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<<------------------------------ AVerMedia Live Gamer HD (C985) Guide --------------------------->>
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Table of Contents:
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// 1. The Live Gamer HD
// 2. Setting it up
// 3. Recording
// 4. Streaming with XSplit
// 5. Q/A & Bugs
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•| The Live Gamer HD |•
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The AVerMedia Live Gamer HD is one of the most flexible Capture Cards out there.
Not only is it one of the very few Capture Cards designed with PC Streaming in mind, it also comes with a "cheap" price compared to what it's capable of doing.
This card supports both Console and PC Capturing, keep in mind that it doesn't work on HDCP.
Luckily there are workarounds, which I will get into later.
Main Features:
- Capturing (Input/Output Table)
Unlike any other card I've seen, this card allows you to select a different output for Capturing than what you're actually playing on. For example; You're playing on 1080p which would limit you to 1080p@30FPS capturing, but the card will display the correct image if you set it to output 720@60FPS.
- Encoding
This is a feature that I would not expect on a card at this pricing.
When supported correctly, like in XSplit, this feature would take over the Encoding Job which is usually handled by the CPU. I'll go into more details about this interesting feature later.
- RECentral
I did not include this under Capturing because RECentral is unique, it allows you to capture on very VERY low CPU usage. Luckily this does not influence quality either, this card is a real must-have for people that want to record Gameplay and upload it to Youtube.
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•| Setting it Up |•
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Alright, time to set things up!
I will list the most common setups, mainly any source input will work as long the image is either in HDMI or a properly converted HDMI signal. Make sure the Input is supported
Make sure you've installed the card correctly, to check if it's working like it should go to the Device Manager (Control Panel->Device Manager) If it's working correctly it'll look like this;
Image
If it has an error, you've most likely placed the card in a uncompatible slot. Make sure you've plugged it in a supporting slot (PCI-e)
- Single-PC Setup: Image Setup
The setup is pretty simple and XSplit handles the audio, no hassle! [:
- Dual-PC Setup: Image Setup
The Setup is the same as the Single-PC, but with the Main PC's GFX Card outputting to the Capture Card in the Second PC. The only troublesome thing now is to capture the audio, most of us are headset users and therefor love that XSplit is able to capture the audio just fine without any messing around. I'll be honest and say that I haven't found a reliable fix for this as solutions like VAC and Stereo-Mix outputting will cause delay and/or your "surround sound" to malfunction.
I personally use a Siberia V2 USB Headset which basically converts audio with a dongle, which means it still has normal audio cables. I split them to the Avermedia Audio Audio-In which allows me to still hear surround just fine and it actually allows the Viewers to make use of the surround as well!
- Xbox 360 Setup: Image Setup
Simple Setup, pass through, no issues.
- PS3 Setup: Image Setup
Converter Box tested and works fine!
Fortunately, the card itself comes with three cables. DVI to HDMI, HDMI to DVI and an HDMI Cable, which only leaves you to buy the converter box.
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•| Recording |•
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Want to record some good footage for your Youtube Channel or simply mess about?
The program that comes with this card, RECentral, is simply amazing. It will be very easy on the PC and allows you to play at much higher FPS than you normally could. The best part is that your Quality doesn't have to suffer. RECentral offers you all kinds of options and even gives you the flexibility to simply just having press the Recording Button that comes with the card to start recording right away.
I can however not go into specific details on the quality you'll have after your editing, as far as I've seen it has some amazing output quality though. I can recommend watching this video
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•| Streaming with XSplit |•
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Now that everything's set up and ready, you can finally get to streaming your gameplay!
A lot of people get stuck on this part, not knowing how to deal with this or are wondering how well it would perform compared to their current setup.
- If you are wondering if this card will be worth it
Encoding
I can tell you straight-up that Encoding with the Avermedia Live Gamer is a let-down, you are limited to what the card can handle on encoding which means you won't have encoding presets to choose. Even when compared to the superfast preset it doesn't seem worth the money if you're going down this road. If your setup is too weak to handle the encoding, you'd be better off upgrading your gear than to buy this card to handle the Encoding.
Capturing
You can simply test this by just having a capture source selected in XSplit and running it in the background while you're playing the game. Compare the Average FPS you get to your Normal FPS with XSplit off. The difference between those two is the FPS Drop you're getting because of simply capturing the gameplay with your current method. The Live Gamer would make up for the entire FPS drop. Based on this you can see if it's worth it for you or not, keep in mind that non-capture card methods can break with some games.
You can then see how much of an extra drop you get by Streaming(Encoding), keep in mind that the slower the preset is the more of a drop you're likely to see. You will continue seeing that extra FPS drop with the Live Gamer.
- How to set it up with XSplit
Assuming your card is connected correctly, you should have no problem selecting the card as a capture option. It'll show up as "AVerMedia HD Capture C985" along with your Bus number.
