Fig 1.0 Double click on the EASY SCREEN RECORDER desktop icon to continue
Fig 1.1 Click on the TOOLS menu and then select the GENERAL menu-item to continue
| SET UP EASY SCREEN RECORDER |
In this section I am going to show you how to set up a program called Easy Screen Recorder 1.3.
It is a program that allows you to record your desktop screen activities, and microphone sound activities, as a .avi video file. This makes the program
ideal for recording Help & Support videos that inform your visitors/members; How to use your website, How to fill in its registration/login form,
How to register/use your e-book and so on - Tutorial videos basically. Just as the .bmp (Bitmap) file format is the best/rawest quality of picture (as
opposed to using the .jpg file format for example), the .avi file format is one of the best/rawest all round video file formats for video recordings (as
opposed to using the .wmv file format for example).
Although easy screen recorder is a little old now (late 2007) it is still an ideal entry-level, easy-to-use, desktop screen recorder for those on a
budget. At $29.95 (approximately £18) it records your desktop screen and voice with a high enough quality for you to sell your video tutorials, if you
wanted to sell them. One thing to note here, and with screen recorders in general, is that this is only a recorder - It only records with the quality
of microphone, computer, Windows operating system and video codecs (explained below) you supply it. In other words. If you use a poor quality microphone,
a low speaking person and a computer that jutters video (because of low resources such as graphics/memory/cpu) rubbish video recordings will be produced.
So using a faster computer with more resources and good codecs should improve the quality of your video recordings of course. These days it is very
difficult to find a screen recorder that works just for you, with all the features you are looking for, without paying more than $30. This is why I think
easy screen recorder is good value for money. Anyway. If you have not tried it yet why not download the
30-Day Trial version now.
Assuming you have downloaded and installed easy screen recorder, regardless of it being for a 30-Day Trial or with a Purchased License, the next thing to do is download and install one or more of the following video Codec Packs for it. You do not have to but you will gain extra video formats by doing so. Due to codecs having complex/meaningless settings I recommend that you install them using their default settings only.
A video codec is program that once installed can be used an add-on (extension) program by other softwares/programs such as easy screen recorder. This means with each video codec program you install you are making easy screen recorder more versatile because it will then be able to encode/compress/crunch and/or decode/decompress/expand more video formats. Or put another way. Easy screen recorder, with the aid of video codec programs, will be able to convert different types of video signal (digital data stream) for both recording and playback purposes. This in turn is because each video codec program contains many different video format encoders/decoders. Therefore. You should always keep your video codec programs up-to-date by downloading/installing the latest version because video formats are always changing and being created. Basically. There are so many video format encoders/decoders on the market because programmers are always thinking of smarter ways to encode/decode data in general.
Below are four main video codec programs, each containing one or more major video codecs (video format encoders/decoders). Either install K-Lite only,
(Windows) Vista Codec Package only or both Ffdshow and XVid only. This is because many of the video codec programs contain the same major video codec
encoders/decoders while other video codec programs do not playback certain video formats (video files) that well on Windows Vista.
K-Lite Codec Pack 5.0.0,
Vista Codec Package 5.3.5,
Ffdshow-Tryouts Beta 6 and
XVid Codec 1.2.2.
Remember. A program such as easy screen recorder might use a video codec program to encode your video footage perfectly, but a program such as Windows
Media Player might not be able to playback (decode) that video footage perfectly. So it is a case of trial and error with both your video recorder
(i.e. easy screen recorder) and your video player (i.e. Windows Media Player). You may have to download QuickTime
and/or RealPlayer for example in order to playback your recorded video footage.
| THE TOOL OPTIONS |
Once you have the downloaded and installed easy screen recorder and the video codec program(s), if need be, continue by double clicking on the easy screen recorder desktop icon to launch (execute) the program. When the program opens click on its TOOLS menu and select the GENERAL menu-item (Fig 1.1) to continue.
Clicking on the GENERAL menu-item brings up the Options window, that takes care of your miscellaneous recording requirements. Most of them are self-explanatory so I will only advise you on them. To get from one set of options to another (i.e. from General to Video) simply click on an options link (on the left-side of the Options window).
Minimize Window Before Recording. When ticked, this option will put the Easy Screen Recorder window on the taskbar just before recording is due
to commence (straight after you click on the big red RECORD button). Make sure this option ticked, unless you want the ESR window in your recordings for
whatever reason(s).
Show Flashing Rectangle When Recording. When ticked, this option will display a flickering rectangle around your custom recording region during
your recording session. The rectangle is not recorded though.
