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:
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- Filed under: Extras, Other License, Tools
- 74 Comments
74 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
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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-
[...] WebResources Depo’s 10 free screencasting tools, Mashable’s list of screencasting tools. I’d Rather Be Writing gives a couple of [...]
Thanks for this, there are some here I’d never heard of?
One bit of info about all of them I’d really like to know is which ones can record fullscreen gameplay? This has a different hardware path than recording inside a window, so some softwares won’t do it.
Very useful, Thank You.
Anders
Thanks for the great information. Gonna check out some of the programs!!!
CamStudio is the best of all above..
Nice article. You may also want to add Pixetell to your screen recording comparison list.
Disclosure: I work for Ontier, the company that makes Pixetell.
i clicked on them all its not working! I wish it was working. Its not your fault its my computers!
For me the best its screenr
Maybe good additions to this list are the checklist of criteria for selecting a screencasting tool at http://www.indoition.com/screencasting-tool-choosing.htm, as well as the list of screencasting tools at http://www.indoition.com/screencasting-tools-survey.htm.
Check out Microsoft Expression Encoder versions 2/3 for doing screen capture for Silverlight (Microsoft’s equivalent to Flash)
Starting with version 2, Microsoft began releasing an express (free) version. I’m amazed at out how much they don’t talk about these free apps, but they’re there for the takin’.
Go to http://www.microsoft.com/Expression/try-it/default.aspx#PageTop
Find the download free edition button at the bottom of the page.
capturefox does not work on Linux and Mac
I am using xVidcap on linux ubuntu which is also working fine…
Am staring a web learn project and I wondered what was out there for presentations.
2nd Click and I found this! COOL.
Good Job, really useful. Thanks.
I’m trying to find the best free package to record training videos that works well with Windows 7. CamStudio did not work. HyperCam wouldn’t execute. I tired the PSR.exe as recommended, but it doesn’t record sound. Any ideas? Please e-mail me if you can help. angela.koponen@unco.edu.
Jing software is good, but it convert to swf file that i don’t know how to open it, so I install BB Flash which can have the option to export different format, it is suitable for me.
OS X 10.6 – built in Quicktime player now has screen recording ability, including microphone, to full screen res….
Thanks for share, i appreciate this
Do you know of any that are free and don’t require registration? I would like to use a screen recorder with my middle school students and their ages prohibit them from creating accounts.
dont install camstudio it dosent work
Hi!
Does one is better to record sound easily, in the same time than video?
cam studio doesnt save files for some reason on my computer
nice list – hadn’t heard about most of them. gonna try some for presentations.
I’d like to add to the description of Jing that it only allows you to capture 5 minutes of video at a time, which may not enough for many users
Can you record video games you play with these software?
@JT : you can use fraps to record video games
for video games,i think fraps is the best one
for creating tutorials with windows activities recorded,i suggest flashdemo screen recorder
i tried it to record a 2 hour video,and it works
i use the free trial ,but thanks that it didn’t put a big watermark in the middle space of the video like some other shareware,so it didn’t annoy me
and it supports editing
very useful
I use http://www.screentoaster.com – this is an online cloud portal that links right to YoutTube, so you can either save your videos in an ever growing list of videos you’ve created, or you can upload to YouTube and share the link in minutes.
Great list. I’ve used Wink to create flash recordings of web demos. It’s quite good considering it is free.
and i need to say that Camstudio is really bad in output effect,my desktop looks like had been in water for long time(hard to explain,ugly…) in the output video
I am looking for a decent screen recorder that can handle changes in screen resolution and will record the audio that goes to the speakers… which of these would be the best?
Some of these are a little out of date (including microsoft media encoder), but overall it was very helpful. Thanks!
Great post. Just what I was looking for.
Any recommendations with witch one I should start…?
Thanks for sharing.
This is a grat post, very very helpfull ,
but it would be greater if you rank it, or tell your reader which one does what than the other one?
so not every one has to down load all of them to know which is better or which satisfied
his/her needs
Thanks a lot for your POST
That Is Nice Screen Recorders!WOW
Nice list of options. There is so much software out there, and being able to find a good screen recording software is good.
I am glad you have put together this list. I look forward to checking out the best.
I think Blueberry Flashback express is one of the best ones made yet also Camtasia studio but this one aint free so you have to buy it !
ScreenVirtuoso PRO is now FREE for Personal use. one of the best and finest screen recording tool.
http://codecpack.co/download/ScreenVirtuoso-PRO.html
This post is really interesting and for Ubuntu i dnt thing gtk-recordMyDesktop is very good in producing the video output. Rather than that All other applications are good.
Im using Camtesia software.
Cheers!!!
Nice collection.
I am generally using camstudio, which one do you??
I want a free screen and audio recording software to use for podcast interviews which have a full editing suite to insert images and edit content.
What would you recommend for that?
Great post. Very useful list. You mentioned a couple of new ones that I’m going to try. Thank you.