*FREE* Screencasting Apps & Utilities

Question

Hi All,

I know there has been previous talk on here about screencasting tools/apps, however I thought I would be more specific in what I am after in the hope that it can help me and others :)

I am looking at trialling some screencasts on my blog. There are numerous reasons for this (hopefully being more helpful to readers, improving my elocution etc.)

So, do you know of any good FREE screencasting tools & utilities to get started? I am not interested in apps that cost at this time because I do not want to shell out until I am more comfortable with the medium!

Also, if you have posted screencasts yourself, please feel free to share links with your answer, it would be good to see the quality that is produced etc (and drive traffic to your blog/site) ;)

Answer 1

Only works with Windows and Linux (x86), but give Wink a go. It exports to flash directly so should be easy to integrate with your website.

Answer 2

I see this asked often (on other sites) and I have some interest in the topic, so I compiled a little list (just added the last two by looking at the Related sidebar of this question...):

• Free Screen Recorder - http://www.nbxsoft.com/screen-recorder.php (Windows, AVI output)
• CamIt - http://camit.sourceforge.net/ (Windows, OSS, command line, WMV output)
• CamStudio - http://camstudio.org/ (Windows, OSS, AVI/Flash output)
• Wink - http://www.debugmode.com/wink/ (Windows/Linux, Flash output)
• Jing - http://www.jingproject.com/ (Mac/Windows, Flash output)
• Taksi - http://taksi.sourceforge.net/ (Windows, games/3D, OSS, AVI output (any codec))
• Fraps - http://www.fraps.com/ (Windows, real-time video capture, payware (free limited version?), WMV output)

Answer 3

Jing's quite nice, provided you're only recording short clips. And the nice thing is that it can directly upload a recording or screenshot to screencast.com (you get some free space there if you're a jing user)

Answer 4

On a Mac consider Copernicus. No sound unfortunately, but if you have a Mac you'll already have iMovie.

Answer 5

OK, as a followup, I got a chance to play with some of the tools suggested.

• Wink looked OK, but just didn't cut the mustard. I think the way it "records" is just really inefficient, audio that is layed over the top is also pretty poor due to the gaps the frames produce.
• CamStudio looks and works pretty damn good! The AVI output is great quality (both audio and video), I don't experience any lag while it is running. However - the flash conversion does not seem to work at all for me? I end up with either a white or bitty flash file? (read "useless") Any suggestions?

Answer 6

And some more things I have tried (and TBH I will probably stick with):

Using CamStudio to record the screencast in AVI, I had a really good quality output, but it was huge. I needed to get things re-encoded with enough quality to be uploaded to the web and actually readable.

So, I started looking for H.264 encoders and came across this great guide. This lead me on to the following:

• x264 - A great H.264 encoder (Command Line).
• SUPER - A awesome free encoder bit of kit. Does pretty much everything!

And the final result? My first ever screencast! (which I uploaded to blip.tv).

Hope this helps!

Answer 7

There is also Capture Fox which is a Firefox add-on.