Replay Screencast Guide

Overview
Recording a Window
Recording a Screen Region
Pausing a Recording
Playing your Recordings
Hiding Replay Screencast
Settings Reference
Improving Performance when Recording

Link to FAQs, Troubleshooting and other Support Information

Overview

Welcome to Replay Screencast! In just a few minutes, you'll be able to make movies of whatever you can see on your screen. All movies are saved as standard Windows Media WMV files, so they can play on any PC or Web page. Plus, you can add audio to your movies, either from the microphone or any other source.

Here's some ways to use Replay Screencast:

• Make software and Web site demos and tutorials.
• Record non-standard Web videos, including Flash and Quicktime video.
• Turn Powerpoint presentations into movies.
• Record Video Instant Messenger sessions.
• Make videos from Webcams.
• Record Webcasts.

Replay Screencast is a super-simple way to make your own screencasts. Here's how it appears:

Once you have it set up, just click the Record button, and start using whatever software or Web page you want to record. Replay Screencast does the rest!

Recording a Window

Replay Screencast makes it easy to record from any Window on your desktop. Here's how to do it:

1. Click Settings. The Settings dialog appears:
   
   
   
   
2. Select Video Recording Window.
3. Choose the application you want to record.
4. If you want to narrate while recording, choose Mic or Microphone as your Audio Recording Line.
5. Click OK.
6. Click Record.
7. Wait 2 seconds until Replay Screencast's status shows "Recording," as shown here:
   
   
   
   
8. Start interacting with the program you're recording.
9. Click Stop when you're done.

Note: If image does not appear while running a video player, you will need to set the hardware acceleration to NONE in the display setting under the control panel in your operating system.

Recording a Screen Region

You can also record from a rectangular region on your PC's screen. This is useful if you want to record a part of an applications Window, your entire desktop, or multiple applications.

To set up a screen region to record from:

1. Click Settings.
2. Select Screen Region.
3. With your mouse, drag the bulls eye to the top-left corner of the region.
4. Release the mouse button, then drag to the bottom-right corner of the region to record from.
5. Release the mouse button, and right -click. The screen coordinates of the region are entered into the Settings dialog.
6. Click OK.
7. Record your video as explained above.

Pausing a Recording

At any time during recording, you can temporarily suspend recording by pressing the Pause button. The Status area shows "Paused".

To resume recording after pausing, click Pause again. The status area shows "Recording."

Playing your Recordings

Once you've made a recording, you can play it back immediately by clicking Play.

To view all your recordings, or rename the most recent one:

1. Click Settings.
2. Click Go to Recordings Folder.

The Windows File Explorer opens to the directory where your screencasts are saved.

Hiding Replay Screencast

Sometimes, you may want to record with Replay Screencast hidden. This is especially true if you're recording a full-screen window.

Before using the Hide feature, select a hot key combination as follows:

1. Open Settings.
2. Click onto the field labeled Press this Key or Key combination to Hide/Unhide.
3. Press a key combination, i.e. Ctrl+F12. Whatever key combination you picked is displayed. (The default is ctrl+alt+r)
4. Click OK.

Now, press the key combination to hide Replay Screencast. Press it again to restore it into view.

If you have checked the Record when Hide / Pause Recording when Unhide option, pressing the hide/unhide key starts a recording. When you press it again, it pauses the recording and restores the Replay Screencast screen. Pressing it again resumes the recording and hides Replay Screencast. To stop the recording, unhide Replay Screencast, and click Stop. (This option is available in version 1.01 and later.)

Settings Reference

Here's what the various Replay Screencast settings do:

Default folder for Recordings: All recordings are saved to this folder. Click Browse to choose a new folder.

Go to Recordings Folder: Opens a Windows File Explorer to the folder where recordings are currently saved.

Frames per second: Enter the number of frames per second to save. In general, the human eye can't see more than 15 frames per second. At 8 frames per second, video is still quite smooth.

Bit Rate (new in version 1.1): Sets the bit rate for your video. Higher bit rates provide higher quality, but make bigger files. Common web video bit rates range from 100 to 512. 300 gives you decent quality in most cases.

Smoothness: Set a lower number if you're having performance issues with high motion video. In general, 90 is excellent quality, and should work well for most recordings. Note: This setting was called Image Quality in versions prior to 1.1.

Low Motion Video/High Motion Video (new in Version 1.1): For recording software or web site demos, choose Low Motion. For recording videos that play on-screen (Flash, QuickTime, etc.) choose High Motion.

Press this Key or Key combination to Hide/Unhide: Press a key combination in this field which is used to hide and restore Replay Screencast.

Record when Hide / Pause Recording when Unhide: If this option is checked, pressing the hide/unhide key starts a recording. When you press it again, it pauses the recording and restores the Replay Screencast screen. Pressing it again resumes the recording and hides Replay Screencast. To stop the recording, unhide Replay Screencast, and click Stop. (This option is available in version 1.01 and later.)

Audio Device: Select the Audio Device to use when recording. This is handy if you have multiple sound cards or a USB Headset. (This option is available in versions 1.2 and later).

Audio Recording Line: If you're going to be narrating while recording, choose the Mic or Microphone audio line. For recording videos like Flash, QuickTime, etc, choose Stereo Mix, Wave, Wave Out Mix, What U Hear, or something similar. Different systems have different choices available.

Screen Region: If this is selected, the coordinates determine the upper left and lower right of the area on the display to record from. (See Recording a Screen Region.)

Video Recording Window: Select this option if you're going to be recording from an open application. Once you select this, you'll also need to select the application.

Improving Performance when Recording

Because of the amount of data being manipulated and the CPU power required, capturing screens is a performance-intensive process. Use the following guidelines to ensure that the screen image you capture will encode and play well:

• Use a low frame rate. You may have to experiment with the setting to determine the frame rate that meets your needs.
• Use a lower bit rate.
• Try using the High Motion Video setting.
• Set your monitor to use a lower display size. For example, capturing at a 1024 x 768 resolution yields more data than capturing at 640 x 480.
• Set your color display to 16-bit or 8-bit color. Or, to further improve the CPU usage set the encoder to run in 256-color mode. Keep in mind that running in 256 colors can introduce a palette change when switching between programs that have different color schemes
• Capture a smaller image.
• Capture screens or regions only from the primary monitor when using a dual-monitor scenario.
• Disable hardware acceleration. (However, enable hardware acceleration after completing the screen capture for best results with other programs.)
• Use a PC with a faster processor.
• Quit all video programs you are not using.