Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista

With the Hauppauge Capture application, you can plug your microphone into the 'mic input' on your PC. Hauppauge Capture will mix your game play audio with microphone audio. With Hauppauge Capture, there are seperate volume adjustments for game play and microphone audio. You can also add PC sound (music or Skype audio) to mix together PC audio with game audio and your game commentary.

http://www.hauppauge.com/capture

Here is a video which shows how to record game commentary with an Xbox 360

Here is a video which shows how to record game commentary with a PS3

In some cases, in order to have third party chat in your recordings and streams, you might need the Hauppauge Chat cable.

Hauppauge Capture supports HDMI, Component, S-Video and composite video sources. Audio can be from HDMI, SPDIF (on Hauppauge recorders with optical audio connectors) or left/right audio.

No.

If you have a video source with HDMI out and the HDMI is protected with HDCP, this video cannot be recorded.

On game consoles, you can turn off HDCP so that your game play can be recorded (you can find instructions to do this with the Xbox One and PS4 on the Hauppauge support page).

With cable or satellite boxes, if your HDMI video is protected with HDCP, you can use Component video. Component video is HD and can always be recorded.

Sometimes the audio sampling rate of the microphone is not matched to the audio recording. In order to match them up, set the sampling rate of the microphone to 48Khz. Here's how to do this:

• On your PC, go to the speaker icon on the right side of your desktop's toolbar, right-click the speaker icon and select "Recording devices".
• Then in the new window that opens, locate your microphone and the right-click it in the list and select the option "Properties". A new window called "Microphone Properties" will open.
• Go to the "Advanced" tab. There you'll see a section named "Default Format", click the drop down menu and select this from the list: 2 channel, 16 bit, 48000 Hz (DVD Quality). Then click apply, restart your PC and give the recording another try.

Yes. In Hauppauge Capture, set the Video Source to Composite or S-Video.

Recordings from composite or S-Video are still made in the H.264 format.

To use S-Video with some Hauppauge recorders, you will need to use the optional Hauppauge AV cable model 6021252 which you purchase on the Hauppauge Webstore.

The basic problem is that the Nintendo Switches' HDMI resolution, in 'Atomatic' mode, is not what the HD PVR 2 needs to sync up.

To fix this:

• In the Switch settings System settings > TV output > TV resolution, change from 'Automatic' to either 720p or 1080p
• you must connect the power to the docking station before connecting the HDMI lead to the HD PVR 2

Some users have reported that they get audio in their recordings, but do not hear audio on their monitor. We find that this is caused by the Hauppauge HD PVR 2 being able to accept AC-3 audio but the monitor is only two channel audio.

In Hauppauge Capture, go to the Advanced Settings -> Audio Encode and click the button which says 'Disable HDMI AC3 support'. This forces your video source to output 2 channel audio which should work with your monitor. Then power cycle all your devices: your game console or video source, your monitor and the HD PVR 2. When you power everything up again, the HD PVR 2 will report that it can only do 2 channel audio and you should now have audio from your monitor.

Hauppauge Capture uses any webcam, either HD or standard definition, as long as it has a 'raw' YUV or YUY2 mode. MJPEG and other compressed formats are not used. Your webcam can be 4:3 or 16:9. Popular webcams include the Microsoft Lifecam HD-3000 plus, if you have a laptop, the built-in webcam.

Hauppauge Capture chooses the most suitable video mode supported by your webcam. You can set the size of the video, and the format (4:3 or 16:9) in the Settings menu of Hauppauge Capture.

Yes. Connect the yellow cable from your console (Nintendo, PS2, Wii or any other game console which has a yellow composite video connector) to the Blue connector on the Hauppauge AV cable. Then connect the red and white audio cables from your Wii to the red and white connectors on the Hauppauge AV cable. Then, in Hauppauge Capture, select Composite under Video input and Line In under Audio input.

Here is a video which shows you how to use the HD PVR 2 with an Nintendo 64: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mb541Ww09jg

If your satellite or cable box or DVR has Component Video connections on the back of the receiver (normally Red/Green/Blue or marked YPrPb), then the answer is "yes". By connecting the Component video output from your high definition cable TV or satellite TV set top box to the Component video inputs of the HD PVR 2 or Rocket, you will be able to record the TV programs coming from your set top box to the hard disk. Component video connections are normally the Red/Green/Blue connectors on the back of a set top box. Sometimes they are also called YPrPb or YCrCb connectors

If your cable box only has HDMI, you might need an HDMI to Component video converter. Here is a diagram on how this converter is connected.

Hauppauge Capture supports H.264 recordings in the TS, MP4 and M2TS format. The video quality of MP4 and TS files are the same.

If you are recording from a USB-Live2, recordings are made in an MPEG-2 format.

If you are using the HD PVR 2 there are three ways of bringing audio into HD PVR 2: through the Line In (RCA) stereo audio jacks on the A/V connector, through the HDMI connector or through the optical audio connector (on HD PVR models with SPDIF support). When bringing audio in through the stereo jacks, audio is recorded as MPEG 1 layer 2 audio. When bringing audio in through the HDMI connector, the audio is also recorded as either AC3 or in MPEG 1 layer 2 format. Only HD PVR 2 models with SPDIF support will record AC3 audio.

