How-to: Stream XBOX360/PS3 Footage to Justin.tv while playing in HD

- BY Eric/Steel Frog, May 15 2009 -

If you’ve been following my blog and Twitter updates, you’ll undoubtedly notice that I’ve been busy trying to find a way to stream to Justin.tv while still being able to play in HD on my TV.

Ultimately, the goal has always been to make the whole thing as seamless as possible for the player.

Note: This post will be continuously updated as I find tricks and tweaks.

Here’s what you’ll need to follow this tutorial:

XBOX360 or PS3 with component cables
5 RCA couplers
HDTV or component-ready SDTV
HAVA Platinum HD placeshifting device
HAVA Player software
Router
VH Screen Capture Driver software
Adobe Flash Media Live Encoder
Virtual Audio Cable mixer software (optional, see below)
A networked PC

Step 1. The HAVA Platinum HD

The HAVA Platinum HD unit is a placeshifting device. It has the ability to ‘grab’ the content from a component or RCA source (including HD) and broadcast it over the network, allowing users to watch the feed remotely on their PCs or mobile devices. I’m using this device to capture the XBOX360’s gameplay, while playing in HD on my TV. My laptop then views the feed and streams it to Justin.tv.

You’ll need to pick up five RCA couplers: one for each component cable (red, green and blue) and two for the RCA audio (red and white) since the cables bundled with the HAVA unit are female, as are the XBOX360’s and PS3’s cables.

Plug the XBOX360’s component cable into the coupler, and then to the HAVA unit’s cables. You can then plug the smaller connector to the HAVA’s HD In port. Run the other set of bundled component cables from the HD Out port to your TV. Repeat the process for the audio using the RCA ports.

Once you’re done, simply plug the HAVA into a LAN port in your router and install the latest software from MyHava.com. You’ll most likely need to perform firmware updates if you just received a new unit.

Step 2. Set up the video source

Now that the HAVA software is installed, power on your XBOX360 and we can test to make sure that the stream is working as it should. Open the HAVA PC Player application. Click on the Player menu and select Settings. Change the Video Input to Component and press OK. It’s normal for the display to be garbled at first while the player syncs up. After a few seconds, you should be seeing your XBOX360. Notice that there are a few seconds on lag between the real-time display and what is displayed on the HAVA player.

We now need to find a way to stream that video to Justin.tv. Because the HAVA Platinum HD broadcasts using MPEG-2 and MPEG-4, which are sadly incompatible with Flash Media Live Encoder and most recording software, we’ll need to find a way to grab the video from the feed and broadcast it in raw format. For this purpose, I’ve chosen the VH Screen Capture Driver since it does a good job with relatively low CPU overhead.

Go ahead and install VHSCD. Once it’s done, open your Start menu and look under Hmeylyoff Labs, VHScrCap and select the Config application. At the bottom-right, select the Create new one option to create a new feed. Click on the Capture tab and press the Select button at the bottom right. Now create a selection around the HAVA Player’s video frame. This is the captured area that we are going to be streaming so take your time and do it right.

HAVA Selection

Once you’re done with your selection, head to the Settings tab. It’s very important that you uncheck the Optimize Screen Capture checkbox as it creates lag when it detects pauses. Change the framerate to 60. You can also check the Resize to Output Size box and check both options found under, and set the Output Size to 320×240, the standard size of streamed videos. If you have a very fast (10mbit+) connection, try and set it to 640×480. On the left, set your border color to black and exit VHSCD.

VH Screen Capture Driver Settings

Now that we have a working streaming application, we need to broadcast that stream to Justin.tv. To do so, we’ll use Adobe Flash Media Live Encoder. I prefer the 2.5 version (version 3.0 tends to crash on my Vista X64 system), but both versions are very similar. You’ll need to create or login to your Adobe account in order to download FMLE. Registration only takes a minute. Install and run FMLE.

Step 3. Flash Media Live Encoder configuration

Justin.tv FMLE XML files This is where things get a little more complicated. First, let’s start by getting a Justin.tv profile setup. Open the Justin.tv website and click on the Broadcast button. Click on the More tab at the right, and select the Flash Media Live Encoder link. Download the appropriate XML file and save it.

Go back to FMLE and click on File, select Open Profile and browse to the XML file you’ve just downloaded. This fills in various fields required for streaming to Justin.tv such as the Flash Media Server’s address so it knows where to post.

At the left, you’ll find the Video section. We need to define several options: the source of the video, and the quality we want to stream at. Let’s start by selecting our video device. We want to use the VHScrCap device. Note that the HAVA Video Device does appear in the list, but as mentioned earlier, FMLE unfortunately does not support MPEG streams (boo!).

Flash Media Live Encoder Settings

You can set various quality options below. I won’t bother going through them, so try them out and see if your connection holds up.

