Utilities

10 Clever Screen Recording Tools for Mac

Kajik on February 18th 2009

Video tutorials seem to be appearing everywhere at present, and recently I’ve been researching the best ways to record and process screen recording videos on a Mac. There are plenty of recording and capturing tools out there, but they vary in their functionality. Some only capture images, others record the screen and some of them listed below additionally record sound.

If you’re looking for a tool to simply take screenshots, two I would recommend are LittleSnapper and Skitch (or the in-built utility in OS X).

In the past days I’ve tried a few different applications – some are good and some not, but I’ll show you the ones I think are useful. Please note that some of the applications aren’t freeware, but pricing information and links to the developer sites are provided. Without further ado, let’s delve into the world of screen capture software – we’ll start with free applications with fairly limited functionality and gradually work up towards the more expensive players.

Copernicus

Copernicus allows you to record screenshots, very short videos, but no sound. You can take images and store them in a virtual photo gallery or just save them on your Mac. I recommend using this application for taking images, when writing a tutorial, where screenshots are needed or whenever you want to demonstrate a particular moment on screen.

Publisher: Danicsoft
Size: 4.9 MB
License: Freeware
Requirements: Mac OS X 10.4 or later
Download: Copernicus

Capture Me

Capture Me however, offers more options like a floating capture window, which is resizable to different resolutions and provides several output options. As well as Copernicus, Capture Me only provides a screen capturing mode, for taking pictures. A video recording mode – again with no sound – does exist, but with a limited duration of one minute it is useless for recording video tutorials.

Publisher: Chimoosoft
Size: 0.58 MB
License: Freeware, Open source
Requirements: Mac OS X 10.4 or later
Download: Capture Me

Capture It

Captureit

Captureit is a new product which was published recently. It not only provides functionality for capturing images, but also recording screen output. The developers concentrated on making it fast and easy to use, which it is. Additional features include multiple export formats for the iPhone and YouTube. It costs $15, but you can use the trial version for 15 days before buying it.

Publisher: UncleMiF
Size: 1.2 MB
License: Demo, $15
Requirements: Mac OS X 10.4 or later
Download: Captureit

ScreenRecord

ScreenRecord captures a video of your screen as a Quicktime movie. With a simple interface and low price tag, it’s an appealing tool if you’re just experimenting with screencasting. The publisher also mentions that this tool can be used as a “monitoring device”, further information on which can be found in the user guide.

Publisher: Mien Software
Size: 6.5 MB
License: Demo, $16
Requirements: Mac OS X 10.4 or higher
Download: ScreenRecord

iShowU

iShowU is my personal favorite. There are two different versions available – if you are using Mac OS 10.4, you will only be able to use iShowU classic. It’s relatively inexpensive and provides very nice recording options for sound and video.

For users with Mac OS 10.5 and later there is a HD and HD Pro version, which is even more powerful than its forerunner. What makes this tool so easy to use is the understandable interface and in-built options such as scalability, highlighting actions and displaying keyboard commands. It is compatible with editing applications such as Final Cut and provides multiple output formats for web, internet video, email and several others.

Publisher: shinywhitebox
Size: 7.1 MB
License: Demo, $20 – $60 depending on version
Requirements: Mac OS X 10.4 or later
Download: iShowU

ScreenFlick

Screenflick

Screenflick features similar functions like the other tools so far, but assures smooth, fluid motion with up to 60 frames per second. Just as with iShowU, Screenflick additionally records internal and external sound. Another useful feature is the ability to display keyboard commands and highlights on mouse clicks. An important feature that some of this tools provide is the possibility to save project files with the raw screen footage, to later modify and export the video. These projects can be exported multiple times in different sizes and versions, without affecting the original footage.

Publisher: Araelium Group
Size: 3.0 MB
License: Demo, €29, currently $25
Requirements: Mac OS X 10.4 or later
Download: Screenflick

Screenium

Screenium is a German product with an additional English version of the tool and website. The tool is similar to the ones mentioned above. You can include a mouse pointer, highlight selections and movements in real-time, which makes the processing afterwards very fast and easy. It also features audio recording and a simple single-window user interface.