If you are using the HD PVR Rocket or HD PVR Pro 60 recordings are always made with MPEG 1 layer 2 audio.

Yes. Recordings made with Hauppauge Capture are either in TS, M2TS or MP4 formats, which can be immediately uploaded to YouTube without conversion. Hauppauge Capture records from HD PVR's in an H.264 form which is used by YouTube. And the Hauppauge Capture Edit tab allows you to trim your videos very quickly without the need to re-encode.

Yes for recording, no for streaming. With the latest version of Hauppauge Capture, you can record your videos with a webcam in your recordings. This is called the 'Facecam' feature in Hauppauge Capture. Facecam allows you to specify the location and size of video from your webcam in your recordings.

This happens if you connected your PS3 using HDMI and now want to use Component video so you can record with HD PVR 2.

To fix, you need to reset the video settings on your PS3. To do this:
- Make sure you have the HDMI cable disconnected on your PS3
- Then push the PS3 power button on the front of the PS3. You should see the light go Red. This means your PS3 is turned off.
- Then hold down the PS3's power button until you hear two beeps (one beep, then about 5 seconds and a second beep).
Your PS3 should now be set to Component video out and you should see video in the preview window in Hauppauge Capture.

• 1. Go to the Xbox Guide Menu
• 2. Go along to settings.
• 3. Select Voice.
• 4. Go down to voice output and select 'Play though both'. This will make the audio play out your TV and through your mic at the same time.

Depending on what game you are on, I highly recommend you turn down game volume as well as sometimes voice chat can't be heard because the game volume is too loud. However I guarantee that there will be a way to turn down your audio setting on whatever game you are on. Make sure you make it loud enough to hear, but quiet enough to make the voice chat clear and easy to hear.

Most of the time this is caused by either one of the Component video connectors is not connected or you have swapped one of the colours. For example, if the Red connector is not connected correctly, your video picture will look green.

If you are running an AMD graphics card in the PC which the HD PVR 2 is connected to, you may experience a slight change in brightness every few seconds while in the preview or edit screens. This is due to an issue with hardware acceleration that we have seen in some AMD drivers. This shift does not affect recordings and typically can be eliminated by either changing drivers for the graphics card or by disabling Hardware acceleration.

This is caused by either a slow processor in your laptop or desktop PC, or the display adapter is having a problem. Make sure your video card meets the minimum requirements. Also try updating to the latest drivers supplied by the manufacturer.
In September 2012, there was a problem with the ATI graphics driver which would cause jerky video or freezing of the video screen. This should be fixed with an update from ATI on their graphics drivers.

Some set top boxes will disable or turn off the component output if the HDMI or DVI output is being used. Check to see how you have your Television connected to your set top box. You might need to disconnect the HDMI connector on your set top box when you want to record TV programs.

In order for the audio pass through to operate, you need to configure the Audio settings in the Hauppauge Capture application. Click on the Capture tab. In the Audio input section, choose your audio source from the drop down menu ( RCA, HDMI ). Once configured, the HD PVR 2 will retain these settings. Note: the HD PVR 2 must be powered on for the pass through to operate.

Increasing the recording bitrate will eliminate motion artifacts in your recordings. In Haupauge Capture, in the Capture tab make sure Variable is selected. Than start with Quality set to 11 Mbits/sec. This should give you very good quality. You can continue to increase the Quality up to a maximum of 14 Mbists/sec.

You can experiment with other settings, but in our experience, these are good for uploading to YouTube.

• Video record resolutions are 1080p30, 720p60, 540p60, 480p60 and a number of downscale variants of these formats.
• You can record at datarates from 1Mbs to 13.5Mbs. If you choose Variable, the maximum recording datarate is about 1.5 times the selected rate. As an example, if you have Variable selected and set the Quality to 14Mbits/sec, the maximum rate will be about 21 Mbits/sec.

Approximately 2 GB per hour at 5Mb/s setting.
Approximately 4 GB per hour at 9Mb/s setting.
Approximately 6 GB per hour at 13.5 Mb/s setting.

Check for the presence of "Constant Guard" from Exfinity. If present, uninstall it, then re-run the installation for Hauppauge Capture. Once installed you can reinstall Constant Guard.

Here's a tip from an HD PVR 2 user:
"With the Xbox One, to record game commentary I do this: in Kinect settings, use the Kinect mic which forces the party chat to come out of the TV speakers. The Hauppauge game recorder will then pick up the party chat when recording game audio.

In order to record your voice (which won't come through the speakers and be picked up), you need to have a Mic plugged in to your PC and place near your face as you do. Then make sure in Hauppauge Capture you select the mic in the drop down menu and set level.

Then you will get the game chat and the game audio recorded, and you speak to your party via Kinect microphone. Basically, one mic to chat with your party and one mic to record your game commentary."

Device Central is a Windows service which monitors the record button on your Hauppauge recorder. Sometimes Device Central will close. If so, you can restart it by going to Windows Explorer and looking in ProgramFiles -> Hauppauge -> DeviceCentral and then running the program HCWDCTrayTool.exe

Hauppauge Capture, with most HD PVR recorders, can adjust the colour settings of both the recordings and the passthrough video.

To adjust the colour settings, open Hauppauge Capture and go to the Capture tab. Then click the Advanced button at the bottom and go to Video Proc Amp. Here you will see the colour and briteness settings.