Tool for recording screen activity as a GIF or something?
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Not technically a coding question but here goes:
What do you use to produce a video demo of software features? In my library, in addition to these unit tests I've been working on, I have some UI demos as well. So, for example, to show off an auto-sizing listbox with icons, I have a window with some buttons to control various properties of a listbox on the same window. How would I quickly create a GIF or something of my app launching this UI demo and clicking around for 20 seconds?
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More seriously, I'd just google "video capture software" and download whatever free tool you find. I used Fraps in the past to capture 60 seconds of gameplay, but I'm not sure it can capture anything other than gameplay.
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I've heard Camtasia is a popular one for screen recording; not sure if there's a free version. I guess you could set something up with OBS and output to a file instead of streaming, for a free solution.
e:
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@Zenith said in Tool for recording screen activity as a GIF or something?:
Not technically a coding question but here goes:
We have a "General Help" category. I think it used to be a subcategory to this (or vice versa?) but it looks like it got Jeff'd to be a subcategory of General by the dictator.
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@boomzilla OK, if you or Glorious Leader want to move it there, go ahead.
@loopback0 said in Tool for recording screen activity as a GIF or something?:
edit: Oh, GIF, that might need another step.
Like a time machine, right?
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@loopback0 said in Tool for recording screen activity as a GIF or something?:
Oh, GIF, that might need another step.
I wouldn't have thought that using an extra step would be a particular problem. OK, it seems silly, but it would be a supported silly at least…
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@dkf said in Tool for recording screen activity as a GIF or something?:
@loopback0 said in Tool for recording screen activity as a GIF or something?:
Oh, GIF, that might need another step.
I wouldn't have thought that using an extra step would be a particular problem.
Me either, was just pointing it out.
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@Zenith Under macOS, you just press ⇧⌘5. When done, all you have to do is find something to convert the resulting video file into a GIF.
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The free tool I used the last time around was VClip.
Drop it somewhere, make sure there's enough space on the drive, run as Admin (it seemed to silently fail otherwise), use it.
Do try playing with it for a bit first. I seem to remember that there was some kind of gotcha when you did things several times or in a different order, like saving the previous capture instead of the newest one or not saving things in the right format the first time around... It's been more than a year.
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@Zenith
At work we use SAP EnableNow to produce product videos and documentation but it might be a bit overkill for your application.
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SnagIt also has a Record To GIF function.
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Going directly to GIF it seems someone made a little portable utility just for that:
ScreenToGif - Record your screen, edit and save as a gif or video
Free screen recorder tool. Record, edit and save as a gif or video.
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ShareX - The best free and open source screenshot tool for Windows
ShareX is a free and open source program that lets you capture or record any area of your screen and share it with a single press of a key. It also allows uploading images, text or other types of files to many supported destinations you can choose from.
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Releases · michaelmob/WebMCam
Capture frames in real-time and save them as WebM. - michaelmob/WebMCam
Looking at other options people posted above, this doesn't seem better than VClip or ShareX. I might switch.
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I've used the Windows 10 game bar recording feature the handful of times I've needed to do this
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@Zenith said in Tool for recording screen activity as a GIF or something?:
How would I quickly create a GIF or something of my app launching this UI demo and clicking around for 20 seconds?
I'm surprised no one has mentioned yet that if it's going to be twenty seconds (and really any legible dimensions), you don't want GIF. Yes, I know you think you do. You want MP4/WEBP or whatever is behind the "gifv" extension.
Every browser supports it, and if you must support legacy browsers (unsupported by their makers), there are ways to do that. I remember embedding videos in Web pages back in 2001.
But if you demo your app with a 50 MB GIF file instead of like a 3.5 MB video file, not only is no one going to buy your app, but someone's going to burn down your house.
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@heterodox I'm talking about demoing a single window/control. Limited colors, limited motion, limited resolution, should work fine as a GIF. Or at least be easier to edit than a full blown video. If I was going to demo any of the apps built on the library, I'd pay an actress to do videos or something.
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@Zenith said in Tool for recording screen activity as a GIF or something?:
Limited colors, limited motion, limited resolution,
Yes, in theory that would mean good use case for gif. But few tools would actually discover such and actually behave accordingly, without you manually taking frames and timings and all that other nonsense.
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@Zenith said in Tool for recording screen activity as a GIF or something?:
Or at least be easier to edit than a full blown video
My experience has always been the opposite (easy editing usually involves importing GIF into video editor, working on it as a video, then exporting it back out as a GIF). But you do you.
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@heterodox The last video editor I liked was Adobe Premiere 4. Everything I tried for years after was clunky at best. I'll try the stuff everybody's listed here when I have a chance. Working retail on weekends limits the time I have to work on this stuff.
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@heterodox said in Tool for recording screen activity as a GIF or something?:
someone's going to burn down your house
Who would do such a thing?
Oh, right, nevermind
Open Broadcaster Software | OBS
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