screencast is a command-line interface for recording an X11 desktop with FFmpeg. It hides much of FFmpeg’s lengthy command-line syntax behind predefined recording and encoding settings while retaining enough options for users who want control over codecs, containers, capture regions and effects.
The utility supports both conventional recording to disk and live streaming. A complete screen does not have to be captured: the recording area can be defined numerically or selected interactively with the mouse, including selecting an entire window with a click.
A notable limitation is that screencast is specifically an X11 recorder. It does not record Wayland sessions, so users running a Wayland desktop need a different capture method.
This is free and open source software.
Key Features
- Record an X11 desktop using FFmpeg.
- Select an entire window or drag out a recording region with the mouse.
- Alternatively specify exact capture dimensions and screen coordinates.
- Configurable frame rate and a broad selection of output container formats.
- Capture audio through ALSA with configurable input channel count.
- Supports AAC, Opus, Vorbis, MP3 and other audio encoders.
- Software video encoding includes H.264, HEVC, VP8, VP9, AV1 and other formats.
- Hardware-accelerated encoding using NVIDIA NVENC, Intel QSV, VAAPI and Vulkan where supported.
- Hardware AV1 encoding is available through compatible NVENC, QSV, VAAPI and Vulkan implementations.
- Apply fade-in, fade-out or combined fade effects.
- Increase or reduce captured audio volume.
- Add a configurable text watermark to recordings.
- Overlay a webcam feed with configurable size, frame rate and position.
- Live stream to a specified destination instead of writing only to a local file.
- Supports both one-step encoding and a two-stage workflow using an intermediate lossless recording.
- Set a fixed recording duration.
- Automatically generate output filenames.
- Keep intermediate recordings when required.
- Desktop notifications can be disabled for unattended recording.
Website: github.com/dbermond/screencast
Support:
Developer: Daniel Bermond
License: GNU General Public License v2.0
screencast is written in Shell.
Related Software
| Console Screencasting Tools / Terminal Session Recording | |
|---|---|
| Terminalizer | Generates animated GIF images of your terminal |
| VHS | Wwrite terminal GIFs as code for integration testing and demoing |
| ttyd | Shares your terminal over the web |
| asciinema | Record and share terminal sessions |
| t-rec | Generates animated GIF images for the web |
| agg | asciinema gif generator |
| ffscreencast | Shell wrapper for ffmpeg that allows fool-proof screen recording |
| IPBT | High-tec terminal player |
| rec | Records terminal sessions and turns them into reusable workflows |
| TermSVG | Record terminal sessions and export them as animated SVG files |
| termrec | Set of tools for recording and replaying tty sessions |
| screencast | Interface to record a X11 desktop |
| script | The granddaddy of terminal recorders |
Read our verdict in the software roundup.
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