Publisher: Synium Software GmbH
Size: 6.3 MB
License: Demo, currently $38
Requirements: Mac OS X 10.4.9 or later
Download: Screenium

ScreenMimic

Screen Mimic

Screen Mimic is a recording application aimed at creating SWF Flash movies, FLV Flash videos or MOV Quicktime files. This app is starting to verge on the more expensive side, although doesn’t appear to offer a huge leap in functionality for the price. It might be worth considering if you particularly like the way it works, and is probably worth a try.

Publisher: Decimus Software
Size: 2.3 MB
License: Demo, $65
Requirements: Mac OS X 10.4 or higher
Download: Screen Mimic

Snapz Pro X

Snapz Pro X costs $69, but updates from Snapz Pro X 1.x or Movie Capture, start at $20. A range of demo videos are on their site to illustrate the end result of using the app. The app is supposedly “20 times faster” than any other screen recording software on the market and it includes many previously noted features. The interface and website is starting to look a little dated, and it doesn’t make the most of capabilities introduced in Leopard.

Publisher: Ambrosia Software
Size: 14.8MB
License: Demo, $69
Requirements: Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later
Download: Snapz Pro X

ScreenFlow

ScreenFlow is the most expensive app featured, and as you’d expect is packed with features. You can record from desktop, a video camera, microphone & computer’s audio simultaneously to create a rich and compelling video. Powerful editing tools are available, making the most of Leopard technologies such as Core Animation and QuickLook. It’s really impressive, and seems to be worth the money if you’re planning on screencasting on a regular basis.

Publisher: Telestream, Inc.
Size: 5.1 MB
License: Demo, $99
Requirements: Mac OS X 10.5 or later
Download: ScreenFlow

Conclusion

Obviously it isn’t possible to go into great detail for each of these, and many of them include additional functionality over that noted. They all have individual selling points and depending upon your budget and specific requirements, different apps may fit the bill. I do feel that the niche is missing a ‘killer app’, one which is really well designed and easy to use – though that may just be my wishful thinking.

As is always the case with any roundup post, I’m sure I’ve missed a few which our readers swear by – feel free to let me know in the comments so I can try them out myself.

http://www.dotpress.net/ Juan Manuel Lemus

I personally use ScreenFlow and I love your ellegant and simple interface. I prefer the simple over the complicate functionability, specially in small projects.
- Derek
  
  Can I use screen flow to record video from web sites on my Mac with the sound?
  - Ted
    
    Yes
  - Davo
    
    Use Quick Time it is free and native to your mac so there aren’t any compatibility issues when editing with iMovie or FCP.
  - David P
    
    You can export out of ScreenFlow in QT or lossless, or whatever is compatible with what you need. The nice thing about ScreenFlow (over Quicktime) is that you can then edit what you’ve recorded. And it’s easy to use. That being said, if all you need is just to record a screen – QT is a good free option.
    - ed l
      
      some of the tutorials online are lengthy such as 45-60 min.
      which recorder lets you record that length? I thought QT only did short clips?
      
      Does screenflow allow you to record lengthy clips?
- Alice Wang
  
  But I think free one with time limit is better
  I use Apowersoft Free Online Screen Recorder
  It’s java-based
  - Jessica
    
    Thank you
Ed Moore

I have played with iShowU and a few others. I really think iShowU is the best out of the lot. Even Adobe uses it for their screencasts. Really good quality video and audio, and for $20 it’s worth it if you are making your own screencasts.
Rickey

I also personally use ScreenFlow and it’s great! The pricier app of the bunch, but worth the money.
btorbo

TechSmith has recently announced the “mid-summer 2009″ release of a Mac version of Camtasia Studio. It is surely going to be the “killer app” that you are talking about.
- http://www.bloqhead.com Daryn St. Pierre
  
  I personally use Snaps Pro X but mainly because I received it from one of the Mac Vault bundles. It’s an awesome app but it does have its quirks like anything else. I’m with btorbo here though. Camtasia Studio is gonna be the one to beat. I did a project with it once when I used to use PC’s and it was powerful.
- Rudi
  
  I bought Camtasia Studio for Mac and I realy love it: easy to use and many functions
- Jesper
  
  I agree with Josiah Platt, Btorbo and more.
  
