How to Record or Stream Gameplay on Your Chromatic

Chromatic ModRetro Team
How to Record or Stream Gameplay on Your Chromatic

Last Updated: 12/12/2024

The contents of this post are subject to change and may not reflect the final processes or procedures. This post will be updated frequently to ensure it aligns with current practices.

Set Up Chromatic for Capture

  1. Turn on Chromatic with a game inserted.
  2. Once the game loads, press the MENU button.

  3. In the MENU, navigate to the SYSTEM menu by toggling right on the D-Pad to the gear icon (fourth option); toggle down to PLAYER # and be sure that 1 is shown.
  4. If you are looking to set up a second capture on another Chromatic on the same machine, make sure to select PLAYER 2 on the second Chromatic by pressing B or A, respectively, to change the PLAYER #.
  5. Press the MENU button to close the Menu window, and turn off the Chromatic.

    Install OBS

    1. Visit the OBS Website, and download the software that corresponds with the OS that you have on your computer.
    2. Install OBS.

    Connecting your Chromatic to the PC

    1. Insert the USB-C portion of the cable into the Chromatic’s USB-C port, and then connect the cable to the PC.
    2. Turn on Chromatic with the game inserted.

    Please note that the PC will detect the Chromatic as a webcam. If your system has multiple USB ports on the same card, avoid plugging in another webcam or Chromatic into those ports, as the PC may not detect the webcam signal. To capture footage from multiple Chromatics, ensure that each USB-C cable is connected to a separate USB-C card port.

    Creating a Scene in OBS

    1. Go to SCENE under SCENES and right-click to rename the scene to whatever you like; for the purposes of this instruction, we will rename it “Capture.”
    2. Under Sources, select the +, then select Video Capture Device.
    3. A pop-up window will appear; for the purposes of this instruction, we will rename the source to “Chromatic - Player 1” and select OK to continue.
    4. Another pop-up window will appear; make sure Chromatic - Player 01 in the Device drop-down menu is selected. Click Flip Vertically.
    5. If done correctly, you should see the Window Capture on the screen; select OK to continue.
    6. Before resizing the window, with the Chromatic - Player 1 source selected, right-click on the source and select the Filters menu option.
    7. Under Effect Filters click the + and select the Scaling/Aspect Ratio option. You will be given an option to specify a name for the filter if you wish, but it is not necessary. Click OK.
    8. Under Scale Filtering, select Point. Under Resolution, select 1:1. Then click Close.
    9. Right-click on the Chromatic video capture, select Transform and then choose Fit to Screen. If done correctly, the capture will be centered and optimized to fit the screen without any stretching or loss in pixel fidelity.
    10. To add capture from a second Chromatic, repeat the steps above, ensuring the second unit PLAYER # is assigned 2, a unique name is assigned for the other window to differentiate the two, and the same filters are used. Resize and organize windows as needed for your application. Done!

    Set Up OBS for Recording

    1. In Controls on the bottom right of the screen, select Settings.
    2. In the Settings Menu, select Output. Under Recording, select the folder you wish to save your gameplay footage by selecting Browse next to Recording Path.
    3. Select the Recording Format in the drop down menu to the video format of your choice; we would recommend MPEG-4 (.mp4).
    4. Select Apply, then select OK.

    Start Recording on OBS

    1. In Controls, select Start Recording to begin recording game footage; select Stop Recording to stop recording game footage.

    Audio Input

    At this time, the Chromatic only captures video without audio. We are currently working toward a solution for audio capture via the USB-C cable connection, and will have this updated in a future firmware update.

    To capture audio at this time, we recommend using a 3.5mm male to male audio cable where you connect one end to the Chromatic via the audio jack, and the other end into your computer via the line-in jack. You can configure your audio settings in Windows, then go into OBS and have the line-in source detected.

    To add a line-in source in OBS:

    1. Navigate to Settings in the main OBS window.
    2. Select Audio on the side menu.
    3. Under Global Audio Devices select one of the unassigned Mic/(Aux)iliary Audio channels.
    4. Assign Line In to the channel, then click OK.

    If done correctly, you will be presented with an additional audio channel in your Audio Mixer that will contain your Chromatic’s audio.

    Choose Your Color