Step 4. Broadcast audio and microphone

This step can either be very straightforward, or very complicated depending on your operating system and sound card. In my case, it was a nightmare.

When selecting the audio source, you’ll need to check if your sound card offers a line out that basically mimics what you would hear on your speakers, but treats it like an input so that it can be used to record. If that’s the case, you’ll want to use that source, which should grab the HAVA Player’s audio and stream it in sync with the video.

If you don’t have said device, then we’ll need to install a third-party software mixer. I decided to go with the Virtual Cable application because it offered everything I needed in one, neat driver package. If you’re using Windows Vista 64bit, you’ll need to read the help file included with the application on how to install the driver, since Vista doesn’t like unsigned, unverified drivers.

Once installed, the Line 1 (Virtual Audio Cable) device should appear in your FMLE list.

Now that you’re broadcasting your XBOX’s video and audio, we’ll need to mix in the microphone. Again, this varies on your configuration. In Windows XP, mic playback should be automatic when a mic is plugged in, and that’s all you should need. In Windows Vista however, this was disabled. Instead, we can use Virtual Cable’s mixer application to include it in the stream. Open your Start menu, and select Audio Repeater under the Virtual Audio Cable folder.

Change the Wave in device to your microphone and the Wave Out to Line 1. Press Start, and the mixing will begin. To change your mic’s volume, simply change the slider in your normal recording panel.

End notes

At this point, you should be good to go. Keep in mind that your microphone will always be heard before your game’s sound because of the delay caused by the HAVA Player. There is no way around this unless you figure out a way to delay the mic’s input by a few seconds.

Let me know if you have any questions by leaving a comment, and be sure to drop a link to your Justin.tv stream so I can come check you out. Good luck, and happy broadcasting! Oh, and don’t forget to stop by my stream and say hi!

51 Comments

Comment by Simon Sniper — May 15, 2009 @ 12:30 PM

Wow, that’s a long article. I bought a Hava HD too. I’ll try what u said.

Comment by Simon Sniper — May 16, 2009 @ 1:01 AM

Yo dude i tried it but the video in flash media encoder is really slow like its missing a bunch of frames and stuff help!!!

Comment by Eric/Steel Frog — May 16, 2009 @ 7:25 PM

Simon Sniper, set the framerate output in VHSCD higher than the one in FMLE.

Comment by Kristi — May 19, 2009 @ 2:11 PM

omg it worked!!!!

Comment by Que — May 24, 2009 @ 6:30 PM

when i open xml file in FMLE it keep saying validation fail. loading default profile

Comment by steelfrog — May 24, 2009 @ 7:52 PM

Que, I also get the same error. Open the XML file and copy/paste the stream and server URLs to FMLE.

Comment by TechNumberTwo — May 25, 2009 @ 2:09 AM

Will I be confined to playing in stereo audio with this setup?

Comment by steelfrog — May 25, 2009 @ 6:48 AM

TechNumberTwo, I’m not sure if the system will still output stereo audio over the RCA lines if you plug in an optical line. You’ll have to give it a shot. If that’s the case, then you’ll likely be stuck playing in Stereo rather than surround, unfortunately.

Pingback by How to: Stream World of Warcraft to Justin.tv – the Simple Way - Steel Frog - A blog on gaming, design and Photoshop — June 12, 2009 @ 8:55 AM

[...] To see how I got around my problems, check out the previously-posted HAVA streaming article. [...]

Comment by Al — June 15, 2009 @ 8:09 PM

Dude thanks I followed your procedure but I can’t get the signal to get to Justin.tv from FMLE anything u can recommend?

Comment by steelfrog — June 16, 2009 @ 6:35 AM

Al – if you’re using multiple monitors, make sure FMLE is on the Primary screen. I’ve noticed it wouldn’t start if it was on the secondary screen.

Other than that, rebooting the PC usually fixes that problem. Should that not work, try to change your video encoder to H264 rather than VP6 and see if it helps. FMLE is not a… very well-coded piece of software I’m afraid and is rather finicky.

Comment by stevie — June 18, 2009 @ 4:38 AM

Do you know a way to do everything except network the hava off of a crossover connection instead of with a router (plug hava into laptop ethernet that’s connected to a wireless connection) ?

Comment by steelfrog — June 18, 2009 @ 7:33 AM

Stevie – the steps should remain exactly the same. The HAVA player works the same way whether you’ve networked your HAVA box over a network, or are using a cross-over. Were you having a problem in specific?

Comment by Stevie — June 18, 2009 @ 4:42 PM

I think I got it. My last problem: it’s VERY dark. Do you know any solutions for this? Thanks again.

Comment by steelfrog — June 18, 2009 @ 6:51 PM

Stevie – there’s an option to adjust image settings. Unfortunately, I don’t have access to my HAVA box today, but there is such an option. You could also check out the HAVA forums where they definitely point you in the right direction.

