how to record my desktop to a file

[Skaperen]

i would like to record my desktop to a file in some standard format (webm preferred). i'd like a choice for the audio channel to be: 1. whatever is playing. -or 2. whatever the microphone picks up. -or 3. nothing (silence).

"recording" to a connectable port would be a nice addition. something ffmpeg can connect to is preferred.

my display is 1920x1080. so i would expect HD/2K.

[Selur]

Never needed it, but OBS (https://obsproject.com) is probably worth a look.

[Sorenb]

vokoscreen works fine

https://linuxecke.volkoh.de/vokoscreen/vokoscreen.html

[Skaperen]

both of those look like more than just recorders. they look like video editing and/or production tools. they look like way more complicated than i can deal with, right now. maybe someone who actually uses one a lot can tell me what the steps are to just record my whole 1920x1080 display to a video file (with a 1920x1080 video stream). the simpler, the better. preferred would be a command so that i can integrate it into a script that gets run. and what if i want to start recording an application that has already taken over the full screen?

[october262]

both of those look like more than just recorders. they look like video editing and/or production tools. they look like way more complicated than i can deal with, right now. maybe someone who actually uses one a lot can tell me what the steps are to just record my whole 1920x1080 display to a video file (with a 1920x1080 video stream). the simpler, the better. preferred would be a command so that i can integrate it into a script that gets run. and what if i want to start recording an application that has already taken over the full screen?

would any of these work ?? - https://itsfoss.com/best-linux-screen-recorders/

[Skaperen]

that site is putting YT video windows over what i try to read. the only button on them is the YT "SKIP ADS" button. i can't read it.

supposedly ffmpeg can do this but it never works for me. try the very first example here https://trac.ffmpeg.org/wiki/Capture/Desktop

[betwixt]

I use "SimpleScreenRecorder" with good results.

Brian.

[Skaperen]

I use "SimpleScreenRecorder" with good results.

Brian.

i just tried it a couple hours ago using version 0.3.8 packaged for Ubuntu 18.04. video recorded good but there was no sound.

[Skaperen]

i finally got ffmpeg to record video (the example had a hardcoded DISPLAY value that at first i did not recognize as such. now that i have "$DISPLAY" ir succeeds recording video. it's probably going to the wrong place for sound, but i know no way to list choices and see no way to choose one.

[betwixt]

i just tried it a couple hours ago using version 0.3.8 packaged for Ubuntu 18.04. video recorded good but there was no sound.

Using Kubuntu 20.04 here and version 0.4.4 of SimpleScreenRecorder. I suggest you update.
The should be a sound settings window where you can select the sound source and format, if you them go to the preview screen you can monitor the audio levels below the picture.

Brian.

[Skaperen]

i just tried it a couple hours ago using version 0.3.8 packaged for Ubuntu 18.04. video recorded good but there was no sound.

Using Kubuntu 20.04 here and version 0.4.4 of SimpleScreenRecorder. I suggest you update.
The should be a sound settings window where you can select the sound source and format, if you them go to the preview screen you can monitor the audio levels below the picture.

Brian.

can you show me the choices you get in that sound settings window? the list might be a drop menu.

i am working on an update to 20.04 or 22.04 right now. i have a couple hundred packages to find which name in 20.04 to use in my "installeverything" script.

[Skaperen]

turns out there is an audio source menu. it has only 2 choices, there is also a refresh button, presumably to update the choice menu. i clicked "Refresh" and got this:

[PulseAudioInput::GetSourceList] Generating source list ...
[SourceNamesCallback] Found source: [alsa_output.pci-0000_00_1b.0.analog-stereo.monitor] Monitor of Built-in Audio Analog Stereo
[SourceNamesCallback] Found source: [alsa_input.pci-0000_00_1b.0.analog-stereo] Built-in Audio Analog Stereo

i don't understand why it has "alsa". i have Pulse chosen. could this be the problem?

i tried both, playing a video that has sound (i can hear the sound while Firefox is playing the video from YouTube). neither worked. is it possible that YouTube is doing something to block recording of sound to make recording of music impossible?