(Disclaimer: Amazon Affiliate links included where possible and I deem them relevant. I’ll earn a small commission, as described in my privacy policy from eligible purchases made through these links.)

My officially “first” workout for the year is, as per my attempts at making a regular schedule, the next level in Ring Fit Adventure.

Here we have what is probably my first successful attempt at recording via the GoPro-as-webcam and OBS… but as per the description on that video I was moderately sure I could hear the computer’s fan running in the background.

Between that and the perpetual sound issues in trying to cast any gameplay from the Oculus Quest, I decided relying on something other than my Razer webcam to pick up game audio was in order.

For my next trip to Beat Saber’s campaign mode, I tried to solve that problem by connecting my Chromecast to the capture card… and subsequently had to buy an HDMI coupler for the purpose because I’d completely forgotten that Chromecast and Capture Card alike both had male ends and could not connect directly to each other.

Trouble is, I kept having problems with both keeping my GoPro connected for use as a webcam and keeping the Chromecast connected for streaming.

Following this video, I addressed the GoPro glitchiness by switching from the 3.0 USB cable I’d bought for the purpose back to the cable that came with the camera (ironic since the software explicitly tells you to use 3.0 or 3.1 for best results and GoPro doesn’t even make a USB 3 cable… or at least they don’t label the product pages or use the fairly common color-coding to identify their cables as such), but fixing the Chromecast/microphone issue was a little more complicated.

I do eventually need to upgrade my network, and I’m looking into several options for that (like finding a MOCA-compatible router so I can set up a connection in the junk room instead of relying on wifi extenders when I may or may not have anywhere in the house where they’d give me a better connection than I get now), but I caved and bought a cheap external microphone to see if it would work as a quick fix for the sound issue and returned to the browser-based casting option.

And by “cheap” I mean I paid about $25 for a store-brand model from my place of employment. I went into the purchase knowing there was a chance I’d need a better model, but I’m trying to take baby steps with my upgrades until I can afford a new computer, and the selling point for this one was the advertised ability to attach it to an ordinary tripod–I simply screwed it on to one of the desk clamps I’ve become obsessed with, allowing me to extend it even further away from my computer (and therefore the fan noise) as well as keeping my desk clutter-free. The fact that the upgrade means it is in front of my computer (instead of “behind” as the webcam is) and is a colloidal model (mostly captures sound from the front) both help filter out the relevant unwanted background noises.

The changes seem to help, but I can’t help but think there’s a logical fallacy in there somewhere–thinking that the first video I made after these changes works means I’ve actually fixed the problem when it was only ever random in the first place. Time will tell, but the improvements are enough to try this for set-up again.

Oh, and I’ve finally full-comboed Beat Saber’s High Hopes on Normal mode at the highest speed modifier. Now, in the name of keeping track of what I’ve accomplished with which song, I need to do the same with Party Rock and Warriors before I buy any more tracks… or try any of them in Hard Mode. Still haven’t decided how to measure when I’m “ready” to move up in difficulty in Synth Riders.

Back to the subject of baby steps, the next planned upgrade will be to get a light bar for under my desk. One that doesn’t rely on maintaining a connection to my modem/router for local use only, thank you very much. (Have these manufacturers seriously been unable to come up with an option for local connections that’s better than WiFi?)

Wearing dark clothes certainly doesn’t help matters, but the fact that I’m standing almost directly under my ceiling fixture means I tend to generate a lot of shadow in the leg area, which for the fitness games makes it harder to see a lot of what I’m doing. The light bar I’m looking at would fit under my desk when not in use (and even when in use) and can connect to the same power strip my computer is plugged into, so I can aim it where I need it without needing to run cords all over creation.

I’ll just need to wait to buy it until I actually go out shopping for groceries and the like if I want to avoid shipping fees… the thing is literally four cents too cheap to qualify for free shipping. In the meantime I’ll have to remember to pull down the “needs Wifi to connect to my phone” color-change globe that is currently hanging over my bed… or invest in another MisFit light bulb and stick my lamp under there.

Suggested products in use, Amazon Affiliate links included where possible:

• GoPro Hero 9
• GoPro Gooseneck
• GoPro “Jaws” clamp
• Ring Fit Adventure
• Genki ShadowCast capture card
• Oculus Quest (I have the original, thus the link. Between weight and IPD options I don’t expect replacing it with the 2 would improve my migraines.)
• “SURF” ONN brand USB Podcast Microphone