This article has been retained for historic interest only. Our Best Linux Screencasting Software is covered in this new article.
A screencast is a digital recording of computer screen output, typically carrying audio narration. Screencasting software takes a series of screenshots of a running application, recording the user’s actions, and creating a video file. The movies can be output in a variety of different formats. This type of software was brought into prominence by the commercial Windows application Lotus ScreenCam in 1994, followed by TechSmith Camtasia and Adobe Captivate.
Screencasts have a wide variety of uses. This type of software is also often used to demonstrate operating systems, software actions, website features, troubleshooting, and evaluating technical skills.
If you are running Gnome Shell you already have an environment framework to record your desktop. Simply press Ctrl+Alt+Shift+R to start recording a screencast. Gnome’s screencasting works well, using little resources, and is effortless to use.
Another solution worth considering is RecordScreen.py which is, as its name suggests, a Python script. It uses ffmpeg to perform the recording and encoding of the screencast.
To provide an insight into the quality of software that is available, we have compiled a list of 4 slick Linux screencasting tools. All of these tools are released under a freely distributable license.
| Screencasting tools | |
|---|---|
| Kazam | Well designed and easy to use interface |
| vokoscreen | Easy to use screencast creator |
| SimpleScreenRecorder | Easy to use screencast creator |
| FFmpeg | Cross-platform solution to record, convert and stream audio and video |
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