Screencasts are easily saved to a directory of your choice, and the file is ready to upload to your favorite sharing site or your learning management system. File saving is automatic unless otherwise selected. The shutter sound is on by default, and the shutter type can be self-selected and includes the default Nikon D80 or Canon 7D. Automatic file saving is enabled by default, along with the self-selected directory where videos are saved and a default file-name prefix, which is user-configurable.Ĭonfiguring the screenshot is easy.

The default recording is set to H264(MP4), but there are other formats available, such as VP8(WEBM), HUFFYUV, LosslessJPEG, and RAW AVI. The second tab of preferences is for selecting video preferences. I like that Kazam also has the ability to delay the capture, which can come in useful when recording tutorials.Ĭonfiguring preferences is easy under the File | Preferences menu, and audio capture sources can be selected to include speakers and microphone. You can capture the mouse pointer movement, too. Recording a select area of a screen can come in handy because it focuses the learner's attention on exactly where you want them to look. After you install and launch the program, you can configure it to capture the whole desktop, a specific window, or a select area. The Kazam desktop screen recorder is also released under the Gnu Public License and, like SimpleScreenRecorder, it is easy to use and offers an intuitive interface. SimpleScreenRecorder has great documentation on its website, which includes tips for configuration, recording, and uploading, as well as installation instructions for various Linux distributions. Once the recording is completed, the file can edited or uploaded to YouTube, Vimeo, or an educational learning management system. Sound notification can also be enabled, which is a nice feature that lets you know when the recording begins and ends. You can either click on the Start recording button or use a selection hot key. Different profiles can be used (faster profiles mean bigger file sizes), including YouTube, LiveStream (1000kbps), LiveStream (2000kbps), LiveStream (3000 kbps), and high-quality intermediate.Īfter you've configured your system, recording is easy. Video frame rate defaults to 30fps.īecause SimpleScreenRecorder uses libav/ffmpeg libraries for encoding, it supports a variety of file formats and video codecs. You can record the cursor or not, adjust the frame rate, scale the video, and adjust the audio backend, which includes three options: ALSA, JACK, and PulseAudio. The latter is my personal favorite because it focuses the learner's attention on exactly where I want them to look.

SimpleScreenRecorder is released under the Gnu Public License and runs on Linux.Īfter installing and launching the program, you can easily configure it to capture the whole desktop, a specific window, or a select area. It has an untuitive interface and the ability to record in MP4, OGG, Matroska, or WebM format. SimpleScreenRecorder lets you easily record desktop action. In this article, I'll look at two free, open source desktop screen recorders: SimpleScreenRecorder and Kazam. Desktop screen recorders are great tools for creating instructional videos. I've found that students benefit from seeing exactly how an application is configured or how a code snippet is written. I'm a visual learner, so seeing how to do something has been very helpful in my education. A picture might be worth a thousand words, but a video demonstration can save a lot of talking.

Kazam screen recorder for windows