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Does anybody know a good screen capture utility that also captures sound and outputs something like an .avi, for Windows?

I tried CamStudio but was not very happy with it as it crashed and my Windows 7 went crazy afterwards.

EDIT: I need it to also record all sound in the computer. Screen and sound!

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9 Answers

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There are many screen recorders like Camtasia , Fraps Online recording tool Screencastomatic, Apowersoft Free Online Screen Recorder and many others. I just list some of them, you can choose one according to your needs.

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Although not free it is well worth mentioning Camtasia. I use it almost daily to provide training material and content for the courses I train, and well worth the investment. There is a 30 day free trail available as well. I use it extensively on Windows 7 and Windows Vista.

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up vote 2 down vote

Try VirtualDub.

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Tks for the answer. It's quite complex to use. Anything simpler? – Dante Oct 30 '09 at 12:02
It can be overwhelming but it's quite simple once you do it a few times. Check out this tutorial: teachers.ash.org.au/dbrown/virtualdub/capture.htm – John T Oct 30 '09 at 12:34
up vote 1 down vote

FastStone Capture is an excellent tool:

It captures a screen area, mouse clicks and sound via the microphone. Records to wmv format so it's rather Windows centric.

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As I say in the question, I need to capture all sound. That means speakers sound, not microphone sound. – Dante Oct 30 '09 at 16:35
FastStone Capture can record "all sound", just select the "What u hear" option from the Sound -> Recording panel, instead of the microphone input. I too recommend this program, video quality is great and records at a max of 20fps, smooth enough for most demos/screencasts. – skelly Nov 1 '09 at 7:33
up vote 1 down vote

If you are really looking for a screencast, then you can always go for software such as screen-capture-recorder-to-video-windows-free and virtual-audio-capture-grabber-device which are free and open source. If you want to see how it works before trying it out, you can visit this tutorial.

The basic logic behind these is that they use ffmpeg2 which in turn uses 'screen-capture-recorder-to-video-windows-free' for its video input and 'virtual-audio-capture-grabber-device which are free' for its audio input. Both of these are configurable. The tutorial shows how smooth the recording goes. These software also provide a UI (developed in Java) for changing settings as suited to the user.

e.g use (from command line):

ffmpeg -f dshow -i audio="virtual-audio-capturer":video="screen-capture-recorder" ScreenCast.mp4

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up vote 0 down vote

For Windows try Windows Media Encoder, I used that with good results before. Only issue is it records to proprietary WMV formats, which can be tricky to convert to other formats.

Linux gives a much happier desktop recording experience, here's a few apps you can use.

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You should try the "Microsoft Expression Encoder 3 Screen Capture" (download here). It's the next version of the Windows Media Encoder.

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I've heard good things about Camtasia, a good free screen capture program I used for a while was FlashBack Express (found here http://www.bbsoftware.co.uk/bbflashbackexpress/home.aspx). The program looks more complex than it actually is, it's actually simple. But if you have the money, get Camtasia.

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up vote -1 down vote

I like Jing from TechSmith. In addition to stills, it can capture audio and video. It's also free.

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The free edition adds promo text to your videos, unless one doesn't mind that. – invert Oct 30 '09 at 12:27
I just tried it, it didn't record sound. I want all sound recorded, like CamStudio does. – Dante Oct 30 '09 at 12:35

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