Skyrim Video Capture Test: Recording NTSC with PAL Dazzle

I've been pretty busy the last month and it hasn't given me the option to update my blog as much as I like nor with the content that I actually HAVE to update it with.

Today I am bringing you two Skyrim related videos. One is a vocal cover by me of "Tale of the Tongues" and the other is just a Skyrim Video Capture recording test.

I really debated whether or not to make these 2 videos in a combined post, but as I feel I can say quite a bit about both, I decided to give them their own space. The first is the Video Capture Recording test.

Previously, I have been unable to bring videos or screen capture to my blog (outside of Rock Band) because I was unable to record any game that required PAL 60 in order to play. This is because I am the owner of a Dazzle DVC 100 series capture device.
While "inexpensive" (it is much cheaper now than when I bought mine a few years ago) and useful for someone who may not have the best computer to use an actual video capture card, it is actually pretty limited.

These capture devices can only record in PAL. Most games nowadays run PAL-60, so this gets to be a real problem. My copy of Skyrim was even purchased from the US, so it is NTSC. Attempting to launch the game in PAL-50 will give you an error on the xbox and you will be unable to play. Attempting to capture gameplay results in black and white and racing diagonal lines.

So I had pretty much given up hope on ever recording any game that was interesting. With the release of the Xbox Live Karaoke App (blog on that coming up soon), I got even more annoyed, I wanted to record! Thanks to some knowledgeable gamer friends on Facebook, I learned there was a work-around to get the Dazzle 100s to record PAL-60 games in color using amCap (which I already had on my machine from something I tried before with streaming). I dug around a bit on google and stumbled upon a very useful youtube video for anyone wanting to be able to use their Dazzle 100 series device to capture newer games in color: Dazzle Recording in Pal 60 Tutorial.

Basically you will need amCap (link provided in the video description) and you will be using the video filters of amCap to alter the image the way you want. This worked for me, I used SECAM_B and then just recorded with my usual software (Studio 11 Instant DVD Recorder). You will have to re-select the filter again once you click "record" with your device, so be sure to give yourself leeway in your recordings.

This is the test recording I did of Skyrim. As you can see it is in color, albeit not perfect quality and rather dark. However it is better than nothing and cheaper than buying a new device.