Comment by Stevie — June 18, 2009 @ 8:28 PM

What about if you just want to record the xbox output, no mic? I’m having trouble picking up any sound.

Comment by Stevie — June 18, 2009 @ 9:49 PM

sorry, i mean the sound output from hava. doing it directly from the xbox causes a audio video mismatch obviously.

Comment by steelfrog — June 19, 2009 @ 7:26 AM

Stevie – If you’re on Windows Vista, your stereo mixer is likely disabled. You can use Virtual Audio Cable as mentioned in the article. You then set your system’s sound output to Line 1. When broadcasting, simply set Line 1 as your input. If you decide to use a mic later on, simply use the included Audio Repeater application to mix the microphone sound in.

Comment by Onyx — June 30, 2009 @ 6:04 AM

Virtual Audio Cable isn’t free, do you know of a free program just like it?

Comment by Onyx — June 30, 2009 @ 9:09 AM

Ok nevermind, I found Vista’s own Stereo Mix, it was just disabled.

Comment by steelfrog — June 30, 2009 @ 10:14 AM

Onyx – That’s awesome. Many sound card manufacturers have disabled the mixer either on the driver or hardware side for Windows Vista. Out of curiosity, what brand is your sound card? I believe Creative did not follow the trend.

Comment by Onyx — June 30, 2009 @ 10:12 PM

I’ve got a Realtek I believe. I was just browsing Jtv and I found http://community.justin.tv/mediawiki/index.php/Stereo_Mixing and gave myself a big facepalm after finding it.

Comment by lakerfan — July 5, 2009 @ 10:51 PM

I dont get sound. can you simplify this part: “Repeat the process for the audio using the RCA ports” .

I cant get sound from my ps3 out of my tv using a fiber optic cable

help

Comment by Eric/Steel Frog — July 6, 2009 @ 2:01 PM

lakerfan – Unfortunately one of the down sides of using the HAVA is that you can only go through the RCA cables for audio unless you find some other device that converts digital to analog. This means that you’re plugging your PS3 audio cables into the HAVA, than plugging your HAVA into the TV.

Comment by borks — August 4, 2009 @ 3:03 AM

Hi.. good tutorial but i have a problem with sound.
it just keeps saying trial every few seconds.. do i have to buy the audio repeater or the media encoder or something..

Comment by Eric/Steel Frog — August 4, 2009 @ 6:30 AM

Borks, the “Trial” sound you hear is in fact caused by the Virtual Audio Cable trial version. The full (e.g., purchased) version does not have that sound effect mixed in.

Comment by mike — August 20, 2009 @ 12:54 PM

When I tried this out it worked but my CPU was only at about 34% and the Hava player itself started to slow down and skip frames. Any suggestions?

Comment by Eric/Steel Frog — August 20, 2009 @ 12:56 PM

Mike, what’s your HAVA’s video bitrate? There should be an indication of it in the player. Mine is usually around seven or eight megabits/second.

Comment by mike — August 21, 2009 @ 12:31 PM

It goes anywhere from 7-8+ bits

I closed vhscapture and it was smoother but it is still a tiny bit laggy. Say I switch to a different location on the xbox dashboard there is a bit of a motion trail instead of a smooth transition.

Comment by Eric/Steel Frog — August 21, 2009 @ 12:33 PM

Mike, how powerful is your PC? Does that happen when no other applications but the HAVA player is running?

Comment by mike — August 21, 2009 @ 12:45 PM

Intel Pentium Dual-Coreprocessor E5200
2 processing cores, 800MHz frontside bus, 2MB L2 cache and 2.5GHz processor speed.
4GB DDR2 SDRAM
128MB shared video memory
Running Vista SP1

Comment by mike — August 21, 2009 @ 12:49 PM

Also there is no lag when it is just the hava player running

Comment by Eric/Steel Frog — August 21, 2009 @ 12:51 PM

Mike, have you tried simply lowering VHScreenCap’s framerate? It really shouldn’t cause any problems on the system you’re running. It seems more than powerful enough. If not, try to assign one core to the HAVA player and the other to FMLE.

Comment by mike — August 21, 2009 @ 1:13 PM

Alright thanks for the advice.
I will test it when I get home from work and see how it goes.

Comment by Andrew @ justin.tv/djandyw — September 6, 2009 @ 10:08 PM

Your method would work in theory i have not tested this method my self but i will add that i’ll be picking up a true internal hdmi capture card for 170$ it has 1 input for your streaming toys xbox 360 ps3 pc if you had an hdmi pci e x16 video card ect also it has 1 ouput so you can slap it out to a huge freaking tv and it’s pcie so it will support straight quality no drops over anything no delays here check it your self http://sewelldirect.com/Blackmagic-Design-Intensity-Pro.asp

Comment by SakuyaFM — September 8, 2009 @ 11:38 PM

It’s really confusing me…

It’s not really for a X360 or PS3, but I’ve been trying to get my PC’s audio stream (yes, I do have Stereo Mix enabled) and still talk to my audience with my mic, but FMLE only supports one input. The last part of the tutorial is a bit confusing, as well.

