Sometimes, explaining what happens on a computer display doesn’t capture the action like moving visuals can. Fortunately, for desktop software developers, budding tech reviewers and others, screencasting programs can step in when words fail.
- Screencasting Tool For Mac Shortcut
- Screen Casting App For Mac
- Screencasting Tool For Mac Os
- Screencasting Tool For My Computer
The software can record every click, window switch or animation, making it simple to record video desktop demonstrations.
Mac OS X (version 10.6 or later) also offers a built-in screencasting tool, but it offers only limited video-export options—none of which are lossless—and has no built-in editing. ViewletBuilder was one of the first screencasting tools on the market, and is. It’s one of the few programs that are available for Linux and Mac as well. All important features are available. Recordit is a simple, plugin-style Mac snipping tool that you install on your Mac or Windows machine to create quick screencasts of your entire screen or just a portion. Users love the simplicity and lightweight model, affording you the ability to multi-task while screencasting.
See also: Podcasting On A Budget: How To Record Great Audio For Less
Plenty of options cater to Mac OS X and Windows users; for now, I’ll go over some top tips and picks for people with Apple desktops and laptops. (If you have a Windows machine, don’t fret—I’ll cover those choices in a separate post.)
What To Look For In A Screencasting App
Screencasting can involve more than just doing a flat capture of a whole desktop. You may need to zoom in on certain parts or focus on other nuances.
Subtle effects, such as keystroke display and mouse-click effects—which show the characters you type and the options you click on, respectively—can make a huge difference in the quality of your video. Callout effects, like arrows and highlights, can draw attention to other specific elements on the screen.
If you’re recording a tutorial, for example, such effects can illustrate the steps clearly, so that viewers can follow your movements.
Most screencasting applications offer these features, so you’ll want to practice and get comfortable with them. Every program handles them a bit differently.
.jpg "Screencasting")
As you assess different apps (see: below), don’t forget to consider their video export options. Videos rendered with a lot of compression, so they come out as smaller files, may work well for streaming. But you’ll have to be a one-shot wonder. In other words, don’t count on editing that footage further. Programs like iMovie, Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premier and others compress the file when they export, which means you will have compressed it twice. To avoid significant loss to video quality in those scenarios, choose screencasting apps that support an uncompressed, or lossless, format.
You’ll want to think about those types of needs and others early on in the process, so it can help you choose the right program. Do you need video-editing capabilities built-in, or will you use an external editor? What format(s) will the video be published in? Do you want the program to upload it to video sharing sites for you? Use the answers to help guide your selection process.
Once you have this list, you’re ready to start searching for screencasting software. I recommend spending a little time with them on test videos. Many paid programs even offer trials or demos. Start small, so you don’t invest a lot of time, only to find out that the exported video has, say, a time limit or a huge watermark.
Good Screencasting Apps for OS X
Ultimately, good screencasting apps get out of your way. There are dozens of screencasting apps out there, many of which offer the same basic features.
Mac OS X (version 10.6 or later) also offers a built-in screencasting tool, but it offers only limited video-export options—none of which are lossless—and has no built-in editing. That means, if you want to edit the clip, you have to use a separate app and you will wind up with lackluster quality, regardless. That’s the primary reason people grab third-party applications.
Below, I’ve listed a few top picks that I’ve used to record video tutorials. Each have pros and cons, but all of them can produce quality screencasts.
Screencasting Tool For Mac Shortcut
ScreenFlow 5
My personal go-to app for screencasting in OS X is ScreenFlow 5 ($99) by Telestream. It doesn’t just record your desktop; it also hooks into your webcam, microphone and system audio, as well as the screen of a connected iPhone, iPad or iPod touch.
ScreenFlow 5’s advanced video editing, audio mastering tools, high-quality recording, and export options make it one of the best equipped all-in-one screencasting solutions for OS X.
The program also comes with a pretty powerful video editor and effects—including pointer zoom, click effect, keystroke display, media management, captions and others.
When you’re done recording, you have a slew of posting options, with presets available for YouTube, Vimeo, Wistia, Google Drive, Dropbox and Facebook. You can also export and save videos to your computer in a range of file types, or even set up batch exports for larger jobs.
iShowU, HD, HD Pro, and Studio
iShowU by shinywhitebox offers a whole family of products for screencasting.
The original iShowU app ($20) offers a robust list of user-configurable settings and presets—including a dedicated one for recording World of Warcraft gameplay. However, deciding on those configurations on the fly, while you’re in the recording stage, can be confusing to new users. Also bear in mind that you have to choose effects, like mouse-click blips and cursor-tracking, before hitting the record button.
For a much more user-friendly interface, consider iShowU HD ($29.95) and HD Pro ($59.95) instead. Though simpler, they also feature live video preview and a plethora of recording options.
Power users looking for a decent built-in video editor could find what they need in the premium version, iShowU Studio ($79). But note that it requires OS X 10.9 (Mavericks) and above.
One caveat: iShowU can’t record system audio on its own. But for a fairly simple fix, you can download Soundflower, a free program lets you pipe any application or system audio to any other program, so you can record it.
Camtasia
Camtasia for Mac ($99) by TechSmith proves just as capable as ScreenFlow, in terms of editing and export options. But it also has a few extra tricks up its sleeve.
