If you have previously been using your console to record your gameplay you may have realised it caps out at 10 mins or 1 hour. If you plan to record something like a let’s play or just want to have your full session recorded 10 mins or even an hour isn’t very long.
If you want to record your gameplay for long periods of time a capture card is a much better option to capture it. In this article, we are going to take a look at how long an Elgato capture card can record. Let’s jump in and take a look.
How Long Will An Elgato Capture Record For?
An Elgato Capture card will record for an unlimited amount of time as long as you have enough storage room on your hard drive. The capture card sends the video signal to your computer and then your capture software records the video to your computer.
Does Elgato Constantly Record?
Yes, the Elgato capture card will record constantly without stopping. The capture card sends the video signal to your PC and then your PC records and saves the footage. As long as there is room on your hard drive the Elgato software will continue to record your gameplay.
If your computer is not very powerful you may also run into problems with overheating and crashes however this is not likely with most modern PCs that meet the minimum requirements.
How Much Storage Space Do Elgato Videos Take Up?
The size of the video files you record with the Elgato Video Capture software will depend on the format you decide to record. Below are some rough estimates of how much space you can expect your recordings to take up.
Using MPEG-4:
| Length Of Video | Disk Space Required |
| 10 minutes | 195 MB |
| 30 Minutes | 587 MB |
| 60 Minutes | 1.1 GB |
| 90 Minutes | 1.7 GB |
| 120 Minutes | 2.3 GB |
| 180 Minutes | 3.4 GB |
Using H.264:
| Length Of Video | Disk Space Required |
| 10 minutes | 121 MB |
| 30 Minutes | 364 MB |
| 60 Minutes | 728 MB |
| 90 Minutes | 1.1 GB |
| 120 Minutes | 1.4 GB |
| 180 Minutes | 2.1 GB |
As you can see a 3-hour recording will take up approximately 3.4 GB on MPEG-4 and 2.1 GB on H.264. This is pretty low file sizes and shouldn’t cause any issues if you have room on your hard drive. If you find you are running into problems with storage I would recommend purchasing another internal or external hard drive.
Wrapping Up
Now you know that the Elgato capture card range is perfect if you want to record gameplay for long periods of time in high quality. They are easy to set up and work great with your consoles right out of the box. If you’re an aspiring content creator, the Elgato range of graphics cards is a great place to start.
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