  Camtasia is one of the best buyable apps to do the trick.
  
  Snagit knows many tricks for taking pictures of the screen, for instance you can capture a webpage or document which is longer than the screen can show.
  
  Jing is great and free, but limited to 5 minutes, and Sharing via screencast is simple.
  Remember that simple, and SHORT screencasts and online teaching of a problem have larger audiences :-)
  
  Try them all at http://www.techsmith.com/camtasia.html
  
  PS
  Do you know the ” shift + ctrl + cmd + 4 ” trick for taking pictures on a mac ? Its easy, scalable, and you don’t have to save the image on the desktop.
- Me
  
  I have Camtasia 2.2.0 and its a piece of junk. Wouldn’t pay $.02 for it!
Nathan

Screenflow is by far the best
http://desizntech.info/ Desizntech

Thanks. Nice review
http://www.tutorialsfornoobs.com David Turnbull

I use Screenflow on TutorialsForNoobs.com and it’s absolutely amazing. It’d be nice if I could set the recording area before I start recording, but apart from that it is my favorite application the Mac. It’s fluid, beautiful and works flawlessly.
- STOP THE FLOOD!
  
  What’s going on with your site http://www.tutorialsfornoobs.com? In that site the only thing that appears is a list of “courses” on the left, but if you click on any course and go deeper it gets you back to beginning of the list! I realized you made that site just for the adds that appear on the right! Your site does not have any information at all!! STOP THE FLOOD MAN! BTW, evidently you don’t use Screenflow nor any other thing you flooder!
http://www.josiahplatt.com Josiah Platt

I have to point out a missing gem from the list, and in my personal opinion, an application second only to screenflow in quality, and far beyond everything in capability and convenience.

Holy crap I sound like an ad…

It’s called Jing. It’s like Grabup for video screen capture with audio. I use it almost every day to interface with developers, and it allows for both video capture and screenshots, and you can tie it to your personal server. The workflow is capture – title – (simple inline editing if you captured an image) – share. It takes no time, has a light memory footprint, and is extremely useful. The yellow interface is absolutey hideous, but I overlook it for how useful it is.

http://www.jingproject.com
- Doda Ferrari
  
  Omg… jing is out of the list?! I agree with you, Jing rules! And its free…
  - Stu
    
    Er, downloaded Jing, but can’t even figure out how to start it up for the first time. Went to the tutorials – nada! Wasted half an hour searching. Gave up!
    - Mick
      
      On the MAC after install – the app starts as a small, sun-like globe in the top right hand corner of the screen … hover over it and out jumps three smaller, attached globes – the topmost one allows you to select part of your screen and start recording … its limited to 5 mins though and saves as a .swf file … but its free …:)
- yael
  
  Other than jing, there’s screenjelly.com
  Also FREE!!
- Suzana
  
  Does jing Capture Quick time?
  
  Thanx
- http://www.servicewithpurpose.net Steven
  
  But Jing only records 5 minutes of Video.
  
  Great interface, but 5 Minutes? Unfortunate FAIL
- http://www.bristolkravmaga.co.uk Paul Grey
  
  Just downloaded Jing – its great – highly reccomended – thanks for the tip ;-)
- Aronic
  
  Jing is exactly what I was looking for thanks bro.
- Afi
  
  Hi Josiah, Can u please tell me whether FaceTime on macro book pro or on iPod touch is possible. thank you. looking forward to your reply.
- Caleb
  
  But with the free version of Jing, you can’t put the videos on Youtube or even convert them. I’ve heard that the Pro version lets you put them on Youtube, but it is really expensive. 100somthing dollars a year.
  - http://www.whitehouse.gov barak obama
    
    Yeah, the SWF files generated by JING are not “Youtube compatible”, so is a FAIL if your destination of your videos is YouTube
http://www.josiahplatt.com Josiah Platt

