A screen recorder is a software that can record all activities on a screen, plus any sound. Such a program can be used, for example, to make teaching videos in which the operation of a software program is explained, or to record streaming videos. Users of the Linux operating system can also use a screen recorder, one of which is SimpleScreenRecorder.
What Is A Screen Recorder?
A screen recorder or screencasting software is a program with which everything that happens on the screen can be recorded in real-time, i.e. simultaneously, and saved as a video. The corresponding audio signal (if present) can also be recorded. A screen recorder can be used to record videos from the Internet, but also to create your own instruction videos in which, for example, the operation of a certain program must be explained. As an example, consider the many instructional videos of various software and apps that can be found on YouTube.
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Disadvantages Of Screen Recorders
Screen recorders don’t always work very well. Sometimes the recorded image is not very good, it is grainy or too dark in color, or the recorded image is jerky. Also, sometimes the recorded sound is out of sync with the recorded image, or even worse, no sound is recorded at all.
Simple Screen Recorder
For users of the Linux operating system, there is a screen recorder that works quite well, this is SimpleScreenRecorder (SSR) from the Belgian programmer Maarten Baert. SSR is therefore written for Linux and therefore does not work on Windows, for example. In Linux, SimpleScreenRecorder can usually be downloaded from the software manager in the Linux version in use. Well-known Linux distributions such as Linux Mint or MX Linux contain a software manager or download center from which verified and verified software can be installed, SimpleScreenRecorder should also be included.
Simple Screen Recorder In Use
SimpleScreenRecorder looks clear, is very functional, and starts up quickly. It consists of four screens, the first screen is only a welcome screen where nothing has to be entered, here you can quickly click on “Continue”.The second screen can specify the size and portion of the screen that will be recorded. This is very useful when, for example, recording a video that does not cover the entire screen in terms of size.
The desired frame is selected with “Record a fixed rectangle” and “Select rectangle”, after which the frame can be further adjusted very precisely at the pixel level. It is advisable not to choose too large dimensions, as large image formats require a lot of processing power. All entered selections can be saved in a profile. Incidentally, the most recently used settings remain, useful for the next use of SimpleScreenRecorder.
An important setting on the second screen is the frame rate of the video, preferably set to 30, this often produces better results than, for example, a value of 20 or 25. The “Record cursor” option is best turned off so that the mouse is not included in the video. If you want to make an instructional video, registering the mouse is recommended. Finally, at the bottom of the second screen are the audio settings, the settings already entered are usually sufficient.
On The Third Screen, Choose A File Name And File Format
By clicking on “Continue” you enter the third screen, from this screen all chosen settings can again be saved in a profile. In any case, a file name must be entered in this screen, this cannot be done afterward after recording the video. You can then choose in which file format the video will be made.
MP4 and MKV are the most suitable formats with the corresponding best codec H.264. With the option “Allow frame skipping” you can choose whether or not SimpleScreenRecorder may skip video frames when the frame rate that the program receives is lower than the frame rate in which the video is recorded. In practice, it doesn’t really matter much what is chosen here.
Another function on the third screen is that under “Video” the speed of the encoding rate can be set. “Medium, fast or faster” always gives good results. At “Audio” the desired audio codec can be indicated: MP3 with a speed of 128 kbps is sufficient for most purposes, and for really good audio quality 192 kbps or higher is recommended.
The Fourth Screen, Start Recording
The fourth screen is the last, here you click on “Start recording” to start recording. While recording the video, this fourth screen shows how large (number of megabytes) and how long (length of time) the video is getting. With “Save recording“ the recording is saved under the name that was already chosen on the third screen. Incidentally, files remain remarkably small, which is nice for when the video is later put on a smartphone, for example, where the storage capacity is usually limited.
Finally
The discussed version of SimpleScreenRecorder is version 0.3.8. The most recent version was version 0.3.11 at the beginning of 2020, but at that time it was not yet available in all Linux versions via the download center or software manager.