Play Movie After Saving. When ticked, this option will automatically playback your recording (movie) after your recording has been saved. It may
seem like an obvious option to have ticked but after a while, especially when doing test recordings only or multiple recordings, you begin to realise it
is not always good to have your recording(s) played back straight away.
Record Audio Along With Video. When ticked, this option will automatically record your desktop and audio activities. If you want to record video
only, for whatever reason(s), leave this option unticked. You can also alter the synchronization of video and audio by clicking on the SYNCHRONIZATION
button (its options are self-explanatory).
Capture Layered Windows. When ticked, this option allows you to record layered windows as well as normal windows. A layered window is a window
that is not rectangle or square in shape - Its edges are transparent (see-through) to give the effect of a circle shaped window for example. Unless you
want to record one or more layered windows leave this option unticked.
Preset Record Duration. This option allows you to preset the recording time for your recording session (i.e. record for 30 seconds only). Leave
this option set to NO PRESET in normal circumstances.
If you are only setting up the General options click on the OK button to apply your settings and automatically exit the window. Otherwise. Click on the
VIDEO options link, on the left-side of the Options window, to continue.
|
|
When you get to the Video options there is only really one option to concern yourself with and that is the COMPRESSOR option. It has a drop-down menu
that allows you to choose the video codec (encoder) to use for your .avi files (video recordings). Microsoft Video 1 is used by default but ideally you
need to select an up-to-date video codec such as the ffdshow video codec. Saying this. Try each and every video codec if you like just to see the
difference in file sizes and whether or not each video recording will play back properly. I recommend using the ffdshow video codec as the .avi files
produced from it work fine with Windows XP and Windows Vista. Not only that. You can always convert the .avi files too, to .flv or .wmv file format for
example using Leawo Video Converter (exampled in the next section).
The AUTO ADJUST option should definitely be ticked otherwise you will have to adjust the FRAME RATE settings yourself, which can lead to
mis-synchronization if you do not know what you are doing.
Set Key Frame Every. This setting specifies how often to save a key (full) video frame. When a video frame is saved in an .avi file it can either
be saved as a full video frame or a partial video frame that contains only the differences from the previous video frame. A high value means you can
fast-forward/rewind to a particular frame in your movie much faster, but also means a larger .avi file.
Capture Frames Every. This setting is the input (time-lapse) frame rate. It tells Easy Screen Recorder how long it should ‘Sleep’ (pause) for
after capturing each video frame. If you set this to a large value (i.e. one hour or 3,600,000 milliseconds) you will be creating a time-lapse movie.
Playback Rate. This setting is the output (playback) frame rate. It specifies how many video frames are played back per second. A higher value
means smoother playback, with typical values ranging between 20 and 30 video frames per second for most video recordings.
Ticking AUTO ADJUST will automatically adjust these three setting for you - Moving the AUTO ADJUST slider to the left increases the video frame rate
and moving it to the right reduces the .avi file size because you are affectively creating a time-lapse movie.
If you are only setting up the Video options click on the OK button to apply your settings and automatically exit the window. Otherwise. Click on the
AUDIO options link, on the left-side of the Options window, to continue.
|
|
There is not much to the audio side of things. Simply select your microphone from the AUDIO CAPTURE DEVICE drop-down menu and then select the audio
recording format from the RECORDING FORMAT drop-down menu. This should normally be set to 22.050 Khz, Stero, 16 Bit but experiment if you wish.
Preset values are in the RECORDING FORMAT drop-down menu (not shown here) and can be tweaked further by clicking on the SETUP button (Fig 1.6 above). It
allows you to change the recording format and the attributes of that format. If you do tweak these settings click on the OK button to continue - The
SAVE AS button is used when you want to give your tweaked format a name (i.e. John's Audio). Leave all other Audio options, on the Audio options window
(Fig 1.5 above), alone.
The VOLUME button may be disabled some or all of the time because it is normally taken care of by your microphone settings automatically, in the
Windows Vista SOUND control panel, depending on your microphone settings. If so, this can dictate how your video recording volume is managed . For
example. You might have a control panel setting that states ALLOW APPLICATIONS TO TAKE EXCLUSIVE CONTROL OF THIS DEVICE.
If you are only setting up the Audio options click on the OK button to apply your settings and automatically exit the window. Otherwise. Click on the FILE
options link, on the left-side of the Options window, to continue.
|
|
The file options are very straight forward. The main option asks you if you would like to manually enter a file name for each completed video recording
(Ask For File Name) or have easy screen recorder set the file name for you automatically (AutoGeneration File Name). Being asked for a file
name all the time can become very annoying/frustrating after a while, especially if you are only doing test recordings, because it stops easy screen
recorder from creating your video file whilst you enter a file name; Whereas once you have set up your file name requirements with the Auto Generating
file name option you can let easy screen recorder get straight on with video file creation.
