Elgato Game Capture HD lets you record PlayStation or Xbox gameplay to a Mac or PC. With advanced H.264 hardware encoding, you can capture in stunning Full HD quality, while keeping the file size small.
The gameplay is passed through to the TV via HDMI – in pristine quality, without delay. Elgato Game Capture HD doesn't need a lot of cables or even a power supply to record your game: With direct Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 input, you can use a single cable to connect it to your console.
The supplied software makes it easy to capture every move you make, even if you forget to press the record button: The unique Flashback Recording feature lets you timeshift your gameplay, so you can simply slide back in time on your Mac or PC and hit the record button retroactively. With one click, you can share your gameplay with your friends and fans on Facebook, Twitter or YouTube. Even better, the tailor-made Elgato Game Capture HD software lets you quickly trim your gaming scenes for later editing using your favorite editing software.
game capture HD
High Definition Game Recorder
Elgato Game Capture HD documentation
Your skills. Immortalized.
The Game Capture software is required to use Elgato Game Capture HD. It is available as a free download from http://www.gamecapture.com/download. Please download the latest version for your Mac or Windows PC.
Elgato Game Capture HD system requirements
Mac: Mac OS X 10.7, 2.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU
PC: Windows 7, 2.0 GHz dual core CPU, sound card
4 GB RAM, built-in USB 2.0 port
Alternatively, Mac users may use the Elgato EyeTV software to record and edit their gameplay. EyeTV supports Elgato Game Capture HD version 3.5.5 and later.
Elgato Game Capture HD includes the Game Capture device, a quick start guide and all the cables you need to connect the Elgato Game Capture HD device to your Mac or PC and to the most popular gaming consoles.
USB cable
Connects the USB 2.0 port on your Mac or Windows PC to the Mini-USB port on the Game Capture HD device.
HDMI cable
Connects the HDMI output on your Xbox 360 to the HDMI-In port on the Game Capture HD device.
PlayStation 3 cable
Connects the AV-Multi-Out port on your PlayStation 3 to the A/V-In port on the Game Capture HD device.
Component cable with analog audio
Connects the Component Video output and the analog audio output on other gaming consoles and devices to the A/V-In port on the Game Capture HD device.
Setting up your PlayStation 3 with the Elgato Game Capture HD only takes a few minutes.
Connect the AV-Multi-Out port on your PlayStation 3 to the A/V-In port on the Game Capture HD device using the supplied PlayStation 3 cable. Connect the HDMI-Out port on the Elgato Game Capture HD device to the HDMI input on your television using the supplied HDMI cable. Connect your Mac or Windows PC to the Elgato Game Capture HD device using the supplied USB to Mini-USB cable.
Press and hold the power button on your PlayStation 3 for 5-10 seconds until you hear a second beep. This will reset the display settings.
On your PlayStation 3, navigate to "Settings > Display Settings > Video Output Settings". Select "Component / D-Terminal" and press "X" or the right button to continue. Confirm your selection by pressing the "X" button and choosing "Yes" on the subsequent screen.
Enable "720p" and/or "1080i" output. Leave the "1080p" option unchecked. Press the right button to continue and select "Yes" on the following screen.
Press "X" to save your settings and select "Finish" to complete the setup of your PlayStation 3.
If you want, you can now set up the audio output settings as well.
Setting up your Xbox 360 with the Elgato Game Capture HD device only takes a few minutes.
Connect the HDMI output on your Xbox 360 to the HDMI-In port on the Elgato Game Capture HD device using the supplied HDMI cable. Connect the HDMI-Out port on the Elgato Game Capture HD device to the HDMI input on your television using the HDMI cable supplied with your Xbox 360. Connect your Mac or Windows PC to the Elgato Game Capture HD device using the supplied USB to Mini-USB cable.
First, check whether you have the latest version of Elgato Game Capture HD installed on your Mac or Windows PC (http://www.gamecapture.com/download). Once finished with the hardware setup, launch the Game Capture HD software. The software settings for Mac OS X and Windows are basically identical. In this guide we make specific reference to the differences.