Oh, side note: Jing is made by the same people that make Camtasia (mentioned by @btorbo above).
http://www.shanewaite.com Shane

I’m a big big fan of Screenium. I love to record cool web ads and banners. I like the resize option so I crop only as I need. Like the interface as well.
Bruno

I agree with @Josiah, 100%.
I discovered just yesterday Jing and I think that’s amazing.
Yes, sound like an ad, but it’s free and useful, so why don’t try??
http://www.bardo.in Sathish

InstantShot (http://projects.digitalwaters.net/index.php?q=instantshot)
simple, superbly efficient, always on the menubar
Nick

Cast another vote for ScreenFlow. I picked it up on MacZot when it was featured for $50. The ability to capture anything online and convert it immediately to my iPhone is totally worth the cost. I wish it could capture in a YouTube friendly format, though.
http://adrianherritt.com Adrian

I’ve been using iShowU and have am very satisfied with it.
http://www.barbaralng.com Barbara Ling, Virtual Coach

Nice collection! So many people are moving towards video distribution that it only makes sense to explore what’s out there.
- Andrew
  
  Barbara,
  
  you have to do something with your hair! First I thought that you were a man! Besides, your comment is lame!
  - Blived
    
    Andrew,
    
    you have to do something with your fatuous jerkiness! First I thought you were a human!
    Besides, your childish reply to a constructive comment is lame!
http://coghillcartooning.com George Coghill

IMO ScreenFlow blows away all the others. Yes, it’s pricier, but there are amazing features in the app and all are done non-destructively and added after the recording is done (keyboard input, mouse follow, zoom, etc.). And all can have (multiple) start/stop times. Be sure to give it a try, you will no doubt be amazed.
- http://aiburn.com Sean Hodge
  
  I really like ScreenFlow. I’ve been using it for a couple weeks and the non-destructive approach and editing is great. Also, I think it will grow well as an app. Thx.
Kajik

Hey everyone,
I just took a look at Jing and it looks interesting. I’ll definitely give it a try.
Thanks for the comments and links. Bye
- yael
  
  Try http://www.screenjelly.com also, its FREE
http://dezinerfolio.com Navdeep

I have been using SnapzProX for a long time and its really cool!
http://benjacob.in Ben Jacob

Apple said… Personally me too.. “ScreenFlow” – For professional use, and users who can invest money for quality screen casts
http://blackmoondev.com Robert

I’m using iShowU – it’s really cool and the price is acceptable.
Cheers
http://www.navigatetomorrow.com Rod

Screenflow was just updated at 5:00 Eastern – now supports text layers (really cool), custom pointers and export to wmv (though why anyone would want to export to wmv… kidding lol)… I use Screenflow all the time… love it. all of the above are good – including Jing… but if you’re serious about screencasts – this is a mac tool you can’t ignore.

have a great one!
- Marsha Greene
  
  I’m wanting a video capture application that can record like up to an hour or more. Does this program do that.
  - Tina
    
    Yes! ScreenFlow can record many hours’ worth of material. I’ve used it to record webinars that I’ve put on. It includes all my slides & my audio. Then after the webinar, I go in and add an intro/outro, and put it on my site. It’s an amazing software.
http://adrian-rodriguez.net Adrian Rodriguez

I personally use screenium, it’s my very first purchased screen capture software and it works awesome.
http://www.instantshift.com DKumar M.

I did used SnapzProX and ScreenFlow. both did very satisfaction job with your requirements.
http://www.dariux.com Dario Gutierrez

I use iShowu personally is an awesome app capture video.
http://alishabdar.com Ali Shabdar

Nice post, thanks.
I personally use Snapz Pro X for a year now, it does the job and it is fast.
I got it as a part of MacHeist package (almost free) and if you don’t care about Leopard eye candy, it is a good choice.
ScreenFlow is definitely tempting too!
vincent

what about Jing? Free.
Hey You

Yeah, Jing?
DigitalMonkey

I tried Jing (the free version) it’s almost useless. 20 seconds clip, 48 MB? That’s not practical. Maybe you guys were using Pro version because it promises to compress the video substantially in size. Anyway, I tried a bunch on these list and I think ScreenFlow takes the cake. Very easy to use. It takes 5 seconds for me to make the first clip. Moreover the export function is simple and seems to compress the video really well.
- yael
  