The autogeneration file name option allows you to automatically add the Current Date/Time to each video file or a sequence of numbers (i.e. 001, 002, etc)
by selecting the relevant radio (circle/dot) button - Date/Time Mode or Sequence Number. On top of this, you can add a prefix to the file name (i.e. Video,
Lesson, etc) so that you end up with file names such as Lesson-001.avi, Lesson-002.avi or Lesson-090803-163438.avi (2009 August 3rd - 4.34pm and 38 seconds).
To change the folder where each video recording is stored simply click on the BROWSE FOR FOLDER button, on the right-side of the FOLDER drop-down menu,
and then browse for a folder within the BROWSE FOR FOLDER window that appears (Fig 1.8 above). Click on its OK button when you have selected a folder.
Leave the TEMPORARY FILE FOLDER option alone.
If you are only setting up the File options click on the OK button to apply your settings and automatically exit the window. Otherwise. Click on the
HOT-KEY options link, on the left-side of the Options window, to continue.
|
|
The HOT-KEY options allow you to change the keyboard key combination for a specific hot-key. A hot-key is simply a keyboard key combination that you
press instead of using the mouse button(s). For example. When you want to pause recording you first press down on the CTRL keyboard key, and with that
CTRL keyboard key still pressed (held down) you then press down on the F10 keyboard key. This is better than opening the easy screen recorder window
and clicking on its PAUSE button because with the hot-key you are not recording that pause action, but when using the mouse pointer/button to pause
recording you are recording that pause (mouse) action.
To change a hot-key simply click on its HOT-KEY button (Fig 1.9 above) to bring up the Define Hot-Key window (Fig 1.10 above). From there, press the
keyboard key combination you want to use for this hot-key. For example. Press and hold down the CTRL keyboard key while you then press down on the F7
keyboard key. Both CTRL and F7 will appear in the HOT-KEY edit box. When you are happy with your combination click on the OK button to exit the
Define Hot-Key window. Note: This will not set that keyboard key combination until you have clicked on the OK button of the main options window.
When you have finished setting up the above options click on the OK button to apply them, if you have not applied all of them already.
| THE EFFECTS OPTIONS |
When you have finished the TOOL options the next set of options to go over are the EFFECTS options. Begin by clicking on the EFFECTS menu and then hover of the menu-items until you reach the SOUND sub-menu. When its sub-menu menu-items appear make sure that the RECORD AUDIO sub-menu menu-item is ticked, if you want to record the audio coming from your microphone (as well as record your desktop screen).
The Left/Right Click Sound options mean you want a sound produced, in your video recording, each time you perform a left/right click. Likewise. Keyboard Sound means you want a sound produced, in your video recording, each time you press a keyboard key. I would not advise using these options though because the sound can be repeated too many times due to the programming side of things. In programming a key press gives out a signal for the length it is down and released, which means you might press a key down for one second but to a computer that will produce so many signals. To you this will mean too many click sounds and/or key pressing sounds for that one second, especially if you are holding down the CTRL key for example. Therefore, not very nice for the person watching your movie.
With the Cursor options (above) you should have the RECORD CURSOR option ticked if you want to record the mouse pointer and the HIGHLIGHT CURSOR option
ticked if you want to highlight the mouse pointer. You can also have your left and right mouse click actions highlighted but I would not advise it
because the person watching your movie may become confused by all the highlighting, unless you explain it to them at the beginning of each video or in
your main introduction video.
The ENABLE AUTOPAN option, when ticked, keeps the mouse pointer's custom area in focus. For example. If the mouse pointer is positioned at 0,0 (top-left
corner of the desktop screen) and has a fixed custom region of 400 pixels by 400 pixels you would normally only be able record the desktop region from
0,0 to 400,400, but with auto-panning that fixed custom region becomes a movable region. This means you can move around the desktop screen recording
400 by 400 pixels at a time. Or put another way. Record the whole desktop screen by panning (scrolling) through it 400 by 400 pixels at a time. Your
video display window will be 400 by 400 pixels but it will display a 400 by 400 pixels region (portion) of the desktop screen as the mouse pointer moves
to a different region of the desktop screen.
The ANNOTATION, SOUND and CURSOR settings can be set up by clicking on their respective menu-items at the bottom of the EFFECTS menu. In this example I
have already clicked on the ANNOTATION menu-item to bring up the Effects window.