Basic settings
Select the "Capture" tab and click the tools icon in the "Device" pane. Now select your gaming console in the "Input Device" option.
If you have connected a PlayStation 3, select "Component" for the "Input" option. For the Xbox 360, select "HDMI". The "Profile" option offers four video quality presets.
Mobile: 480x360 pixels
Standard: 640x480 pixels
HD 720: 1280x720 pixels
HD 1080: 1920x1080 pixels
Select your desired video quality.
The optional "Quality", "Picture" and "Audio" settings determine the frame capture rate, format, changes to brightness, contrast, saturation and hue as well as changes to recordings from analog sources ("Audio"). PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 users do not need to make any changes in this regard. You should now see your gaming console icon in the application window.
Gameplay library location
By default, Game Capture HD saves your gameplay recordings on the Mac in the "Movies" folder of your user home folder and on the PC in the "My Videos" folder of your user directory. If you want to change the library location, open the settings by clicking the small gear icon. Click "Change…" to select a new library location.
If you want to import your gameplay movies into iTunes and convert them for use on your Apple TV 2/3 or your iPad, you should activate the check box for Full HD resolution.
Windows users should activate the option "Automatically check for Updates". In Mac OS X you can download latest versions of Elgato Game Capture HD via the menu option "Check for updates…".
Once you have set up and configured your hardware and software, you can start recording your gameplay. In order for your gameplay videos to show up on YouTube and Facebook including the title, description and tags, you should populate those three fields in the "Tags" pane ("Capture" tab).
Game Capture HD will incorporate the selected tags into the recording.
Clicking the red button in the lower right corner starts gameplay capture. Your Game Capture HD even includes a timeshift function: if you forgot to press the record button, you can still record your gameplay retroactively. When the application is launched, Game Capture HD buffers your video data. Using the small slider at the bottom you can "return to the past".
Now start capturing. Once you are done capturing you will be able to trim your capture video, so feel free to record your game setup and a few training runs as well. Once you've got your high score captured, stop the capture by clicking the red capture button again.
You can easily trim your video and cut scenes before uploading it to YouTube or Facebook. Go to the "Edit" tab in Game Capture HD and select your capture.
You can navigate within your capture by clicking inside the timeline. Above the timeline you will see a time code. Using the +/- icons you can accelerate scrolling in the video. Clicking on the scissors icon will place a cut marker in the timeline. Insert a marker at the beginning of a scene you want to cut...
… and at the end.
Select this area inside the markers and press “Delete”. The selected scene will be deleted. You can use this feature to delete any undesired scenes from your video.
If you messed up trimming your video, use the menu option "File > Revert to Original" to restore the complete capture.
Once you have trimmed your gameplay, you can either keep it to yourself or share it with your friends and fans.
Sharing gameplay with iOS devices and computers
By clicking the Apple TV, iPad or iPhone icon in the "Sharing" pane, Game Capture HD will encode the video for the relevant device and transfer the converted file to iTunes. You can now synchronize your video with your iPhone and iPad or stream the video to your Apple TV.
Using OS X you can directly transfer your gameplay video to iMovie for further processing. Of course both the OS X and Windows version will let you save your video file locally on your computer.
Sharing gameplay on YouTube
If you want to share your gameplay video on YouTube, simply select your finished capture and click the YouTube icon. The first time you upload a video to YouTube using the Game Capture HD software, you will be prompted to enter your YouTube user name and password. If you don't have a YouTube account, simply create one via this dialog box.
Check your tags, select the category and start uploading.
Your web browser will automatically open upon completion of the upload and show the video on YouTube.
Sharing gameplay on Facebook
If you want to share your gameplay video on Facebook, simply select your finished capture and click the Facebook icon. Under "Share to" select whether you want to share this video with yourself only, with your friends, friends with acquaintances or all Facebook users.
Under "Video Provider" select where your video is to be hosted. If you have uploaded to YouTube before, you can leave this setting as is. Otherwise select "Facebook" to host it on Facebook.
Game Capture HD will initially encode the video for Facebook as a video provider. Once the encoding process is completed, the authentication dialog box will appear. Log in with your Facebook account data.