Image
Selecting it should provide Image directly, no matter the settings for it.
You can now focus on customizing everything to your liking, most people rush for 1920x1080, which I actually don't recommend. 1080p requires far more bitrate than 720p to looks good, this may not be an issue for your enormous upload speed, but you have to keep in mind that the viewers will have to be able to download your bitrate per second. The higher the bitrate, the more potential viewers you will lose. Besides, nothing's wrong with 720p!
I personally broadcast at 720p@60FPS and it looks great, keep in mind that I'm able to use the slow preset as I'm running a Dual-PC Setup, here's an example of how it looks on 3000 bitrate; VoD
>>>>> Audio Setup
If you're using the Capture Card's HDMI or 3.5mm Jack inputs for audio, you will need to adjust some settings to get audio on XSplit.
Right-Click the Source -> Select the Cam Tab -> Configure -> Crossbar
You will see this;
Image
Click the Output Dropdown and select Audio Decoder Out.
It will have an empty Input selection, but an available Dropdown.
When recording through the 3.5mm Jacks I have found Audio Line In to provide much better quality, you can try either.
Important Notes
- You will have to do this everytime your start up XSplit.
- It will automaticly play the audio back through your main playback device, so any sound coming from the PC it's running on will mix in with sound captured.
>>>>> Video Setup
Alright, let's set up your Video Settings. Right-Click your source and go to Configure.
Setting your settings to PAL/SECAM/NTSC doesn't matter at all, you should leave the "Video Capture" settings as it is by default.
Click Video Capture Format, you will see a screen like this;
Image
By default it will set to what the card is receiving on input, which is usually 1920x1080 30FPS.
I personally have it set to these settings, because I like my 60FPS and feel like 1080p Casting is a waste of resources and bandwidth. You will need far more bitrate for 1080p broadcasting than you'd need at 720p. Remember, the higher the bitrate the more potential viewers you will lose as their connections can't handle the bitrate. The quality difference isn't major either.
As for ColorSpace, I can't say I've found a difference between the two, but I'm keeping it on QYUV.
Now, a lot of people say that the color isn't the same as the game and are very quick to call the card a waste of money as it ruins quality. The solution is simple, go to the "Color" tab which can be found on simply right-clicking the source and adjust your settings accordingly;
Image
Now that we've set that up as well, we're pretty much ready. This card is really flexible and doesn't require XSplit to re-size the image for you, it's done by the Card itself. So simply select the resolution and FPS you wish to stream at and match your XSplit settings to it.
Important Notes
- Color Spacing will reset itself everytime, you can just keep it on the default though.
- If you remove the source, you will have to reset the color settings and possibly the Video Format
•••••••••••••••
•//+-------------+•
•| Q/A & Bugs |•
•//+-------------+•
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- Q/A -
Q: What can I do to fix Audio/Video Sync issues?
A: Many people have fixed their issues by simply setting their Video Format FPS settings to 29.97 instead of 30 or 59.94 instead of 60 - Don't forget to match XSplit Settings!
Q: How can I capture my USB Headset's Audio on a Dual-PC Setup?
A: Unfortunately, I have not find a way to do this without having delay in the audio or losing the "Surround" sound.
Q: If I go for a Dual-PC Setup, do I still need to get a very good CPU?
A: You will certainly need something in the top (Intel)quad-cores or decent i7 CPU range to handle such encoding on a decent preset, the more performance, the better("slower") the preset and the more quality you can push out on lower bitrates.
To get a better idea and perspective, I suggest looking at Superroach's Guide on what kind of CPU you would be looking at for your goal.
Q: Would you recommend buying the AVerMedia Game Broadcaster instead?
A: It depends, I have purchased one in hopes I would be able to stream at 720p@60FPS on two streams, unfortunately this card is not as flexible on Resolutions and FPS as the Live Gamer HD. It will only allow you to capture in the format you're playing at, which will make XSplit having to resize the image. This shouldn't be a big issue when streaming at 30FPS, but for me it's a big problem as I stream at 720p@60FPS. I'll be forced to use XSplit for re-sizing the image through XSplit and I'll be stuck to 30FPS. I wish AVerMedia would be much clearer on their product description as I couldn't find anything about this.
Also keep in mind that you will need a HDMI Splitter for Console Streaming as it does not include Pass-Through
- Bugs -
== DX10 and DX11 will not show image when you untick "Allow XSplit to Auto Configure" ==
Bug: The image in XSplit goes black when I launch a non DX10/DX11 Game.
Fix: Alt-tab out of the game, right-click the Live Gamer source in XSplit and press "Refresh.
Last edited by SwiftWave on Tue Sep 25, 2012 11:01 am, edited 3 times in total.
High/Advanced Experience with:
- AVerMedia Live Gamer HD
- BlackMagic Intensity Pro
- Input-output, splitters, virtual/physical setups
- XSplit
- Single-PC Setup & Dual PC-Setup
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