  You should look into http://www.screenjelly.com
  3min clips- much more practical.
  Plus its FREE.
  Check it out.
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http://www.Webdesignquote.ca Web Design Quote

I use Screenflow and its an absolutely amazing. And the other thing which i like to mention that Screenflow was just updated at 5:00 Eastern. If any one use the older version then switch to the new one. Keep adding more and more information.
http://www.losangelesreview.net/ Los angeles

You are showing a detail review it is helpful for us.
http://healthyhealth.blog.co.in/ Physical Condition

Very easy to use. It takes 5 seconds for me to make the first clip. Moreover the export function is simple and seems to compress the video really well.
Yael

Those seem really cool, but I’ve been using ScreenJelly.com.
Its super easy and free.
Check it out, let me know what you all think.
http://withtank.com/ alan

This one is web-based but also quite interesting: http://screenr.com/ – worth checking out.
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http://detroit.freecraigslist.net Craigslist Detroit

yes, these secreen capture tools are useful, i use eyestone screen capture software
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http://vender-casa.atspace.com/ Jar kko

Nice review! Thanks!
Brandon

Jing is a great tool; I’ve been playing around with it today. I signed up for the Pro because the swf files are HUGE. With Pro the video is compressed as an mp4 file. However, the cost is low 14.95 for the Pro and it’s a re-occurring annual charge…so be aware. Still a great product and cost is low enough
http://www.webflvrecorder.net FLV Recorder

Good useful review…

Thanks for sharing this information and post.
Nick

The beta version of SnagIt for Mac just came out – I’ve used Windows version and it’s been the best so I’m also looking forward to see how it grows with Mac.

SnagIt are from the creators of Camtasia.

These are the two best choices – at least as SnagIt advances through it’s development.
Dayo Adetoye

QuickTime Player, which comes (I believe) with your Mac has a screen recording capability under File ->New Screen Recording. There is a small drop down menu to enable audio capture as well.
- Ch
  
  quicktime can only capture the whole screen.
  - Dale Mead
    
    Not as of 10.7. You set the capture area before recording. I’m interested in something offering two tools I saw in a tutorial: 1) zoom to a part of the screen and back during recording, and 2) “hand-draw” (or maybe simulated) arrows and boxes in red as part of capture. Does any of these do that?
    
    Great review, BTW. Thanks.
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http://www.twitter.com/candicunningham Candice Cunningham

That you this is a great guide!!!
Global Delight

Try Voila screen recording http://bit.ly/Voila
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David Disick

All interesting, but not sure these do what I need. I want to record screen and voice of my Photoshop training sessions with a tutor so I can refer back to things we did that I have trouble remembering. Would like two hour capability. Which program can do this?
- Lee
  
  Dont know if it will do 2 hours but ISHOWU is what I use for this very same thing. Works great and lots of options for output.
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http://simuli.blogspot.com Rupert

Any of the open source or free software is terrific, my students are making Machinima and previously they produced it on Window’s computers so used Frapps and Taksi, however I will get them to try Jing and Screen Jelly – I personally use ScreenFlow only because I use it to make short capture documentaries and the in software editing comes in handy.
Thomas Johnson

ScreenFlow is the best, but in order to get all its functions, you need to get the full version. Which I think, is expensive, but worth it!
http://pennyauctionlist.com Penny Auctions

Even though Snapz Pro Z is expensive, I think it’s the best tool out there for screen recording / video captures. It’s excellent for recording penny auctions. Their screenshot software is pretty good too.
Kenneth Conrad D’ Souza

