about space. I record in my bedroom which is kind of L-shaped. I’m in the shorter L with my desk and shit all against the wall. I’d take a picture for better reference, but my room is a fucking mess and that’s embarrassing to show off.
Basically, I get loads of sound from my massive window to the outside world - cars and shit, drunk assholes late at night when it’s usually quiet enough in my place to record. Obviously, I can just work around that, but that’s really my only issue (I think), I don’t think my mic causes much echo in it’s current state? I don’t know if there’s any way to fix the whole external noise thing? For reference, I have the AT2020, the XLR one? (I used to be big into podcasting and I also do/try to do voiceover stuff, so I’ve just kind’ve invested in audio equipment over the past few years anyway)
If you would like a picture or something, to give me some tips on my workspace or anything, it’d be appreciated. But you’ve been forewarned about shitty, kinda lazy roomkeeping habits.
You’re looking for a shotgun mic, and you probably wanna look into something like this noise gate plugin for Audacity and hope you’re not talking while a noise is happening.
For those who may be having trouble setting up Voicemeeter, I just made a pretty rad guide on how to do it
Does anyone use room dividers for better acoustics? I know some folks do this when they don’t have a dedicated recording space and I’d like to know if it’s worthwhile.