Test-driving the Roxio Game Capture HD Pro

Roxio-1

The new generation of consoles are placing a much heavier emphasis on social gaming, not only in multiplayer aspects in-game but also in sharing gameplay footage and live streaming. Although screenshots, DVR recording and live streaming are becoming standard features of new gen consoles, these are still very basic options that do not accommodate picture-in-picture streaming with webcams, nor do they come with full-featured software for editing the footage. These are features that gamers turned to third-party game capture devices for a solution and we at Save Game are no different. For our weekly Twitch segment, Tash Plays A Turd (affectionately known as #TPAT), we used a trusty Hauppauge HD PVR which worked well with previous gen consoles. But because new gen consoles do not support component outputs, it was time to move on to a capture device with HDMI support and we decided to try out the Roxio Game Capture HD Pro (product page).

The Hardware

Firstly, it is important to note that the PlayStation 4 HDMI output is encrypted and will not work with any capture devices yet. Sony has mentioned that they plan to release a software update to disable the encryption, but have not said when. At the time of this review, the Roxio Came Capture HD Pro will only work with the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Wii and Wii U.

The hardware is simple to set up. In the box is the Roxio Game Capture HD Pro itself and a USB cable.The Roxio is a compact and portable piece of equipment that is fairly non-intrusive to any home entertainment setup. For anyone who already has compatible consoles connected to their TV, it’s a matter of switching it directly to the Roxio’s input ports, then connecting another set of HDMI or component cables from its output slots back to the TV. Unfortunately, the Roxio is not ready to use out-of-the-box as it does not come with additional HDMI or component cables. The included USB cable is used to connect the device to a PC with the included Roxio Game Capture software and also to power the device itself.

While logistically the Roxio is straightforward to setup, it took some reconstructing and restarting to fix blank screen and off-centre overscan issues. I’ve tested the Roxio out on multiple occasions, and it does not always connect flawlessly the first time, and the usual setup process has been rather fidgety. I have also tested mixed input-output formats to try different combinations of HDMI input/component output, and component input/HDMI output. It is said that this should work, however I was never able to get any signal from the Roxio to the TV.

Roxio-2

The Software

The Roxio Game Capture is a Windows program that was included in the box and it is friendly and intuitive to use. Apart from standard recording of the capture footage, the software includes basic features to edit the footage with trimming and transition effects, add voice overs and capture screenshots. It also features live streaming directly to any Twitch account with live audio commentary—an option oddly not available for general recording of gameplay footage. Moreover, a note for multiplayer fans, the Roxio only captures the game audio and does not record any chat audio.

Again, these are only basic features, and live streaming using the Roxio software does not enable users to add extra elements to their footage, such as picture-in-picture or image overlays. For this, we turned to a piece of third-party software.

Roxio and XSplit

Often, to get picture-in-picture live streaming, many people recommend using Xsplit. Xsplit has the option of using the capture device footage and overlaying picture-in-picture from a webcam, however this is only available for paid users of their freemium subscription model.

To live stream with the “demo” version, the setup consists of using the supplied game capture software to preview the game audio and video on the PC, then using Xsplit to record the PC’s screen region of the capture preview and adding a webcam input source, which worked flawlessly with the Hauppauge and its supplied software. Unfortunately, some users have reported the problem of the Roxio software capture preview screen region in Xsplit only showing a blank/black screen. The fix for this in Xsplit, is as easy as checking the “Disable Aero Theme” box, but is incompatible in Windows 8.

For #TPAT purposes of live streaming game footage with picture-in-picture, Tash and I ultimately decided to cough up for an Xsplit subscription, which allowed us to negate the Roxio Game Capture software altogether. And although having paid for the Roxio support in Xsplit, there were inexplicable times where the footage from the device to the software had dropped frames and choppy audio in the preview window, even with optimised settings and while not broadcasting or recording.

Ultimately the practicality of a Roxio Game Capture HD depends on individual users’ needs. If the criteria is to simply record and edit game footage for later use, the Roxio device and its software could work directly out of box (if it had an extra HDMI cable). If users are looking to live stream their gameplay with basic audio commentary, the built-in streaming features of the PlayStation 4 may prove more useful than having the extra device. I imagine this would also apply to the Xbox One—although it does not yet have the features to live stream, Microsoft has said the Xbox One will have Twitch streaming support by “the first part of 2014”. The Roxio can also still be used for basic live streaming with previous gen consoles.

However if users are looking for a more sophisticated setup, Xsplit still provides the essential features that Roxio’s software falls short on, but is still far from the smoothest solution. I am hesitant to say that the combination has been entirely unreliable based on the few uses, however it was not an enjoyable experience grappling with something that seemed so simple but was actually so temperamental, using only one capture device and one piece of software, simply to achieve a picture-in-picture live stream.


Be Sociable, Share!

    About the Author: (@Steenium) Writer and Web & Graphic Designer

    Christine

    Christine began gaming in the days of the NES and has been a fan ever since. She plays almost any genre of games but is partial to RPG, action-adventure and shooters. Mass Effect, Dragon Age, and Borderlands are some of her favourite series. She also has a love-hate relationship with Assassin's Creed, and a very shameful addiction to all things Final Fantasy. When she's not playing games, or writing about them, or working on the Save Game website, she's probably rearranging her display of gaming collectables.