The software, which supports both OS X and Windows, also ties into other TechSmith apps that, together, add additional recording options to the mix. TechSmith Fuse, for example, lets you capture video and photos from your mobile device while you’re out and about, and then upload it to Camtasia to add it to your video project.
QuickTime
QuickTime is free and comes pre-installed with OS X (10.6 or above). All you have to do is fire it up, go to File > New Screen Recording in the QuickTime menu, select your options and begin recording. To record all or part of your screen, just click and drag the area you wish to capture. You can even set it to record “blips” (or visual cues) for every mouse click.
Apple’s software is simple and easy to use, but there are downsides. First, your video is captured in a compressed file—a lossy H.264 .mov file, to be exact. That won’t necessarily look bad for simple, straightforward projects. But the quality will get worse, if you have edit, and then export that, which compresses it again.
Either way, you can get better quality using one of the paid applications listed above. All of them have free demos available, if you’d like to try one out.
Budget users might be tempted to check out other free offerings, such as Screencast-o-matic. But they usually come with compromises in quality or other limitations that may or may not work, depending on your project. If the penny-pinching winds up costing you in other ways, the resulting proof could be as clear as the screen in front of your face.
Lead photo courtesy of Shutterstock; iShowU screenshot courtesy of shinywhitebox ltd.; Modern Family image courtesy of ABC; Camtasia screenshot courtesy of TechSmith
Related Posts
Create online tutorials and YouTube videos in a snap of fingers with the best screencast software shared in this post.
Moving videos are always better than static images. You may need a video for multiple purposes, such as creating tutorials. Moreover, in the present situations, digital learning is the need of the hour. It is not only convenient but also a safer way to impart knowledge. To function as an online tutor, the first thing that you need to do is create a video of your device’s screen. And, this is what the best free screencast software helps you do.
Now, a question that strikes the mind is that are the free screencast recorders only helpful for the online tutors? The customer base of these utilities comprises majorly of online tutors. But, they help all kinds of professionals. For instance, YouTube channels and marketing personnel can use them to create presentations and address the customer’s queries.
The marketplace has a plethora of free screencast software, but all of them are not the perfect tools to use. Therefore, through this post, we share the best screencast software (both completely free and trial-free) for Mac and Windows.
Best Free Screencast Software to Create Videos on Mac/Windows
Below is the best free screencast software that you need to record screen on Mac/Windows for creating tutorials and videos.
1. Camtasia
If you are looking for a feature-rich and the best free screencast software, then Camtasia is one of our topmost recommendations. It lets you record the entire screen as well as a portion of it. Along with this, it also allows you to record audio via the device’s microphone.
Moreover, this best screencast software also allows you to pause the recording, edit, and combine them. It provides some of the high-end video enhancement features such as motion graphics, icons, music tracks, and more. Above all, it offers a few incredibly amazing audio effects for you to try.
Also Know:How to Recover Deleted Photos, Videos, and Songs in Windows 10
2. ScreenFlow
Here comes another free screencast recorder to record the screen and create videos effortlessly. It comes with an ocean of video enhancement and editing tools. For instance, here you get the multi-track editing options. This is something that only a few screencast software tools provide.
Another thing that attracted us to this best free screencast software for Mac is the Stock Media Library that it offers. This library has a massive catalog of images, video clips, audio, and more. Apart from this, here you get a multitude of options such as video zooming, annotation, transitions, video, and enticing effects.
3. Screencast-O-Matic
This entrant on our list is among the worth-mentioning and best free screencast recorder available in the town. In addition to all the basic screen recording and video making features, it delights users with some incredible video enhancement and editing options.
Screen Casting App For Mac
Furthermore, with this best free screencast software for Mac and Windows, you don’t need to beat your brains out for recording videos. It has one of the simplest and most intuitive user interfaces that we have come across.
Screencasting Tool For Mac Os
4. Screencastify
The thing that attracted us to this best screencast software is that despite being a Chrome extension, it can record videos outside the browser. It hosts all the regular video enhancement and editing features such as cropping, trimming, focusing on the mouse pointer, and more.
Moreover, another unique thing about this best free screencast software for Mac and Windows is that it lets you save your creations as mp3 or mp4 files as well as it also allows you to export them. The cherry on top of the cake is that it has the much-needed cloud support.
Also Know:5 Best Free File Encryption Software for Windows and Mac
5. OBS Studio
Screencasting Tool For My Computer
This open-source freeware is also among the best free screencast recorders that you can use. It offers some highly advanced recording and streaming options. For instance, there are predefined settings to add effects, and background variations while the live recording is going on.
Moreover, this is one of the best free screencast software for YouTubers who need a quick tool to create how-to videos. However, it does not have premium video enhancement options such as annotation adding and focusing on the mouse pointer.
We discussed the best free screencast software that you can use to create YouTube videos, tutorials, and more. You pick any of the above-mentioned software as they all are equally good. However, if you are confused and need suggestions, then we would recommend Camtasia and ScreenFlow for the multitude of features they offer to delight users. Lastly, before bidding adieu, don’t forget to join us in our newsletter and stay tuned for more such information.