With Mac OS X Snow Leopard, Apple introduced native screen recording functionality into their Mac OS X without having to download any additional piece of software. The recording feature can be used directly from the Quicktime player app, yes the same app which is used to play videos on the Mac, can be used to record on-screen video of Mac. This functionality is incredibly simple to use and can be a great use case for most people as it comes bundled with the operating system and doesn’t require the installation of any additional software.
One of our readers wanted to make a video demonstrating the features of his new website that sells goods, he was unaware of a good software to do the same. He had one requirement, to record the screen video highlighting the Mouse, and it wasn’t the best option to several dollars on an application for such a simple task. Luckily the QuickTime player has this option built-in and the reader was more than happy to find this out as it served the purpose well and saved him many dollars!
How to capture screen on Mac OSX Mohave – Using Shortcuts
To initiate the recording on the Mac, use the Shift + Command + 5 combination together. This initiates the recording option and should present a recording panel as shown below. The first three options here are to capture a screenshot while the later two allow you to choose the capture options. You can now choose to record the entire display or limit the recording to a specific window or region.
Once the window size is selected you can use the options button to configure other settings for the recording. The menu allows you to choose the default storage location for the recording, there is also a timer option that allows you to have a buffer time before the recording starts. The next option allows you to select if you’d like to record the microphone audio from the Mac or ignore it. There are also advanced options in the options settings allowing you to choose if you want the Floating thumbnail to be visible or not and if you’d like the Cursor clicks to be highlighted.
Once the options are configured, you can hit the record option in the initial pane and the recording will begin, a circular Stop button will then show up in the status bar alongside the connectivity and battery indicators. Use the stop button in the status bar to end the recording and save the file in the initial storage location selected.
How to capture screen on Mac OSX using QuickTime
The screen recording feature comes enable in the Quicktime player on Mac OSX versions 10.6 and above. To make use of this feature follow the instructions below.
Launch QuickTime Player which is located in /Applications/ and pull down from the File menu and select “New Screen Recording” to open the controls for the screen recorder, Now Press the Red button in the toolbar to start your screen recording. To end the screen recording, you can either simply press the Stop Recording button in the toolbar, or alternatively press the Command+Control+Escape. After the recording is stopped, the captured video automatically opens in the QuickTime Player as “Screen Recording.mov” file, which can then be saved with a name of your choice.
During the recording of your screen, the Quicktime player completely gets out of the way and doesn’t come by to obstruct the recording, for this reason, it is best recommended to use the keyboard shortcut key mentioned above to stop the recording so that there are no traces of the Quick time player in the recording. Also, in the newer versions of Quicktime player, the player is totally invisible and doesn’t show up no matter what mode you use to start or stop the recording. This is greatly appreciated, as the user doesn’t need to put in extra efforts to edit out that part of the video.
Also check: How to Reset SMC on a Mac – Reasons, Method to reset SMC
There is also an option to record your mouse clicks, which should be an obvious choice if you’re making a video demonstrating a product or making a how-to guide. The recording highlights the mouse with a circle and making it easier to locate the mouse in the video so that the viewer can follow it. There is also an option to record Audio from the mic or you can also choose the in-line option to record the Audio from the Mac. These additional options can be activated by clicking on the downward arrow on the control menubar and select the options that you wish to activate. There is also an option to set the quality of your recording, which you can adjust based on how much detail you wish to have in the video and how much storage you can afford to spare for the video.
The default export file type is the .mov format which you can change by selecting the export option or “Save As” option which will let you export the video to a format of your choice. Also, the videos are exported to the Movies folder by default, this can be changed in the drop-down menu mentioned above. As a quick note to users having Mac OSX 10.5 or below, instead of looking for alternative software to record the video, you should probably consider upgrading the OS to a newer version that is supported by your computer as this might turn out more economical than buying a software, and the newer version of Mac OSX have many more features for the video recorder in QuickTime player.
