Windows program to record screen and audio?

runswithascript

Can anyone recommend a program to record my entire screen or a selected portion of it and the audio?

I would rather use a single program instead of two and have to merge the video and audio etc.

yoyo

CamStudio. Tis free too

Nick

runswithascript

Perfect, thanks

runswithascript

I have been having a lot of problems with the size of the videos I record. I have been testing on a 60 second video although ultimately I want to record a 35 minute presentation. The lowest size I have gotten the 1 minute test video to is between 90 MB and 350 MB.

I am using Cam Studio Lossless Codec 1.5 capturing a full screen although the footage is not complex, contains mostly text and very little graphics or colours.

I am recording audio from my speakers using stereo mix, basically what I hear is recorded.

What I have tried:

Using AVI and SWF format for capturing.

Lowering the quality to 1 instead of the default 70.

Changing my screen resolution from 1024 to 600 (default on this netbook) to 800 x 600.

Changing the display to 16 bit.

Changing the framerates to capture every 100 milliseconds with a playback rate of 100 frames/second and the key frames set to 100. Autoadjust for frame rates is set.

Using the GZIP algorithm set to 6/9 for SWF but LZO for AVI.

I calculate that for the 35 minute capture I will be looking at a file size of 3.5 GB which seems insane for such a low quality presentation.

What more can I do, and is there any thing I should undo like setting the quality to 1 or the frame captures so far apart?

When the SWF is first compressed and I am then presented with options in the producer/player, should I adjust them, and if so to what?

yoyo

dusf wrote: »

I have been having a lot of problems with the size of the videos I record. I have been testing on a 60 second video although ultimately I want to record a 35 minute presentation. The lowest size I have gotten the 1 minute test video to is between 90 MB and 350 MB.

I am using Cam Studio Lossless Codec 1.5 capturing a full screen although the footage is not complex, contains mostly text and very little graphics or colours.

I am recording audio from my speakers using stereo mix, basically what I hear is recorded.

What I have tried:

Using AVI and SWF format for capturing.

Lowering the quality to 1 instead of the default 70.

Changing my screen resolution from 1024 to 600 (default on this netbook) to 800 x 600.

Changing the display to 16 bit.

Changing the framerates to capture every 100 milliseconds with a playback rate of 100 frames/second and the key frames set to 100. Autoadjust for frame rates is set.

Using the GZIP algorithm set to 6/9 for SWF but LZO for AVI.

I calculate that for the 35 minute capture I will be looking at a file size of 3.5 GB which seems insane for such a low quality presentation.

What more can I do, and is there any thing I should undo like setting the quality to 1 or the frame captures so far apart?

When the SWF is first compressed and I am then presented with options in the producer/player, should I adjust them, and if so to what?

Try encoding it to a mpeg2 video or some generic format, you can then compress this into an Xvid/h.264 file which should drasticly reduce the file size and maintain decent quality.
A lossless codec will obviously output much larger files,

Nick

runswithascript

yoyo wrote: »

Try encoding it to a mpeg2 video or some generic format, you can then compress this into an Xvid/h.264 file which should drasticly reduce the file size and maintain decent quality.

Thanks, I was actually able to capture on my own computer in Xvid!

yoyo wrote: »

A lossless codec will obviously output much larger files,

Now that you mention it, yes a *lossless* codec would make sense to be a larger size losing none of the quality!

I am using a fixed region with the dimensions 690 x 404 to capture a basic video presentation with an instructor visible in a small low quality video in the top left hand corner of a powerpoint containing text and no graphics. What settings would you suggest for Quality, Set Key Frames Every, Capture Frames Every, and Playback Rate? I have tried the default 70-200-5-200, 100-200-5-200, 70-30-50-20, and 100-30-50-20 but I am not sure which is best or if I should be using something else.

On the computer I am planning to capture on, which I will not have access to again for another 10 hours or so, I was initially disheartened at the large file size created by Lossless Codec. Xvid was not an option on the original computer and I did not think I would need to install any codecs as I think there is already a K-Lite Codec Pack there, but if I install Xvid-1.3.2 from http://www.koepi.info/xvid.html on that computer will I be able to then capture with it, or should I be using a different codec entirely? ~11MB for a minute is great compared to 350MB+ but considering I have seen feature length full action movies of 700mb is there something more I can do to reduce it?

When I use Xvid an annoying 'Xvid Status' window pops up every time I press record (please see the screenshot @ http://i.imgur.com/pDv07.jpg ) so I have to try quickly press pause and bring what I am recording to the front before resuming the capture but it is still visible at the start of every video for a split second. Although I could move the window of what I am recording to the lower left of my desktop this is not an option as I have fixed region set up for where the window is by default - I plan to record many windows which will default in the same place. I have tried re-installing Xvid 1.3.2 but it made no difference, is there something more I can do?

Finally on my own computer I am not able to configure stereo mix for my Sigmatel Audio card and Dell does not provide a driver to do so - it is a Dimension E520. Is there a workaround to record what I hear? *I can still use stereo mix on the computer in my girlfriend's to record sound where I plan to capture - my computer cannot access what I want to capture currently but it would be nice to have the option for recording sound in the future.

yoyo

dusf wrote: »

Thanks, I was actually able to capture on my own computer in Xvid!



Now that you mention it, yes a *lossless* codec would make sense to be a larger size losing none of the quality!

I am using a fixed region with the dimensions 690 x 404 to capture a basic video presentation with an instructor visible in a small low quality video in the top left hand corner of a powerpoint containing text and no graphics. What settings would you suggest for Quality, Set Key Frames Every, Capture Frames Every, and Playback Rate? I have tried the default 70-200-5-200, 100-200-5-200, 70-30-50-20, and 100-30-50-20 but I am not sure which is best or if I should be using something else.

On the computer I am planning to capture on, which I will not have access to again for another 10 hours or so, I was initially disheartened at the large file size created by Lossless Codec. Xvid was not an option on the original computer and I did not think I would need to install any codecs as I think there is already a K-Lite Codec Pack there, but if I install Xvid-1.3.2 from http://www.koepi.info/xvid.html on that computer will I be able to then capture with it, or should I be using a different codec entirely? ~11MB for a minute is great compared to 350MB+ but considering I have seen feature length full action movies of 700mb is there something more I can do to reduce it?

When I use Xvid an annoying 'Xvid Status' window pops up every time I press record (please see the screenshot @ http://i.imgur.com/pDv07.jpg ) so I have to try quickly press pause and bring what I am recording to the front before resuming the capture but it is still visible at the start of every video for a split second. Although I could move the window of what I am recording to the lower left of my desktop this is not an option as I have fixed region set up for where the window is by default - I plan to record many windows which will default in the same place. I have tried re-installing Xvid 1.3.2 but it made no difference, is there something more I can do?

Finally on my own computer I am not able to configure stereo mix for my Sigmatel Audio card and Dell does not provide a driver to do so - it is a Dimension E520. Is there a workaround to record what I hear? *I can still use stereo mix on the computer in my girlfriend's to record sound where I plan to capture - my computer cannot access what I want to capture currently but it would be nice to have the option for recording sound in the future.

I have heard of manufacturers locking out sound card drivers for stereo mix alrite, as an "anti piracy" measure ironically. Its ridiculous to do as there are many legitimate uses for stereo mix recording like in your case.
To disable "Xvid Status" Window, look here

Nick

runswithascript

yoyo wrote: »

To disable "Xvid Status" Window, look hereNick

Sweet, thanks! Any thoughts on what to set the frames to and quality? I have seen some people recommend quality set to 1 so I am not sure. Default seems to be 70.