Fan Actual Plays

[xHero]

I really want to start recording my Shadowrun campaign and the VTM, All Flesh, Fear Itself "One-shots" we are planning to run. I'd hate to post my version of the New World primer for fear of redundancy. Unfortunately, all I got is a Rock Band™ mic and a stand... does this suffice or do I need to upgrade. If so, what's a cheap solution.

[clockworkjoe]

Actually I would think a different take on the New World might be interesting. After Gencon and Dragoncon, I've run several scenarios 3 to 5 times each and every group does things differently.

[xHero]

Got my new microphone!!! The GM of our shadowrun campaign, however, asked me not to record it... for now.
So hopefully I'll have a couple of games recorded and edited by the end of next week.

[Tadanori Oyama]

Shame, I'd love to hear a good Shadowrun game.

I've got recording pretty well worked out with the omni-mike I picked up. Only problem is that dice always sound really loud because, for reasons that escape me, my players seem to fucking aim for the mike when the roll.

I'm running a game of CthulhuTech this weekend because it's an off week for my DnD group and I'm using a diceless game variant so I should get a good game with good sound.

I just need to find a good CMS program, give it a test run, and we should be in business.

[xHero]

I got a real cheap mic stand (got it forever ago but I think it was from Walmart or Target) so the mic if suspended over the table, stops the dice rolls from clipping out.

[Sean-o-tron]

I bought a zoom h2 before I left for Orlando to work at Disney World.  When I head home early October, my friends are all anxious to game again with me, so I get the feeling a lot of content will be turning out from that.
Before I left I recorded our character creation session of Dust Devils where we basically explained the rules to each other, and then our first session where we struggled to understand said rules.
We always have a wicked fun time with InSpectres though, and I want to be able to share the awesomeness with you guys.

[xHero]

I bought a zoom h2 before I left for Orlando to work at Disney World.  When I head home early October, my friends are all anxious to game again with me, so I get the feeling a lot of content will be turning out from that.
Before I left I recorded our character creation session of Dust Devils where we basically explained the rules to each other, and then our first session where we struggled to understand said rules.
We always have a wicked fun time with InSpectres though, and I want to be able to share the awesomeness with you guys.

Damn, I'm jealous. I want an h2 so damn bad.

[Sean-o-tron]

I got it for like $150 off of buy.com.  Considering the time, effort and money it would cost for a conventional setup, I'd say it's worthy investment.

I'm not nearly as enterprising as RPGMP3 with their binaural sound.

[clockworkjoe]

I want a Zoom H4 now - it has XLR inputs. WHY CAN'T I STOP OGLING AUDIO GEAR

[xHero]

Well like I said I got my Samson Go Mic, the quality is amazing, last night I begin to record my D&D 3.5 campaign for the first time. 5 1/2 hours later, I realize that Cakewalk has selectively chosen to record 2 hours and 12 minutes of the game. Even though we all saw that Cakewalk was recording the end of the game, it doesn't exist. The moment I pressed stop 3 hours disappeared.
Fuck Cakewalk, I'm switching to Audacity for everything.

[xHero]

I want a Zoom H4 now - it has XLR inputs. WHY CAN'T I STOP OGLING AUDIO GEAR

This is starting to sound a lot like the Bates9000 bit from The Onion Movie

[clockworkjoe]

Well like I said I got my Samson Go Mic, the quality is amazing, last night I begin to record my D&D 3.5 campaign for the first time. 5 1/2 hours later, I realize that Cakewalk has selectively chosen to record 2 hours and 12 minutes of the game. Even though we all saw that Cakewalk was recording the end of the game, it doesn't exist. The moment I pressed stop 3 hours disappeared.
Fuck Cakewalk, I'm switching to Audacity for everything.

That's happened to me in Audacity on OS X. That also happens because of computer issues - memory runs out etc. That's another added bonus with using a digital recorder that goes straight to a memory card - it will record without crashing.

[Sean-o-tron]

As far as free software goes, Audacity is the go-to with its super easy interface and near-professional features.  It's worked almost flawlessly on my PC except for tiny timing glitches when overdubbing multiple tracks (which is incredibly easy to fix).

I tend to use Acoustica Mixcraft 4, but I don't like openly condoning pirating software so we'll leave it at that.

[xHero]

That's happened to me in Audacity on OS X. That also happens because of computer issues - memory runs out etc. That's another added bonus with using a digital recorder that goes straight to a memory card - it will record without crashing.

Welp. That sucks. FML. Hopefully this won't be a consistent issue. I might just have to rob a best buy to get my damned podcast released.  

[ArtfulShrapnel]

I just read this thing, then spent an hour researching recorders. I have a birthday coming up and I think I'm going to try and spend some of that sweet birthday cash on an H2. I like the look of the H4s, and some of the features look amazing, but I notice they actually lack the 360 degree recording feature. Seems like it would hamper its usefulness as a RPG recording device.

Hey Ross. How do you set up your mic to reduce Dice noise and keep it out of the players' way? It sounds like its right in the middle of your table, but I never hear people moving it because it's on your map or whatever.

Would you mind snapping a photo of your RPG table setup so we newbies to game recording can see your setup?