Best way to screen record a movie on an iMac?

[AJP24]

What’s the best quality way to record a video that’s streaming on your desktop? Is any one software / program better than the other, or is it all the same? I lack the technical knowledge to really understand this beyond the surface question (though clearly the screen cap won’t be the same resolution as the original).

 

[Raz0rEdge]

QuickTime Player, that's already included in macOS, can do the recording for you but it doesn't record the audio output. It's capable of recording the microphone however.

To truly capture this, you might need other software and I can't help you with that.

Understand that there are copyright restrictions for recording stuff, so ensure you aren't running afoul of anything.

 

[Slydude]

As has been mentioned QuickTime Player won't easily record audio when it makes a screen recording. It can be "tricked" into doing so. I haven't tried this process though and previous efforts to do some of the steps involved have proven unreliable on some OS versions.

I'm using a third-party program called Capto. It can do what yuo need and I'm sure there are others.IIRC they have a free demo so you can try it before purchasing.

There are a couple of things that you need to keep in mind when using this program:
1. Let it install the Boom 3D audio software. IIRC that is what's needed to record the system sound.
2. Capto saves the video in a format that opens in the Capto video editor. If you want to use the video in QuickTime Player you can export it into an .mov or mp4 file. The process isn't difficult but does add a step.

 

[Randy B. Singer]

What’s the best quality way to record a video that’s streaming on your desktop?

Camtasia
https://www.techsmith.com/video-editor.html

OBS Studio (free)
https://obsproject.com/

 

[Slydude]

Thanks for that reminder, Randy. I have OBS Studio but I haven't used it enough to fully understand it. It can do a lot but I was in a hurry and didn't have time to experiment with the best settings.

I completely forgot about Camtasia. It has been around for a while but I've never used it. I'm downloading it now to take a look at it.

 

[Backlighting]

I just got AnyVid software (paid version). I just used it to download some videos from Youtube. It looks very promising.

 

[Randy B. Singer]

The definitive answer used to be Snapz Pro, but sadly Ambrosia Software is now defunct. Of course, the best thing that they ever made was the free EasyEnvelopes which I used to recommend all the time.

 

[Slydude]

I fondly remember both programs although I don't think I used Easy Envelopes very much. It's amazing how much great software has gone by the wayside in the last few decades.

 

[Randy B. Singer]

I fondly remember both programs although I don't think I used Easy Envelopes very much. It's amazing how much great software has gone by the wayside in the last few decades.

I know, right? Everytime Apple does something that more or less requires all software to be updated (e.g. move to 64-bit only, or Apple Silicon native), a large number of programs are abandoned, or worse, entire software developers go out of business.

 

[AJP24]

Camtasia
Camtasia - Fast and Easy Video Editing Software | TechSmith

OBS Studio (free)
Open Broadcaster Software | OBS

Ahhhhh I used to have Camtasia and liked it. Too expensive as a subscription though.

 

[MightyGem]

I've downloaded OBS, but I can't see any way of setting up a screen recording.

Can someone give a quick explanation on how to?

 

[Slydude]

It has been a while since I used OBS for any kind of recording so I had to look up the steps. You might find either of these helpful

How to Use OBS Studio on Mac to Record Screen

 

[MightyGem]

Thanks for that, Sly.

 

[Slydude]

You're welcome. I hope you find it helpful.

 

[MightyGem]

You're welcome. I hope you find it helpful.

Worked a treat. Thanks.

 

[Slydude]

That's good to know. I'm always amazed at how much we can do with newer Macs that couldn't be done with the Mac LC II that was our first Mac.

 

[Neptendus]

Hello,
I'm just using Screenshot tool with macOS for photos or videos. It's perfect.