Open Source Video Capture from a Win32 Window?

Phleg asks; "A professor of mine has been using TechSmith's Camtasia Studio software in order to take movies of what's going on on his screen. However, it's buggy, expensive, and a hassle. I've looked around the web for something that's GPL'd that can accomplish the same thing, and come up with nothing useful. The final stipulation is that it has to work under Windows, as much of the software he uses (Scientific Workplace, for one) is Windows-only. Has anyone found a (free) way to capture what's displayed on screen into a video, as well as grabbing inputs from a mic? Any codec would be fine." Those interested in a similar solution for Linux might be interested in this discussion.

Comments

Hypercam!

[Enry]

It's not GPL'd, but Hypercam rocks. I used it for creating two computer-based-training CDs. Accepts mic input, can caputre the entire screen, a window, or a measured part of the screen, can add a starburst and click for mouse events, and uses the codecs built into Windows. The cost is $30, so while it's not free as in beer or speech, it's the best thing I found.

Your best bet is to encode the videos at the highest quality (assuming your machine can keep up), then edit/cut quality later on. There's no way you will be able to encode DiVX or any of the more complex codecs in realtime, so just make unencoded AVIs and worry about the codecs later with VirtualDub.

Windows Media Encoder DOES do screen caps

[chocolatetrumpet]

I use it all the time for screen capture videos. From http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/wm7/ encoder.asp: "Enables Screen Capture to File and Real-Time Broadcast. Includes an easy process for creating screen capture and training demos using the Windows Media screen capture codec."

The dogma is running rampant!