OBS STUDIO

Screencasts are excellent for creating application tutorials. Michael Reed shows you how to make one with end-to-end open source software.

OUR EXPERT

Michael Reed was caught talking to himself while using the computer, making him the ideal person to tell you about screencasting.

Screencasts are videos with a voice narration, often used as a tutorial that explains how to do something within an application. They can also be used to create videos that provide commentary on a subject such as a photo collection.

We’ll start by making a recording with OBS Studio (https://obsproject.com), an application that can record the video and audio output of the computer to a file. Then we’ll import the audio into Audacity (www. audacityteam.org) for a quick tidy up. Following this, we’ll take the audio and video into video editor Kdenlive (https://kdenlive.org) for the final edit. By the end of the process, we should have a crisp-looking video with a clearly intelligible voice track. Add music to taste.

We’ll assume that you have OBS Studio installed and running. Some versions of OBS Studio start with the docks that we’re going to need minimised. We’re going to need the Scenes, Sources, Audio Mixer and Controls docks, so re-enable them all, if necessary, by selecting them in the Docks menu.

Use Scenes to save time

Scenes are settings profiles that are tailored for a specific job. It’s a good idea to use this feature, and starting a new scene resets the current settings back to defaults. Do this by clicking the plus icon at the bottom of the Scenes dock. Once you’ve started a fresh new scene, the first setting to look at is in the Sources dock. This is where you add video and audio sources.

For example, for a typical screencast, the sources might be the screen along with the input from a microphone. We’ll start by adding the screen itself as a source. Click the + icon underneath the Sources dock. This should present you with a list of about 20 possible sources on your system. Select Screen Capture (XSHM) and click OK. You should now see a real-time, miniature copy of your screen in the main viewing panel of the OBS Studio screen, and this shows that video capture is working.

How are you recording audio?

Now it’s time to add audio sources. If you’re working with a microphone, make sure that you have it plugged in and ready. Click the + icon under the Sources dock again, and select Audio Input Capture (PulseAudio). In the next dialog that pops up, select your microphone device from the drop-down. For some types of video, you might want to record the output of the programs that are running on your computer as part of the video. If so, add a third source by adding Audio Output Capture (PulseAudio). Don’t bother adding this unless you’re sure you need it, though, because it increases CPU usage a little bit, and any programs or browser tabs that make an unexpected notification sound will end up on the recording.