Need help with capturing video for retro consoles

[teerazzler]

I am a complete noob for capturing video, so I know absolutely nothing when it comes to what hardware to get, how to plug it in, etc. I need help with what to do exactly. I apologize if this has been answered on this forum, but I have read so many different responses on many different forums and I cannot seem to get a solid clear cut step by step direction on how to do this.

My current setup is 12 consoles all using scart into daisy chained x2 gscarts. I am using a PVM-20M2U, and I have a gaming PC. The consoles are - NES top loader, SNES, N64, Gamecube with official component into a retrotink comp2scart, master system, genesis, saturn, dreamcast with toro box using scart, ps2, original xbox with scart, duo-r, and a neo geo aes.

What exactly do I need to get to have the video go from my gscart to my computer?

Do I plug in a JP-21 scart from the gscart to a framemeister, and then an hdmi cable from the framemeister to a capture card like the elgato60 or pexhdcap60l2, and then another hdmi cable from the capture card into my pc? Do I need to adjust any settings on either the capture card or framemeister to make this work on the streaming service I use?

I am so confused.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Money is no object here, but I am looking for the best way to do this so whatever that cost may be is fine. I would prefer to pay less though of course if it isn’t needed to buy expensive equipment.

[Fudoh]

how are you currently unifying the various output signals (15khz RGB, component and 31khz VGA) ? Or are you using multiple inputs on your PVM ?

While you could capture natively, upscaling first makes it a lot easier, so you need an uspcaler along with a compatible capture box (or card). OSSC + an internal Avermedia capture card are good match. The OSSC provides the best quality RGB, VGA and component inputs for your sources and the Avermedia is compatible with all of these upscaled through the OSSC.

A Framemeister does widen the compatibility with various capture cards, adds better 480i handling, but is way more expensive and stumbles with 480p input (e.g. from a DC).

For streaming you'll be using OBS and there you can the capture card as a video source.

If you want a PC-less console streaming setup you can look at the Blackmagic ATEM Mini Pro.

[teerazzler]

how are you currently unifying the various output signals (15khz RGB, component and 31khz VGA) ? Or are you using multiple inputs on your PVM ?

While you could capture natively, upscaling first makes it a lot easier, so you need an uspcaler along with a compatible capture box (or card). OSSC + an internal Avermedia capture card are good match. The OSSC provides the best quality RGB, VGA and component inputs for your sources and the Avermedia is compatible with all of these upscaled through the OSSC.

A Framemeister does widen the compatibility with various capture cards, adds better 480i handling, but is way more expensive and stumbles with 480p input (e.g. from a DC).

For streaming you'll be using OBS and there you can the capture card as a video source.

If you want a PC-less console streaming setup you can look at the Blackmagic ATEM Mini Pro.

Not sure what you mean exactly by " unifying the various output signals (15khz RGB, component and 31khz VGA) ? Or are you using multiple inputs on your PVM ?" I just have BNC RGB to male going from the input of my PVM into my gscart.

Assume that I know absolutely nothing about any technical jargon or what to do at all. What exactly step by step do I need to get for the best quality video streaming, and step by step how do I plug them into my PC? Again, cost is no issue so if a Framemeister is the best option to upscale, then I am all for it. If I do get a Framemeister, do I need to adjust the settings with a specific capture card? What settings specifically would I need to set it to?

[Fudoh]

One problem with your setup is that you're not using the best possible output from a number of your systems. If you don't utilize 480p output from your DC, XBox, Cube and PS2 (as far as games support it), you're basically just getting half the resolution from those systems. While it makes sense with your current PVM setup in mind, it increases the 480i portion of your setup a lot and makes it harder to choose the right capture solution for you.

[nmalinoski]

Do I plug in a JP-21 scart from the gscart to a framemeister...

To be clear, while JP-21 and SCART share the same connector, they are not the same and are not interchangeable. You risk frying something on one or both ends if you try to mix the two.

General recommendation is to stick 100% to one or the other. Since you're using SCART with the gscarts, perhaps track down a SCART to 8-pin DIN for a direct connection to a Framemeister, or straight SCART for a direct connection to an OSSC (or OSSC Pro, whenever that comes out).