Has anyone heard of Viola for Mac? How does it compare to all the others mentioned above, specifically to ScreenFlow? It’s usually $29 but now $19, seems like has a lot of features…
SylviaX

i use the flashdemo screen recorder to do the recording things…

by far,i’m satisfied with it~~
http://antiweblog.wordpress.com/ Simona

i use screenflick and i’m truely satisfied with it.
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dinadana

And what about MacVide Screen Cap. I’m using it. Record you screen and audio from Mac.
http://www.macvide.com/Macvide_screencap/
http://pennyauctionsecret.com Alex

Has anyone used these screen recording tools? how simple are they to use? @Simona, does screenflick allow you to save the video in various file formats?
- fedya
  
  Alex!
  I’m using Macvide ScreenCap. It’s simple – you choose what you want to record(screen, audio) and proramm records it for you.
  http://www.macvide.com/Macvide_screencap/
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X-Sparker

For some reason no one mentions QuickTime… It’s the “New Screen Recording” option under “File”.
- Mosselman
  
  Exactly! You can even select a portion of the screen to record, just go to File -> New Screen Recording, then click the record button and either click anywhere to start recording the full screen, or drag an area on the screen to record just that area.
  
  Can’t think of a reason to use most of these apps unless you are doing some advanced tutorialing and think you need extras like click highlighting.
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Marsha Greene

I just got a refund for a Screen Capture program called VIOLA from SmithMicro.com. I could not get the company to send me the registration number so that I could open it up after the download. Asked for a refund but just wanted to pass it on that this company’s left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing. Disappointing to say the least.
- http://www.globaldelight.com/voila Global Delight
  
  Marsha, Voila Mac Screen Capture Tool is from Global Delight. SmithMicro is one of our re-sellers. Did you get in touch with our support for your code, or their’s?
http://www.pennyauctions.me/ Penny Auctions

I’ve used it in the past for recording penny auction strategy information in order to post it on my site over at pennyauctions.me
Anne

Is it support recording stream video from hulu? thansks drm removal
Rain

I’m using MacVide ScreenCap.
Nice progr!
http://www.macvide.com/Macvide_screencap/
http://www.greatdesigns4u.us Greg Simonis

The website for IshowU says the classic version only works with MAC OS 10.5 and up yet you claim on yours pg. here that it works with 10.4 and up. Which is correct?

Thank you
harshit

QuickTime Player Rocks!!!!
http://www.best-video-converter.net CONVERTER

woo, this is really rocks. It is pretty hard to find a good one thought Google as there are so many scams out there.
FInn

Very disappointed that I bought iShowU and spent an hour recording a demo only to find that it records a frame every 30 seconds.

There seems to be no choice in recording speed, although it is set to 25fps it does not actually record at that rate, it simply plays back at that rate.

argh.
http://www.video-recorder.net video-recorder

s it support recording stream video from youtube? thanks
Sam

Can these softwares capture videos that have DRM on them by any chance?
liz

some of the recommendations you give don’t have a free trial option and I’m afraid to waste my money on something that might not work for me.

I have a mac os x version 10.6.8 and I need a really high resolution screen copy of the flury screen saver. I want approx 36 minutes of it that i will later burn onto a dvd and play it on a plasma screen. I tried the free trial of “debut” but the video capture is really choppy and the software says mac os x is too slow for anything over 768×640 or something like that. so I went smaller and it was better but not close to the quality I need.

So, how do I know which product is going to give me the results I want?
- Julian
  
  Try Screenflick. I think it’s the best or SnapzProX if you don’t need the sound.
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Rachel

Which of these programs is able to create the smallest file size with the best quality?
http://www.pennyauctions4you.com/ Penny Auctions

ScreenFlow is really good. Even though it’s the most expensive among these, I think it also is the best one. I often do recording straight from my desktop of my live penny auctions and it really does the job.
Julian

I have been using SnapzProX for a year to record webinars and for that it works well. Recently I wanted to record an interactive webinar and record my own voice as well but SnapzProX was not up to the task because it has really big problems recording the input via a microphone.
I tried out almost every screen capture app on this list plus some more and Screenflick is by far the best for my purpose. All the others had the same problems with recording the mike input and either froze or crashed as well. And Screenflick is one of the cheapest too.
http://www.sanovnikopedija.com/ sanovnik

