Magewell HDMI to USB 3.0 Video Capture Dongle Review - turns a camcorder into a webcam for Skype

Viewers often write in asking how to use their camcorder as a webcam. Most camcorders do not support this functionality via their USB connections, so an additional device is needed.

Magewell's XI100DUSB-HDMI device appears to be the best way to do that with the least amount of aggravation. In fact the device works so well no drivers are needed on the Mac or PC - it just pops up in any application that looks for a webcam.

In this video I test it with Skype, Google Hangouts on Air, and Quicktime capture. Each of those applications found the Magewell device without any additional configuration. It even deinterlaces the source video in hardware.

Is it perfect? No. For one it's quite expensive at $300. The other issue, at least on the Mac, is that the audio sounds heavily compressed. Without drivers there's no way to adjust audio codec settings.

But on balance this is a quick and easy way to get a camcorder connected to a PC without the need for complex configuration or drivers.

Video Index:
0:30 - Hardware overview
1:01 - Skype on Windows demonstration
2:13 - Skype on Mac demonstration
2:54 - Captured footage from a Mac
3:14 - Google Hangouts on Air demonstration
4:02 - Conclusion and final thoughts

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[edt]

It seems like there was significantly more lag with the Mac.

You had my interest right up until you said $300.

[xXTheFreakWithinXx]

300 bucks? Wow...just wow. I can buy a whole camcorder for less then the device that allows it to work. Society purchasing this device at that price needs to give their head a shake!!!

[JoshKaufmanstuff]

2:18

It seems once you engage the software, there is a much larger lag on video . . .
Can you comment on the video lag if you wanted to use this as a real time camera monitor?
Thank You!

[TheBardCode]

I want to connect my Canon 5D Mark 2 to my MacBookPro (as a high quality webcam) and have ScreenFlow recognize the DSLR as a video source. Will the Magewell work for that? (I already can get the DSLR into the Mac using Canon's EOS Utility 2 - but ScreenFlow doesn't recognize it.) Thanks.

[gabakexpress]

can you use this with a hdmi switcher so i don't have to buy a tri caster like you have and i can have a whole solution to switch cameras and record everything in my pc?

[nealffischer]

Lon,

Now that it has been a while, I was wondering what if any audio workaround you are using with the Tricaster. I have a Mini with the Advanced Software and I am looking for exactly what this Magewell will do for Skype interviews. Another question. with the plethora of sub $200 pcs out there, is there one you'd recommend to serve solely as a skype box with the magewell? Thanks.

[modelrailroadinguniversity]

Lon: What is the matrix box you use to control the Mini. I just got a Trickster Mini for my model railroad channel. I work as you do alone so the devise would be a great help. Thanks

[drumstudio]

since audio isnt great, can I use an external audio source and mix it with this to produce synched video-audio to wirecast? or do u recommend me some other gear to use my cam with hdmi output? really thanks!

[xxToMMeRxx]

Hi Lon
When you switch to the QuickTime capture of the Magewell the video image seems more grainy/compressed than the signal you get directly from your Tricaster. Does the video output of the Magewell actually look this bad, or is it because of the compression done i QuickTime?

[carringtone]

Hi. Can I use a USB splitter at the USB end and send the signal to more than one computer? That is 1 HDMI input into 4 USB outputs.

[MyFREEFrugalHomestead]

Hello Lon, great info. I have an question and need for the reverse of this device. I have a Black Magic ATM I am setting up in a nonprofit rural radio station and would love to be able to use their existing USB webcams plugging them into a (hopefully) cheap USB to HTMI adaptor. Do you know of or have toyed with any ? Any help would be very helpful. Thank you !

[Martin_Cole]

Hi Lon
I have tricaster and have just plugged in the Magewell. My mac sees it through Skype but all I get is a black screen IE I need to get the program OUT in tricaster to pass through the Magewell.
Basically I want to use this with Hangouts so I can push my live switching from tricaster to Hangouts.

[paulhoward]

Hi Lon, Nice video. I'm considering buying one. Question..I have a sennheiser wireless mic hooked to my camera, would it slow down the video and how should the audio sound as it captures?

[jeffs]

Interesting that you mentioned blackmagic. I bought a shuttle intensity, and it was a pain to get working and kept crashing. Even with slightly less quality audio this was great.

[Martin_Cole]

Hi Lon
Can you tell me how you get your audio from the tricaster mini to come thought google hangouts?

[kekelibuckner]

Hi Lon, Great video! I watched the google hangout video and thought is was ok. However, I wanted to know if encoders such as wircast, manycam etc pick up the camera as easily as skype and google hangouts does.

[kargaroc]

So does this work with DVI-to-HDMI adapters?
I want to use this to capture the output of my old PC, which only has DVI output.

[JoshCartman]

I use to use Windows Media Center for TV, and now I've switched to TIVO, due to lack of support. One thing I miss about using WMC, is I was able to play TV in a window on my PC while doing other things. I would like to be able to re-create that scenario, as best I could, granted there would be no mouse/keyboard input, which is fine, and only remote input. Would this device do it?

[MatMabee]

Would this even register on boards with sub-USB 3.0 interfaces?

[michaelcurrier]

Your opinion or thoughts? Could I use the "Elgato Game Capture HD60 S" USB 3.0 External Capture Card" instead of the "Magewell USB Capture HDMI / SDI"? Would it work the same for live broadcast? Not using for gaming, but capturing conference camera w/HDMI out. The Elgato is about $100 cheaper.