Ask HN: Tool to record screen and system audio and mic

7 points by adrianomartins 2 years ago | 9 comments

This is not rocket science, right?

I need to record a user session by capturing the session video + session audio + my mic.

I've tried recording it in two ways: - Loom, but it doesn't record system audio (that I know of) - QuickTime, I was able to capture system audio with BlackHole but the files are humongous (±10gb for 30min).

Furthermore we don't have available the meeting recording on GoogleWorkspace (we are a Discord first company), and we sometimes have these sessions on Discord or other platforms.

Does anybody know of a good tool for this?

7moritz7 2 years ago |

OBS can do this, it's not difficult to set up

adrianomartins 2 years ago | |

Indeed, indeed. A bit of a overkill but that would do the job. Will give it a try. I hope I can produce lighter files than with QuickTime, though.

stop50 2 years ago | | |

You can set the recording format before the recording to better values. Sound takes little space compared to the video. H265 and av1 should be the most optimal video formats available. Reducing the video resolution also helps reducing the filesize. after the recording you can also reduce the filesize with ffmpeg, which can be better, since reducing the size after recording lets you get the best quality with the lowest filesize, since reducing the filesize is easier, but once it is reduced you can't revert it.

7moritz7 2 years ago | | |

Select H265 (HEVC) encoding (with MKV container) in the settings and test what bitrate is the lowest you can work with. And obviously keep resolution to 1920x1080

This will save 50 to 60 % over just standard MP4 settings I'd say. Most players can handle mkv now

adrianomartins 2 years ago | | |

Thanks for tips stop50 and 7moritz7!!!

brudgers 2 years ago |

OBS is the simplest thing that might work.

It doesn't require shopping.

Shopping has exponential complexity.

mega3000 2 years ago |

Blackhole + QuickTime paired with a recompress (ffmpeg) folder action is what I use. Minimal and adds no extra tools on macOS.

beardyw 2 years ago |

What platform is this?

adrianomartins 2 years ago | |

Shopping? I was wondering if that's a platform of that just means go shopping for a tool.