An annotation is basically a signature or copyright message that sits in the bottom-right corner of each video recording. The message can contain a
Time/Date Stamp, your Computer's Name, your computer User Name and a Comment (i.e. http://www.yoingco.com) if you wish. On top of this, you can also
add a caption that sits in the middle of each video recording. In this example I have FREE Windows Vista Lessons as my caption and
Yoingco http://www.yoingco.com as my copyright message. Clicking on an OPTIONS button allows you to change a message's font (system stamp and caption
respectively).
Clicking on the SOUND menu-item on the EFFECTS menu, or clicking on the SOUND link to the left-side of this Effects window, allows you to change the
.wav sound files for the left and right mouse clicks and the keyboard key press (not shown here). As said above - It is not advisable to have these
settings ticked/used, but if you must use them this is where you change their sound.
Clicking on the CURSOR menu-item on the EFFECTS menu, or clicking on the CURSOR link to the left-side of this Effects window, allows you to change the
cursor attributes such as its highlight colour and shape. You can also decide whether or not to record (show) the mouse pointer in your video recordings
and whether or not to use a custom mouse pointer.
|
|
When you have finished with the Effect Settings windows click on its OK button to apply those EFFECTS options and exit the window. With that done, the next set of options to go over are the AREA (Region) options.
| THE AREA OPTIONS |
To use an AREA (Region) option simply click on the AREA menu and then select the appropriate menu-item. For example. To select a fixed region of the desktop screen to video record simply click on the FIXED REGION SETTINGS menu-item to bring up the Fixed Region Settings window (Fig 3.1) and then either enter your fixed region dimensions manually or click on the SELECT button to choose an area (fixed region) with the mouse pointer.
|
|
The FULL SCREEN option, when ticked, allows you to record the whole desktop screen. So if your desktop screen is 1024 by 768 you can record from 0,0 to
1023,767.
The WINDOW option, when ticked, allows you to record a window. For example. If you want to record a website you will not be able to record the whole web
browser with this option (use another area option instead). This is because a web browser, like so many other programs, is made up of so many window panes
(i.e. a display area, toolbars, etc). So make sure the window (window pane) you want to record is the correct one. Anyway. Easy screen recorder helps you
by displaying a selection rectangle.
The REGION option is the same as the FIXED REGION option except that is a custom region that you select manually with the mouse pointer - Click on the
desktop (i.e. from pixels 100,100) and then drag the elastic expansion band around your desired region (i.e. to pixels 800,600). This will then allow you
to record from pixels 100,100 to 800,600 (a custom area from 100,100 pixels that covers 700 pixels across by 500 pixels down).
|
|
|
Note: Easy Screen Recorder works perfectly with regions on Windows XP. However. On Windows Vista you need to switch off the Windows Aero feature in order to see the desktop screen when selecting an area. If you do not switch off Windows Aero you see will see a black desktop screen, instead of the normal desktop screen, when selecting your custom region of the desktop screen with the mouse pointer. Once you have set up your custom region of the desktop screen though, with or without Windows Aero, all is fine. You can see what you are recording. It is only the region set up that is quirky with Windows Vista. This quirk is not in Windows XP because it does not have the Aero feature, so do not be put off by this quirk. Windows Aero is more of a cosmetic feature than a useful feature anyway.
| FFDSHOW VIDEO CODEC |
Going back to the ffdshow Video Codec, in VIDEO options, for a moment and more precisely its settings. You can configure its settings by clicking on the CONFIGURE button in the VIDEO options window (Fig 4.0 below), after selecting ffdshow from the COMPRESSOR drop-down menu. When the video codec window opens (Fig 4.1) you can play around with the settings until you find those that suit your video recordings the best.
|
|
The above settings are what I use today, after initially playing around with them until the video recording quality was good enough and the video file
size was small-ish. If you set certain settings too high, or even too low, your video recordings can jutter, be of poor quality and/or have a big file
size. So do repeated experiments - Change the settings, Record a video and then check its quality and file size. Do this until you are satisfied. You may
need to read the ffdshow documentation and/or search the internet for information about a specific setting but once you know what each one does (the major
settings only) you will better understand whether or not to lower or higher a setting for example.
To record a video simply click on the RED RECORD button. When you want to stop or pause the video I strongly suggest you use the HOT-KEYs so that you do
not record that action for the viewer and look like an Amateur! Also. Always pause and then stop your video recording. That way if you decide you need to
record more footage you can simply unpause instead of re-record (stop and start).
All HTM, CSS, PHP and MySQL files in the websitecreationhelp.com folder and its sub-folders are (c) John White, 2009. All Rights Reserved. Email: John