Video capture/video recording can help us do a lot of things: to start a business by building a YouTube channel; to live stream or upload lectures/tutorials over the internet, or to share onscreen gameplay captures with friends during the homestay.
All the events mentioned above can be fulfilled with ease as long as you get the proper video recording software. By the word proper, we mean an application that has the capabilities to best match your needs and help your job done with perfection, like the indispensable features, affordable price, reasonable learning curves, and other factors.
So in this list-post, we have rounded up 9 such tools. But each of them will work for different occasions. Check them now.
What Makes for the Best Video Capture Software?
It's hard to define what the best video capture software is. But I would say the proper one is what works best for your device and your needs, covering needed features, affordable price, reasonable learning curves, and other factors. Check the list below for the best video recording software.
VideoProc Converter — Video Recording Software with Green Screen
Launched by an industry-leading multimedia software developed company, VideoProc Converter is an all-around video processing software capable of editing and transcoding, and even making video capture at full HD with ease.
You are allowed to capture video games, on-screen tutorials, product reviews without dropping frames, or losing quality because VideoProc Converter has adopted both software and hardware encoding techniques for offloading intense CPUs when screen recording a few applications at the same time.
And you can enable recording system sound and voice-over at the same time, which is a great method to make your video more engaging. Moreover, you can add a webcam overlay along with the green-screen effect, so that you can change the background or we say adding virtual background.
Less noted but equally significant, if you want to take whole control of making screencasts, you need to set up all the hotkeys that will help you in the process of recording.
Pros:
- Available in both Windows and macOS.
- Record each of your clicks while gaming in window or full-screen mode.
- Support a host of popular output formats as FLV, MP4, MOV, and more.
- Software and hardware encoding offloads intense CPU usage.
- Full HD recording is freely available, no watermark, no signup.
- Draw highlights with images/shapes; add annotations with texts during recording.
- Bonus features as video editing, converting and copying DVD.
Cons:
- Cannot directly post video clips to social media platform in the app
- Cannot set fps or compress the video
Screenflow, OBS, XSplit — Video Recording Software for Teachers
Telestream Screenflow
Designed by Telestream, Screenflow has won much reputation in video editing, video capturing, and sharing. You can capture anything on your computer including monitor area, webcam, microphone, and computer audio. And it offers many editing features, for example, built-in stock media library, professional animations, and motions graphics, animated GIF, MP4 encoding, streamlined media management, etc. Using this platform to broadcast, record webinars/lectures can surely gain popularity among students when many of the young are already Screenflow users.
Not designed for hours-long movie recordings, Screenflow is an easy to master tool with professional features, best for creating educational videos.
Pros:
- Built-in edit toolbox serves for video clips and screencast.
- No Time limitation of video capture for the free version.
- Video can be stored and exported in various file formats.
Cons:
- The free version will add watermarks on your videos.
- You need to pay to upgrade.
- There are no built-in templates but you can build them regularly.
OBS Studio
The most attractive point is that OBS is free and open-source.
Users are allowed to set up countless transitional scenes consisted of plentiful sources covering audio input/output capture, display capture, webcam, image, text, etc. What's more, OBS characters as its live streaming. If you have accounts of Twitch, YouTube, Mixer, or other live streaming platforms, choose the right server and input your stream key. And you can broadcast whatever you want. However, though it is a set of powerful and free recording software, it is genuinely difficult to master with its complex configuration.
Pros:
- Separate the microphone track from the rest of the recording
- No watermark on screencasts.
- Support FLV, MP4, MOV, MKV, TS, and m3u8 format. And all files are allowed to transcode into mp4.
- Six audio tracks are available along with real-time audio monitoring and audio ducking abilities.
- Built-in filters can beautify the webcams.
- Reduce CPU load by activating hardware encoders.
- It comes with both 32-bit and 64-bit versions and is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems.
Cons:
- No video editor provided.
- Advanced settings are too complicated for beginners.
XSplit
Developed in 2010 and released in 2012 by SplitmediaLabs in Hong Kong, Xsplit is a professional video recording and broadcasting software app that has made great contributions to e-learning games, music, and the other sectors.
If you often check twitch, mixer, YouTube, you must know lots of streamers broadcasting with many impressive features, such as multiple scenes, alerts, amazing transitions, and webcam without background, all of these can be created by XSplit. And it also allows you to record and stream in full HD and record locally in 4K. Using XSplit varied features, your video recordings can much more attractive and appealing to students.
Considering that XSplit demands a dedicated graphics card to work on, it can be a limitation to some users. And besides, most features are not available in the trial version, so you may have to purchase a 12 months license at $59.95 or a lifetime license at $199.
Pros
- High video quality powered by GPU.
- Complete stream management tools.
- Countless video features that can amaze your students.
Cons
- If video resolution is beyond 1280*720, it will be watermarked without a license.
- High system requirement.
- For Windows users only.
