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The steps below do sometimes result in a partial file which can't be played or some file without sound.

  1. Click Media -> Stream -> Capture Device -> Capture Mode = Desktop -> Stream
  2. Then select destination File = test.mp4, leaving Profile = Video - H.264 + MP3 (MP4) intact, and setting FPS=24.
  3. Then press Stream button again. FLV player starts to count time, although Record button looks not pressed.
  4. Then I do some playback of web videos and window manipulations.
  5. Then press Stop button on VLC player.

How to perform complete task? Where is the audio capture setup (what device to capture)?

3 Answers 3

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Ok, this isn't about VLC but I'm guessing the real question is "How do I easily record my desktop, with audio, preferably with a free open source app?"

I gave up on obscure VLC command lines and found another piece of software called ShareX, which is free and open source.

It's pretty easy:

  1. Download and install ShareX.
  2. Run it and click Capture->Screen Recording...
  3. It asks you if you want to automatically download ffmpeg.exe, say yes.
  4. Next go to Task Settings->Capture->Screen recorder->Options
  5. Change the video source to screen-capture-recorder (it's a bit fast in my experience), and the audio source to your microphone (or whatever).
  6. Use Capture->Screen Recording again.
  7. It will now even let you select the area of the screen to record!

This is much nicer than VLC. The only downside is that the colours seem a bit off for me - less bright than they actually were. I'm not overly bothered though.

Edit

In recent versions you can hold Shift to do square recordings and Alt to snap to common resolutions.

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  • 7
    I can't thank you enough -- your instructions are 100% easy to follow, I was setup in 2 minutes after searching previously for about an hour to find a good screen recording program. You made my day!
    – degenerate
    May 9, 2015 at 22:07
  • 4
    SharedX is the best program for your quick video and audio capturing. I've tested several free hyped programs, like CamStudio, Ezvid and some more, all of them had the audio problem. SharedX worked instantly, with perfect FPS and flawless system sound. Thanx
    – user514395
    Jan 28, 2016 at 17:59
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    Change the video source to screen-capture-recorder <-- looks like you have to click the button Install recorder devices before it appears in that list
    – wal
    Aug 26, 2016 at 3:34
  • 2
    ShareX could not download ffmpeg (I'm behind a firewall), so I had to install it by hand. Download from ffmpeg.org/download.html, unzip and copy ffmpeg.exe to My Documents\ShareX\Tools Now it works nicely! Dec 19, 2016 at 14:45
  • 1
    Best advice I got in my entire life, thanks. Great program.
    – Faruk D.
    Feb 27, 2020 at 17:12
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+50

(Note: Answer dates from 2014, so better methods may exist today.)

From how to use VLC to stream your desktop live (windows) with audio (or stream a DVD) :

VLC by default comes with a "screen input" option, to capture the desktop. Unfortunately it appears there’s a bug (status: closed wontfix), so currently it can only capture video.

The solution is to use DirectShow as an alternative input. With Directshow, you can choose your video and your audio input device separately, and they do work together out of the box.

So first go and download the direct show screen capture input filter from here.

Next setup your sound card to be able to capture wave out. If it is not there as an option then you may find some helpful notes here.

Now open VLC, choose Media menu -> Stream -> Capture Device tab. Set Capture mode to "Directshow", set Video device name to "screen-capture-recorder", and set Audio device name to "virtual-audio-capturer".

Now click on "stream" and follow instructions.

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  • 1
    Just tried this and VLC Bombs immediately. Simply cannot get VLC to do a screencast with audio, fails everytime. I downloaded the latest Video Filter from the link you included.
    – Jammer
    May 24, 2015 at 21:59
  • @Jammer: Start a new post, detailing your setup and the exact problem you are encountering.
    – harrymc
    May 25, 2015 at 7:26
  • @harrymc: we need to capture audio input and audio output too, how?
    – YumYumYum
    Sep 2, 2015 at 8:49
  • @harrymc I'm on windows10 can't same options as betterlogic.com/roger/2010/07/…
    – user75875
    Oct 18, 2019 at 17:44
1

Advice to Ubuntu 18 users: use KAZAM. VLC is excellent, but for capturing video and audio KAZAM is the right tool.

sudo apt install kazam
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  • The kazam homepage shows 2014 as the latest release date for kazam.
    – Shadi
    Sep 12, 2019 at 5:13
  • But indeed I just tried it and it does the job perfectly :)
    – Shadi
    Sep 12, 2019 at 5:19
  • Yeah @shadi it works :) Sep 12, 2019 at 15:31

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