How to Capture and Share Game Video on Your Xbox One or PS4

You just completed the best multiplayer match of your life on your new console. Just a few short years ago, capturing your magnificent moves and sharing them with the world would have been close to impossible, unless you had the right gear and happened to have been recording at exactly the right time.

But the Xbox One and PS4 both make gameplay capture (even after-the-fact gameplay capture) much, much easier. And we’re here to walk you through it.

Xbox One

1. Snap game DVR or “record that” 

If you know you’re about to record a clip on Xbox One and you’ve got a Kinect plugged in, you can just say “Xbox snap game DVR.” That should pull up the side panel seen above, letting you start and stop recordings whenever you wish. If you don’t have Kinect, you can also use the snap game DVR feature by double-tapping the Xbox button on the controller and selecting “Snap.” Just a note, these preset recordings cap out at five minutes, so make sure you’re at the proper spot for your big moment.

Alternatively, if you just did something incredible but you weren’t ready to record, say “Xbox record that.” This will save the last 30 seconds of gameplay for later sharing. No Kinect? No problem. Just double-tap the Xbox One home button and press X to record the last 30 seconds.

. Open Upload Studio 

Once you have your clips recorded, open the Upload Studio app. You may have to download it from the Xbox One store, but don’t worry, it’s free.

Fire up the app, then choose “Manage your clips,” and then select which clip you want to edit.

Editing a clip lets you make a handful of additions. For example, you can add text captions, include a voice-over to narrate your exploits, or change the location and style of the overlaid graphics (called “Effects”). You can also set the beginning and end points of a clip using the “Trim” function.

Once you’re happy with the changes you’ve made, select “Finish.”

Now you simply need to give the clip a name and add any relevant tags. You can also decide where you want to share the clip. Selecting “Upload” will let other friends on Xbox One see the clip, but if you want to share it with the outside world, make sure you select OneDrive, as well.

3. Check out OneDrive

Once a file has been uploaded, head over to the OneDrive site, and log in using the same credentials as you do with your Xbox One. You’ll find your recorded game clips under Pictures → Xbox Game DVR.

Clicking on any of these videos will give you a sharable link, but if you’d like to go a step further, select “Download” while watching any clip. This will drop an MP4 video on your desktop, which you can then upload to YouTube, Facebook, or whatever other site you prefer.

And that’s it! Your Sunset Overdrive skills will become a viral sensation in no time.

PlayStation 4

If you happen to own a PlayStation 4 instead of an Xbox One, you’ll be pleased to know that getting a clip online is much easier and quicker on Sony’s console.

1. Press the Share button

How much easier? For one thing, Sony has included clip sharing as a dedicated button on the gamepad. Pressing the Share button (It’s the one on the left side of the controller marked, well, “Share.”) will do a few things. First, it’ll pull up this screen:

If you’d like to immediately upload the last 15 minutes of gameplay footage, you can do so simply by selecting “Upload Video Clip.” It’ll ask you to confirm which video clip you’re uploading, and then it will let you select where you want to send it. Both Facebook and YouTube are directly compatible, and security settings on those accounts can determine who can see the videos after they’re uploaded.

Seriously — that’s it. It’s remarkably quick and easy. But it gets more robust.

2. Visit the ShareFactory 

Say you don’t want to make people scrub through 15 minutes of your gameplay footage to get to the good parts. If you’re looking for a more trim, edited video, you’re going to want to use ShareFactory.

This free app is akin to Microsoft’s Upload Studio, letting you cut and edit clips before uploading them to the Web.

Upon booting up ShareFactory, select “New Project” and then select a theme.

Frankly, themes are a bit dumb since they force short intro and outro videos on top of your gameplay clips. Don’t worry, if you just want raw gameplay, there’s a quick way to disable the theme.

After selecting the theme, you’ll be asked to select clips. Included in that list are the intro and outro videos from the theme. Just make sure they’re unchecked, and make sure the gameplay clip you recorded is checked before pressing Square to start the project.

Next you’ll be presented with some daunting controls. First and foremost, you’ll want to press Square again to pull up the control menu.

From there, select “Trim Clip,” and you’ll be able to set the start and end times using the dual analog sticks, enabling you to cut down 15 minutes of gameplay to just a few seconds if you wish.

Once you’re happy with the clip, hit the “Options” button and select “Save Project.” You can then select “Export to Gallery.”

3. Upload away

Once the clip has been rendered and saved, you can find it by pressing the “Share” button again. Select “Upload Video Clip,” and you’ll be asked which video clip you want to upload. Any clips created in ShareFactory will say so in the file name, so make sure you select the right one. It’s usually easy to determine based on the running time of the clip and the thumbnail, but if you’re not 100 percent sure, feel free to watch the video first before uploading.

Now it’s just a matter of selecting your preferred platform, and boom — you’re a video game Spielberg.

What’s next?

That about covers the basic video editing tools on both the Xbox One and PS4. Digging deeper into both Upload Studio and ShareFactory allows for multiple clips to be edited together, complete transitions, and varying audio levels (to name a few features). But if you’re just starting out, I’d recommend you keep things simple until you feel comfortable with the tool set. Eventually, your Destiny headshot montage will be a thing of beauty.