Screen Recording

There isn't a “correct way” to create videos, just like there's not just one way to create and present a lecture. There are lots of ways to capture your screen, edit it, and distribute it to students! Let’s run through a few tools you have at your disposal.

Creating a Screen Recording

For most people, we recommend using Google Meet or Zoom to create your recordings. With either option, it's as easy as scheduling a call, joining the call, and pressing "record"!

Easy and Convenient Options

Google Meet

It’s possible to start a new Google Meet call, join it and begin recording... Even if you’re the only one in the call!

Once you’ve begun recording, you can share your screen to the call and show a presentation, document or any other window you’d like to share. When you stop the recording, a video will be placed right into your Google Drive in a folder called “Meet Recordings”.

Zoom

It’s possible for you to schedule a new Zoom call, join it and begin recording... Even if you’re the only one in the call! You have the option to save your video recordings to the local computer or to the Cloud Recordings section in your Zoom profile. Zoom Cloud Recordings tend to be lower quality, but offer the trade-off of optional transcripts that can be used for closed captioning. We recommend you enable these audio transcriptions before your first Zoom meeting. Hope College shares a limited pool of Zoom storage space, so we recommend that you upload and share these videos via your 1Hope Account's Google Drive.

Game Bar (Windows 10 only)

This feature is built into Windows 10 and is designed to record video games, but you can record any window with it! Select a window that you’d like to record, then press + G. This will bring up a menu with several options, including a built-in screen recorder. If you don’t see a panel with a Record button, you may have to open up the Widget Menu and select Capture.
When you begin recording, it will only record the window you selected at the start, so you are free to open up other notes. When you’re done, press + G again to complete the recording. The video file will then be available in the Videos → Captures folder.

Screen Recorder (macOS only)

macOS includes a built-in screen recorder as well. Press Shift + ⌘ + 5 to bring up the Screen Recording panel. There are options to record your entire screen or a portion of your screen, as well as to trim your video before you save. More information is available on Apple’s website.

ScreenToGif (Windows only) / Gifox (macOS Only)

ScreenToGif and Gifox are excellent tools for a narrower use case. They includes tools to record your screen and an editor to do some light editing on your capture. Audio is not included on these recordings. The results can be exported as videos, but also animated images to include inline in emails or on webpages. This makes creating how-tos convenient and easy.

Flashback Express (Windows only)

Flashback Express Free allows you to pick the section of the screen to record, and choose to record your webcam and microphone also.

Options with A Bit of a Learning Curve

SnagIt by Techsmith: SnagIt is an excellent and cost-effective screen recording software that we have recommended in the past. It offers fairly robust video recording, as well as some basic editing and post-processing features (adding text and arrows, trimming, etc). It costs $29 for a lifetime license for faculty members.
Loom: Loom is a Chrome extension for recording your screen. An account is required, and they push very hard for you to host your video on their loom.com hosting service. However, it’s also possible to save your video files to your computer to distribute however you like. Loom Pro is currently free for educators.
OBS Studio: OBS Studio is a suite of recording and live streaming tools that is very powerful, but also has a fairly steep learning curve. It has the ability to set up Scenes of desktops and windows, then record them to a file or live stream them to the internet. OBS Studio is free and open-source.

Editing a Screen Recording

Linear video editing definitely has a bit of a learning curve if you've never done it before. If you're looking to trim, combine, or otherwise edit your videos after you've created them, one of these tools might do the trick!

Video Editor (Windows 10 only): The built-in Windows 10 Video Editor is a great and easy way to trim, combine, and edit video clips and screen recordings. To get started, click Start and type "video editor" to find and launch the program.
iMovie (macOS and iOS only): Macs, iPhones, and iPads include a robust video editor in the form of iMovie. It’s a really full-featured and capable editing suite. If you have an iOS or macOS device and haven’t had a chance, give it a try.
OpenShot: OpenShot is an open-source video editor that makes it easy to trim, combine and layer videos that you’ve recorded using one of the above options. Give it a try; it’s free!
Camtasia Studio by Techsmith: Camtasia is a very robust screen capture and video editing suite. We often suggest that faculty try other options before deciding to buy this, as it’s very powerful, but also overkill for most people’s needs. It runs $169.
Adobe Premiere Rush: Some faculty members may have access to the Adobe Creative Cloud already. If you do, consider trying out Premiere Rush. It’s similar to iMovie, and is designed to make editing videos simple and straightforward.

Distributing a Screen Recording

Uploading your finished files to Google Drive is the easiest way to share your video with others. Once uploaded, you can share the file with selected people, or set it so that anyone at Hope College can view. Then, distribute your link with Moodle, via email, or any other way that makes sense to you!

As we mention on the Moodle information page, Moodle has the ability to host resources such as files or URLs. For the health of the Moodle service and to help support the best user experience, we request that large files such as videos and audio files be uploaded to your Google Drive and distributed via URL. Instructions on how to use Google Drive for this are available in the Other How Tos section on the Moodle help page.