The Basics
With the Xbox One X Launching on Nov 7th everyone now has access to the build in 4k 60hz HDR in game capture feature. This handy piece of tech really brings this console to a whole new level, allowing players to by-pass capture cards. People are wondering though, why can’t they record past the 30sec set limit for 4k HDR? Well, the internal hard drive would sure fill up quite quickly if it was set differently, as well as the hard drive needs to be in a different format. You’ll need an External HDD to utilize your Xbox One X to its best ability if you really want to show off those game clips in 4k HDR! Here is a step-by-step guide to being able to do so.
Step 1: Picking an External HDD
There are a number of available External HDD on the market, ranging from 2TB to 8TB of space! Plenty of room for all of your gaming needs. Personally, I’ve picked up a 4TB standard HDD as well as a 4TB External HDD Hub. Seagate provides a wonderful variety of externals, with many working with gaming consoles and a variety of branded ones as well! The difference between the two is not much, but the hub allows for extra USB ports which helps if you want to use a cable for your controller, or just charge your phone! I’ve been extremely happy with having both of these since they still work seamlessly together being formatted differently. One for games, the other for clips and screencaps! The best part about these is that there is no installation required, it’s quite literally a “Plug and Play”.
Step 2: Enabling Your 4k HDR Captures
Now that your setup with an External HDD, you’re ready to start recording and capturing from your Xbox One X (Or Xbox One S). The first thing to remember is to NOT have it formatted for games and apps! Leave it standard, as it is right out of the box otherwise it won’t work. Have it plugged into the USB ports in the back of the console, doesn’t matter which one unless you have a Kinect you’re using as well (more info here).
Once that’s done you want to go into your settings, preferences and into the Broadcast + Capture section. Make sure your “Capture Location” is set to your external HDD, and enabling 4k HDR clips in the “Game clip resolution” section.
Step 3: Activating the 1 Hour DVR
Now your all set to start capturing in 4K HDR from your Xbox One X! If you want to take it a step further, provided you have a good amount of external HDD space (2TB or more) you can do up to 1 hour of recording. This can only be activated when you start up a game, it will not allow you to start recording from the home menu.
Once a game has been launched, pull up the quick menu by hitting the “Xbox” home button on the controller. From there head over to Broadcast+Capture, then select “Record from now” option! It’s really that simple. This will allow you to capture up to a total time of 1 hour. This is not an “Instant record” type of capture, but like recording a video. Once activated, it’ll record everything you do in-game up to a total of 1 hour!
From here you can remove your external HDD and plug it into your computer for all of your editing needs! Currently as i’m writing this, you cannot upload 4k HDR clips as they were captured on the Xbox One X. The Xbox team knows of the issue and is currently working on a fix that will hopefully come soon. I’ve spent the better part of a full day trying to figure out a work around but to no avail, so i would advise to be patient and wait for this fix. Until then, take as many screen shots as you like! Those can still be recorded in full 4k HDR and can be viewed as such! Game clips unfortunately.. not right now. I’ll update this guide when the fix goes live, adding in recommended video editing programs and how to upload to YouTube in 4k HDR! For now, enjoy these beautiful screengrabs i took from my Xbox One X that are in 4k HDR!
For better viewing, click/tap the “View Full Size” option!
*UPDATE* Total file size for a 1HR recording in 4k HDR is roughly 10.1gb using Assassins Creed Origins. Though I cannot say if this is accurate or not, because of the current bug issue where HDR isn’t being recorded when set to “4k HDR”. Will update again once patch is live