Separately, building on what Fudoh said, if your PVM supports 480p, you could move the consoles capable of better video modes off of SCART and to other formats for better fidelity. You could use an Extron 203 Rxi to convert the RGBHV from the Dreamcast and the mixed RGBS/RGsB from the PS2 to RGBS, then loop that back into a gscartsw; and you could connect the Xbox and GameCube (and PSP, if you want to get one of those) to a component switcher, then that into something like a COMP2RGB and loop that back into a gscartsw.

[teerazzler]

Do I plug in a JP-21 scart from the gscart to a framemeister...

To be clear, while JP-21 and SCART share the same connector, they are not the same and are not interchangeable. You risk frying something on one or both ends if you try to mix the two.

General recommendation is to stick 100% to one or the other. Since you're using SCART with the gscarts, perhaps track down a SCART to 8-pin DIN for a direct connection to a Framemeister, or straight SCART for a direct connection to an OSSC (or OSSC Pro, whenever that comes out).

Separately, building on what Fudoh said, if your PVM supports 480p, you could move the consoles capable of better video modes off of SCART and to other formats for better fidelity. You could use an Extron 203 Rxi to convert the RGBHV from the Dreamcast and the mixed RGBS/RGsB from the PS2 to RGBS, then loop that back into a gscartsw; and you could connect the Xbox and GameCube (and PSP, if you want to get one of those) to a component switcher, then that into something like a COMP2RGB and loop that back into a gscartsw.

I appreciate the response, but again, for the third time, let's pretend I am completely clueless with this stuff. You're speaking a completely different language than me. All I am asking for is a step by step guide as to what to get, and what to do. You're going off on a side road of component and other jargon that I don't know what you're talking about. I am especially extremely confused as to what you mean when you say to, "move the consoles capable of better video modes off of SCART and to other formats for better fidelity". I really don't understand how there is such a thing as better "fidelity" than when my consoles are already outputting 480p.

To clarify what I am using with the 480p consoles I have -

Gamecube - using official component plugged into Retrotink comp2scart, then scart cable going from comp2scart into gscart. This provides 480p.
OG Xbox - Using scart which does not do 480p, but will be getting official HD component cables to comp2scart which goes into gscart. This provides 480p.
Dreamcast - Toro box with scart out into gscart. This provides 480p.
PS2 - Since the majority of the games output 480i, I don't care about 480p. Component vs. scart doesn't really matter. Also I am not going through the headache of switching over to sync on green every single time even if there was a game that supported 480p. I could force 480p with mods and have some games randomly crash, but yeah, ultimately I don't care for the hassle. 480i looks fine on a PS2 anyways.

Sure, my PVM 20M2U model does not display 480p, but that shouldn't matter as the Framemeister and capture card aren't capturing what the monitor itself shows, it just captures the 480p video signals. Also I am going to get a 20L5 soon hopefully which does support 480p. Basically, since my consoles already output 480p, I am so incredibly baffled as to what you are trying to say I am wasting my console's output. From what I understand the Framemeister interprets 480i better than 480p (or just doesn't show 480p at all I have read), and upscales 480i to 1080p to my capture card anyways, so I don't see what exactly you're getting at that I would be wasting picture quality.

I am not going to mess with any Extron switchers or start switching consoles over to component, and end up going down that rabbit hole to the tune of hundreds or even $1000+ of more dollars just to possibly get a slightly better quality picture. I care about having good RGB picture quality, but I don't care *that* much with Extron switchers and component etc. as that seems like extreme overkill hyper gaming enthusiast (which is fine for those who are into it). All I mostly care about is getting this to work so my brother and some friends (who are in other states) can hang out and watch me play some of the games we used to have good times with. It's basically a way we can stay in touch, especially with covid now and not being able to travel.

So to summarize, please provide a step by step guide (example - 1. 2. 3. 4. etc.), and please let me know what capture cards are the best beginner plug and play friendly and most compatible with the Framemeister. That would be extremely helpful for me. I don't really know what I am doing.

Thank you!