Wednesday, January 17, 2018

The Cheapest Screen Recorder You'll EVER find!

Some time ago I wrote a blog (below) about the webconferencing software Zoom. The more I use it, the better I like it. So far, I've never found anyone who has a problem using it.

But one day, it hit me that it provides an absolutely FREE way to do screen recordings of presentations, or for that matter, of anything you can show on your computer desktop. It's one of those things that's so obvious that you miss it. You don't need to spend $200 for a Camtasia license if this trick will meet your need.

You are going to sign up for and use a free basic account from Zoom. They actually provide a FREE web conferencing account that limits you to meetings of 40 minutes' length. Frankly, that's a lot longer than you should ever talk in any case, so the 40 minute limit shouldn't be a problem.

Here's what you do:

  • Go to https://zoom.us/ and sign up for a free account.
  • Open the software and play around with it a little to get familiar with it.
  • Connect a webcam and adjust your camera to get a nice camera shot.
  • Now start a one-person (you alone) video conference
  • Maximize your Zoom program to fill the screen, and share your screen or whatever program you want to display. (Zoom lets you share your desktop, or any program you have open.)
  • Click the recording button on the bottom line of the Zoom window. 
  • Tell Zoom to save the recording on your computer.
  • Start the recording, do your presentation, then click Stop.

You now have one nice, clean, full screen recording which includes a video window insert from your webcam and good audio if you stayed close to your computer and spoke firmly.

It's that simple.  You can take that MP4 file and do almost anything with it. You can upload it for delivery, email it, or drop it into video editing software to make an edited version.

Your cost is ZERO.  Zoom does this because they're smart, and they know that if you like their tool you're likely to sign up for a paid account. I highly recommend this, as you will love using Zoom.

Enjoy, and if you end up liking Zoom so much that you buy an account, don't be surprised.

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