Excellent post. I want to thank you for this informative read. Keep up your great work.
http://www.removewmvdrm.com/ Remove WMV DRM

thanks, that’s great
Mike

Another personal favorite of mine is Camtasia:Mac its easy to export in HD and comes with an easy built in editor and its a simple interface to select how to record the screen. but as Davo said Quicktime X is also great if you dont feel like paying $60 for camtasia. but with quicktime screen recording you cant record computer sound unless you have a mic. which sounds very bad. but quicktime always records in 720p.
http://blog.balootisme.com Baloot

how to convert from screenflow format to avi format ?
FrasiliasPower

Thanks a lot! Now I use ScreenFlow, and it is awesome!
http://www.playvideomobile.com urakavechy

thanks for sharing this nice passage
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John Jacobs

Anybody tried this one: http://www.deskorder.com? I tried today and it looks good enough. Any feedbacks? Maybe somebody used it for some time?
Paolo

Capture movies from external video and audio sources and simultaneous capture from multiple SGChannel’s

Use a FireWire camera to capture video footage and/or audio and quickly edit and share video postcards with your family. You can even record audio only for adding a voiceover to your video. And as a powerful application ideal for creating high-quality video content, KCapture lets you create H.264 video QuickTime compatible.

Features:

Video:
Compression type | Data rate | Compressor quality
Size:
Current, 160×120, 320×240(default), 640×480, 1280x720HD, 1920X1080HD and custom
QuickTime support
Growl Support
Auto Updater

http://www.kandalu.net/products/kcapture_2/
Metin

I tried several from the list, and I must say that ScreenFlow has made it clearly to my number 1. Not only does it have some great features that allow to add effects like zooming in when editing after the screen recording. It is also has a great user interface which enabled me to productively use it right away although I had never come in touch with a screen recording application before. Well done!
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lee

Any idea which is the smallest memory hog? I use ISHOWU which is great but seems to dog memory? THANKS!
http://www.ljubavnistihovi.net/ stihovi

I don’t know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog, I will keep visiting this blog very often.
Devansh Sharma

Whoever made this article forgot about Quicktime. Free and easy.
http://www.d4studio.com.au MattD

Thanks for this list, it was a great help.

Something people should be aware of though… I’m using the software to capture ProTools HD on an older G5, and most of these programs slowed my system down to a point that it was useless, except for Snapz Pro.

Snapz Pro is quite basic, but it works effortlessly and is really stable.
http://www.byteindia.com Vijay

How about using Snag it from TechSmith? I personally like it very much.
damian

I think for me, these are all over-kills. My need is simple. I just need a screen capture software that will take screen shots of my video files after I have recorded my video. For example, I record a video that I want to upload to YouTube or vimeo. After the video is done, I want to grab stills that I can use for promo purposes or to create a small gallery. The thing is that I don’t want to go thought the video and manually grab screenshots. I want the software to grab the still images ever so often so I can pick and choose. Do any of these have that capability??
http://www.mac-dvd,com Mac DVD

Nice list, it’s really useful for Mac newbie like me. Thank you.
Charles

For me ScreenFlow 3.0.5 (16435) is unusable. I bought it via the Apple App Store. Where do I begin ?

If you aggressively edit your audio to chop out length pauses, clicks, “ummms”, etc then SF has problems playing them back without audio dropouts. I had to turn off View Waveforms to reduce processing to hear playback without the dropouts and even then it wasn’t perfect. Being able to make numerous audio edits is essential to making flowing narrations but once I get beyond 3 or 4 edits in say a 20 second time frame the dropouts creep in. I stop all other apps on the computer and it still happens. Please note that I use Logic Audio on the same computer and it *never* drops audio even after hundreds of edits so its not a problem with my computer.