My method, by the way, consisted of 3 VAC lines and GraphEdit. I used GraphEdit take the input from my SMix and Mic, and then send those signals to another line. My problem is that it’s REALLY laggy, almost a second delay.

Comment by Padau — September 15, 2009 @ 11:58 PM

hi!
thank you for the tutorial. i have a question about the sound. i use win xp, is it possilbe to take a cable like this http://www.elektroradar.de/WebRoot/Store/Shops/ElektroRadar/Products/Images/83/8707283/691280_41044.jpg
than plug it into the speaker out and the other side on mic. in. what do you think?

Comment by Eric/Steel Frog — September 16, 2009 @ 11:53 AM

Hi Padau,
Yup. Those look like standard 3.5mm audio cables. They should work just fine. You could probably find them cheaper at places like Monoprice.

Comment by Padau — September 17, 2009 @ 10:52 AM

thank you eric, but now i have another problem.i want to stream a street fighter iv tournament picture-in-picture with multicam. the matches with VHSC and the players, while they are playing, with a webcam. the problem is that the webcam is faster then the game because of the delay caused by the HAVA Player. have you an idea how to delay the input of the webcam by a few seconds?

(streaming like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqNpL_uIOME)

Comment by Eric/Steel Frog — September 18, 2009 @ 8:41 AM

Hi Paudau,
I wish I had an answer for you but unfortunately I don’t know of a way to delay the video stream. There must be some piece of software out there that would do the trick but I can’t think of anything off hand.

Comment by padau — September 19, 2009 @ 3:27 PM

i found a solution!!!!! with VLC player you can dely the webcam. then crap the picture with webcammax or vhscrap :-)

yeah

Comment by Eric/Steel Frog — September 19, 2009 @ 4:15 PM

Padau,
Good stuff, man! Very crafty! I’ll have to include that tip when I next revise this post.

Comment by Charles — October 1, 2009 @ 1:10 PM

Hello Eric, first of all I want to congrat you for your excellent work with photoshop. I started 2 days ago with photoshop and Im trying to learn with your tutorials.
Well, I saw a tutorial called “Photoshop Photo Effects Dark Image Manipulation Tutorial” but I can’t open it. I would love to see that tutorial to learn how to make dark manipulatin because im stuck at step 5 of the tutorial “Good and Evil Photo Manipulation” and I really want to finish it. Help me if possible, thanks a lot. Hugs. Charles

Comment by Eric/Steel Frog — October 1, 2009 @ 1:22 PM

Hi Charles,
Perhaps you’re looking for the Dark Art tutorial?

Comment by Charles — October 1, 2009 @ 8:50 PM

Hi Eric,
Just to remind you to post the Dark Manipulation tutorial.
Hugs

Comment by Charles — October 1, 2009 @ 8:51 PM

Hi Eric,
Just to remind you to post the Dark Image Manipulation tutorial.
Hugs

Comment by Scott — December 22, 2009 @ 12:19 AM

i downloaded the VAC but i can not get it to work? i set it to mic but nothing comes up on justin tv ive tried every other line on there but i can not get it to work what can i do? i even purchased it.

Comment by Eric/Steel Frog — January 7, 2010 @ 3:52 PM

Hi Scott,
Man, I’m sorry it took me so long to reply. I completely missed your post. If you’re using a USB headset, VAC will not mix the signal in simply because USB signals are processed differently. As far as I know, there is no way around that that doesn’t require another piece of software.

Comment by Nick Nelson — January 7, 2010 @ 7:54 PM

Great walk through Eric.

However – were you actually able to maintain HD quality on your TV after going in/out of the HAVA?

I ended up making some changes to this walk through – I replaced the couplers with a 4way Component Distribution Amp.

So instead of going in and out of the HAVA. I now have my Xbox going into the Amp, and then one set of cables going out to the TV and one set going out to the HAVA.

MUCH better quality this way.

Check out one of the videos at http://www.youtube.com/akimboit

Comment by Nick Nelson — January 7, 2010 @ 7:59 PM

Oh yeah – catch me on Justin.tv at http://www.justin.tv/alm3ghty – usually playing MW2 or NBA2k10!

Thanks again for the walk through. I almost went the capture card method

Comment by Eric/Steel Frog — January 8, 2010 @ 7:21 AM

Nicely done, Nick. I hadn’t thought about using an amp as I didn’t expect much signal degradation. I didn’t see much signal degradation on the XBOX360, but it was noticeable on the PS3’s component cables. An amp would have probably solved that as you mentioned. I’ll drop by your channel to say hi.