10 Free Screen Recording Softwares For Creating Attractive Screencasts
Whether it is a "how-to on using a web application" or "describing the steps of creating a Photoshop effect", words are sometimes not enough.
With the help of screencasts (screen recording), it can be possible to better describe/demonstrate a computer-related product or service. And, it spreads faster as anyone can easily embed the video (if supported) to any website.
Here is a collection of 10 free screen recording softwares for creating attractive screencasts:
CamStudio
CamStudio is an open source screen recorder software which can record every screen and audio activity on a computer & create industry-standard AVI video files or bandwidth-friendly Streaming Flash videos (SWF).
O.S.: Windows
Jing
Jing can both take screenshots & capture a screen as videos. It is possible to add textboxes, arrows or rectangles to highlight spots.
It can send the generated outputs to Screencast.com, Flickr, a FTP account, Twitter & more.
With a microphone, you can record audio with the video as well.
O.S.: Windows, Mac OS X
Webineria
This is a very easy-to-use open source software to create screencasts.
It records the screen as an .AVI file & offers an option to create .FLV file from it. With the help of hotkeys, it is possible to start-pause & stop recording.
A great feature is, it can combine another video input (like webcam) with the screen recording process.
O.S.: Windows
Wink
Wink is a tutorial and presentation creation software which can capture screenshots & enables you to add explanation boxes, buttons, titles & more.
It supports various output formats like .EXE, .FLV, .HTML, etc.
O.S.: Windows, Linux
UltraVNC Screen Recorder
UltraVNC Screen Recorder is based-on CamStudio source with updates to improve the performance.
It supports both audio & screen capturing.
O.S.: Windows
Windows Media Encoder
Windows Media Encoder is a powerful application for capturing audio and video content with high-quality multichannel sound, high-definition video quality, and support for mixed-mode voice and music content.
You may find this helpful: Getting Started with Screen Capture Using Windows Media Encoder.
O.S.: Windows
BB FlashBack Express
BB FlashBack Express is the free version of some other advanced series. It can record from a video source, screen & audio.
It can export to AVI or FLV & has integrated support for direct uploading to the popular video sharing websites.
O.S.: Windows
CaptureFox (Firefox add-on)
CaptureFox is a Firefox add-on which can record screens frame-by-frame to create tutorials. It also supports audio recording.
O.S.: All major operating systems
uTIPu TipCam
TipCam, besides the standard screen recording with audio & video, has various features like:
- has AVI & FLV support
- audio can be re-recorderd
- beginning & end parts can be trimmed
- video can zoom to the mouse cursor with smart zooming
- ability to draw free-style during recording
O.S.: Windows
Krut
This is a tiny Java application (works on many platforms) for creating screencasts.
Krut records movie files of selected parts of your screen in the quicktime mov format, including sound. The program has an intuitive and compact user interface.
O.S.: All major operating systems
- Tags:
Capture
- Filed under: Extras, Other License, Tools
- 33 Comments
33 Responses for "10 Free Screen Recording Softwares For Creating Attractive Screencasts"
What platform do these run on… Linux, OSX or that other one?
@connectionfailure,
I have just updated the post to include the operating system support of each sotware.
Most of them are run on Windows system. And there is a Mac version of Jing Project. And I think you can include ScreenToaster to this list.
If you find there is few editing features for these free ones, DemoCreator could be an option with not much cost.
Hi
one click online recording:
http://screencastle.com/
Olaf
FYI, CaptureFox doesn’t work on Mac OSX.
This post is really helpful.
Raja.
For Ubuntu users, i recommend this
gtk-recordMyDesktop
it’s easy to install from “Add and remove applications”, or from “Synaptic”.
It’s a round tool!! i use from 2 years ago.
Good Post!
SERGI
[...] post que va directo a los bookmarks el que leo en WRD. En él van a encontrar 10 herramientas que les van a permitir grabar lo que ven en su pantalla [...]
Hi,
I use http://www.screentoaster.com quite a lot and it works great… will try out the one you suggest here as well, thanks!
Jan
Where is Adobe Captivate?
@Marc,
Captivate is amazing but as far as I know it is a paid product.
Check out PSR.exe in windows 7.Less features but brilliant.
Hi! I use http://goview.com but I’ll try the ones you suggest. Nice post!
very informative post
[...] el artículo 10 Free Screen Recording Softwares For Creating Attractive Screencasts, de WebResourcesDepot, encontramos una colección de 10 programas de grabación de pantalla [...]
Where is Adobe Captivate?
Cool Post. Don’t forget Screen toaster, it’s a pretty good screen recorder and it’s free too. Here is some more info about it:
http://www.cre8ivecommando.com/a-simple-free-online-screen-recorder-screen-toaster-71/
Very good post. I’m looking for this for a long time. I used Camtasia Studio, but it needs paiding. So, these freewares are very useful. Thank you.
Hi everyone,
I never use such software any suggestion that you can give which is best for Windows XP. Any experiences.
Thanks
Hello Everyone!
Thanks for the post, it will help me a lot, but i have a question: which programm is really economical (i have just 512 mb ram and i want to capture some actions in photoshop)
Thanks for the links. I am trying out Jing right now. Seems like it should be decent.
What is the best inexpensive USB microphone for making screen recordings?
Thanks.
I just tried to install CatureFox but it does not support GNU/Linux. I’m running GNU/Linux Debian Squeeze. Perhaps you could mention it on the post. Thanks
Thanks for this post.
Very useful.
The best post I’ve seen in this site. thanks
Very helpful! Thanks for the links
Well done, exactly what I needed!
@Vin: Nobody cares about the mac.
Freeware is cool, but since it has some function limits in certain aspects. For screen recording hardcores, the commercial software is still essential, like DemoCreator which I got last few weeks and now fillin deep love with it. It’s quite clear and easy to use without any tutorial, and they just offer perfect video I dream of, so I got the pro version with no hestitation. Highly recommend to every business elite!!
great article – i am using wing, which is great but lacks smooth video recording. Now i got more apps to test
Yeah, fantastic list, thanks! But if possible, it would be helpful to know which ones have extra editing features, such as:
- Panning
- Zooming
- Mouse highlighting
- Pen/highlighter tool
- Audio capture (mic and/or computer output)
- Edit videos after capture
- Banners, callouts and on-screen annotations
That would definitely help when comparing products. I know CamStudio has panning, mouse highlighting and screen annotations (have to be placed *while* recording) but it lacks some of the others.
Great List!!! Thank You for sharing.
Hi: This is a great list to share with my undergraduate students. They have already assessed JingProject. This list should provide several more options for us, especially with our tight budget this year.
-j-