Also there are strange problems such as why ,when I rename audio in the timeline, that it doesn’t also rename automatically in the Media bay ? Also about half the time when I initiate recording it simply doesn’t respond and I have to reinitiate it before I get the countdown screen. Also if I attempt to edit transitions in the timeline (by right clicking) I’ll get a Runtime error “SCTransition lockedValue: uncrecognized selector..”. The dialogue then says “Please save your work and relaunch the application”. So now I never try to edit transitions this way.

I suppose if you just want to capture the screen with some basic narration then SF is okay but for someone who is making tutorials for distribution this simply won’t work. I’m looking at other products at this point. I’ve downloaded the Camtasia trial to see if its any more stable.
http://www.gamismurah.net/ mahendra

gamis murah when we talk about this issue for sure we will find a lot of perspective, but from this wesite we can decide what we should do.gamis murah
http://macvideocapture.productmarketingreviews.com Maurizio

Good, but I prefer jaksta for mac, see my prefer url for details.
http://www.video-recorder.net/ videorecorder

easy video recorder ( http://www.video-recorder.net/ )
simple, superbly efficient Screen to Video Recorder software for video recording purpose including video, audio and cursor options.
http://boxofficeday.com Rohit Tripathi

I go by your recommendation and downloaded iShowU. It is really good.
http://www.horoskopomanija.com/ horoskop

This article is really awesome, i’m very very suprised with informations for screen recording. I must thank you a lot for this!
Jesper

I just discovered, that the build in Quicktime Player offers free screenrecording

And with sound, if you turn on the built-in microphone.

http://osxdaily.com/2010/11/16/screen-recorder-mac/#comment-370476

Apparantly there is no 5 minutes limit, I recorded a test for 8 minutes with no problems.

Just make shure to remove private stuff from your screen before recording, as it records everything on screen, so you dont get to choose which part of the screen to record.

Afterwards you should be able to edit the movie in Imovie, I haven’t tried that yet.

I’m a fan of Jing and Camtasia, but will give quicktime a try.

Good luck and thanks for lots of great input.
Ryan

Does anyone know if any of these programs allow you to record then add tooltips in over the video when the mouse hits certain areas?
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jack

wow man calm down
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screencast

so great
- castsoftware
  
  very nice software
screenrecorder

It is very easy to use this software, I prefer to it
expecting more from you
http://www.video-recorder.net/mac-screen-recorder-studio.html
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Fabbi

All of you guys!! :(
hypercam 3 is waayyy better :P
but i can’t even download others help me
:((
just do
hypercam.com
or sumthing :D
Aditya

I think that instead of all these, you could use Quick time which is built in and also it can do screen, movie and audio recording. It’s the best and I use it.
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http://walkleftstudios.com Luke Madhanga

OSX comes with a screen recorder already (QuickTime Player) http://youtu.be/IUjzVVkOVIA
Roger

Well, I guess that’s the end of this thread.
http://www.sandfiretech.blogspot.com bigyranj

i use time player
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Bill Martin

None of these fit the bill for me. I’m looking for software that will record a live video stream from a TV station URL, AND
Allow me to set a start and end time for recording.

QuickTime Player will allow this, BUT, no IN/OUT time. The show(s) I’m wanting to record/time shift, are in Hawaii time zone, while I am CDT zone. The show(s) are in the middle of the night for me.

Anyone really expert at Automator????
Wandering Bear

I’d paid for Screenium and used it for almost a year before the latest update killed all functionality. I used to use it for recording bebo movies. Now they’ve added DRM restrictions so that it will not record unless any audio/video/web access application is off. So you can record your blank screen. (Thanks a lot)
kian haddow

Can someone help me please! When i record with screenflow and i export it and i look at my results it looks very blury and hard to see my gameplay.Can someone help me out!
TeeterreteeT

All of this is not true. All of the screen recorders require 10.6 or higher. not 10.4 or higher. i use 10.5.8 and this stupid website has tricked me into wasting memory on my computer.
http://www.vickerscreative.co.uk/ Vickers Creative

I’ve just tried these suggestions but they’re not as good as Quicktime Pro. QTP will record to .mov with audio, and no time limit to the recording. Also highlights mouse clicks. Editable in iMovie, and YouTube friendly!

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