Bandicam — Video Recording Software with Higher FPS Options
Developed by Bandicam company in Korea, Bandicam screen recorder is one of their products specialized in making a screen capture, especially in video game recording for it allows 144 FPS maximum for video game capturing, which means the grabbed videos will be super smooth.
What's more, this recording app is not only available for PC screen but for external video devices like Xbox, PlayStation, phone, television, vision capture device and more. Compared to Camtasia with 484 MB installer, Bandicam screen recorder is really a lightweight application taking only 17.8 MB. Therefore, it has a clear and decent UI which is easy-to-use for users, but it is relatively weak in video editing.
Pros
- Hardware acceleration powered by Nvidia, Intel, and AMD.
- Game recording mode displays FPS when recording video games.
- Full screen or area recording as you like.
- External video devices can be captured.
Cons
- No live streaming and editing provided.
- During the trial version, 10 minutes recording limitation with watermark.
- Only the Windows operating system is available.
ShareX — Video Recording Software without Watermark
Released 12 years ago and now hosted on GitHub which is a code development platform, ShareX is an open source screen capture application with no charge and advertisement for Windows. And it is also an extremely lightweight software app because its installer carries only 5.35 MB.
After using it I finally realize why it is called "ShareX". Log-in your social media account on ShareX, and when you complete your works, they will be posted to the targeted destinations automatically, that is the meaning of "Share". "X" is a symbol in mathematics indicating an unknown value, and here "X" represents the huge number of social media that the application can be posted to.
Pros
- No charge and open source.
- Super lightweight application.
- Videos will not be watermarked.
- Automatically upload to social media.
Cons
- For Windows users only.
- Video editor and broadcaster is not available.
- No highlight effects in the course of recording.
CamStudio — Best on-Screen Video Recording Software
Claimed to be an easy and effective video recording tool, CamStudio is able to record all activities and audio on your computer and create industry-standard AVI video files. It can help you create video-based information products you can sell, capture new tricks you discovered on your favorite program and make a video tutorial for students or colleges. And it's 100% free for both personal and commercial use.
Pros
- PowerPoint recording feature for its plug-in.
- Import media from Google Drive.
- Video and audio editing are easy to use with little training.
- Countless editing sources are accessible to download from Techsmith assets.
- Support output format including MP4, WMV, AVI, GIF, and M4A (audio).
Cons
- Register an account at the beginning or you cannot use it.
- Videos will be watermarked during the trial period.
- High price to purchase without lifetime upgrades.
Debut Video Capture — Video Capture Software with Snapshot Capture Ability
Debut Video Capture is an easy and reliable video capture software, which has helped many beginners capture videos for all variety of purposes. It's free for personal use and you can capture your computer screen while working, which is helpful if you want to show a step-by-step operation or explain a process. And it lets you schedule recordings and customize your project.
You can also make snapshots whenever you want, which is free from start to end. The only issue is that video capture feature will be not workable if you passed its trial period, leaving only the screenshot feature.
Pros
- Highly customization.
- Supports recording from external cameras.
- It's friendly to beginners.
- Works well on both Win and Mac.
Cons
- The interface looks a little dated.
Player.me — In-Game Video Recording Software
Equipped by a mature gaming community, secure account protection system, hotkey system and more, Player.me, with its banner "Don't just play, create", is absolutely an amazing design for recording video games and broadcasting. What's more, it is completely free for all users as OBS Studio. If you are a noob to PC and you want to broadcast, you should not miss Player.me.
You can personalize your studio following the application instruction, such as the features like new followers, sponsors, labels, chats, etc. Given the fact that it has a built-in gaming community, you are allowed to make friends who purely are game fanciers and share your sensational moments with them.
Pros
- A completely free and easy-to-use video recorder and broadcaster application for teachers as beginners.
- Countless overlays for different screen recording.
- Multiple transitional scenes can be created, saving time for post-production.
Cons
- Support Windows 10 only for now.
Also read: Top 14 gameplay recording software>>
Any Video Recording Software Comes with Windows 10/11 or macOS?
Yeah, they both have their own video recording software. In Windows 10/11, there is a screen recorder for gameplay called Game Bar that offers you a few options as recording, taking snapshots and broadcasting. It works well with webpages, documents, small application, but for, video gameplay recording it is a CPU hog.
In macOS, the native QuickTime Player is available for free. You can opt to record your computer screen or iPhone screen. Moreover, you can add webcam overlay on your recordings but it has very limited recording settings, and there is no green-screen effect. You won't be able to capture internal sound and voice-over at the same time.
Considering that both of them have somewhat shortcomings, they are not included in our top list.
Conclusion
Here is a suggestion, if you just want to record video for free, no watermark, no sign up, with basic editing features, VideoProc Converter can be a good option; if you want an all-in-one video recorder and editor, take Camtasia Studio, but it will cost you a lot; if you desire to record external video device but not for streaming, go for Bandicam; if you want to be a streamer, take OBS studio, XSplit, Player.me as you need.
