Snow Leopard 'Screen Recording' Feature Allows Desktop Video Recording

[MacRumors]

AppleInsider reports on one new feature that has been found in the latest Snow Leopard developer seeds: screen recording.

Similar in many ways to a feature long offered by Ambrosia Software through its Snapz Pro X utility, the option will allow users to capture in motion video their Mac's screen -- essentially video screenshots.

Such a feature will be particularly useful for software developers and educators, as it will simplify the process of creating video tutorials, software demonstrations, and anything else best captured in live motion as opposed to still shots.

The feature does step on the toes of some 3rd party developers (Snapz Pro, Screenflow) who have been offering a similar feature set as commercial applications.

Apple has been continuing to seed Mac OS X Snow Leopard builds to developers. The latest build (10A335) was delivered just yesterday. Early reports of that build indicate it's become even more stable and "polished" but no other new features have been noted.

Article Link: Snow Leopard 'Screen Recording' Feature Allows Desktop Video Recording

 

[TheSlush]

I've been using Snapz Pro and love it. Will be interesting to see what Apple brings to the table.

 

[TheShinyMac]

ohh well i will still use screenflow unless the built in one completely blows it out of the water

 

[Eidorian]

Definitely going to be fun for free.

 

[twoodcc]

alright! i have used screenflow a little, and i really like it. i am very glad to see that this will be included in snow leopard! can't wait

 

[BTW]

Very cool.

The pirate industry will love it too.

 

[gibbz]

Sweet!! This is a great feature to add.

 

[mikeinternet]

Does this have a nice enough quality to be used to record full screen youtube or hulu videos?

 

[BlizzardBomb]

Very cool.

The pirate industry will love it too.

I'm guessing it'll be the same deal as taking screenshots. You aren't allowed to take videos while Quicktime etc. are open.

 

[drakeshipway]

finally

 

[B1gMac]

Screen flow is one of the best 3rd party apps, period, let alone the best screen recording app. I would much prefer it if Apple just bought their company and made the application even better in terms of integrating with other apps in iLife and iWork.

 

[Eddy Munn]

I wonder what software apple has used over the past for their video tutorials, maybe it's a similar application.

 

[maestro55]

If I can manage to do what we do with Screenflow here where I work than it will be very nice. Otherwise, we will stick with screenflow. We do training videos for our customer software with screenflow.

 

[Burning Radio]

finally

I actually quite enjoyed that.

This will be a nice little extra for OS X. I honestly do want some new features in SL....in addition to the speed!!! I think they'll have to add some new features in OS X for Snow Leopard to appear "New" to the switchers out there. A little odd that they're adding this on an update though.

 

[Watabou]

Oh very good apple. I want this feature badly.

 

[nick9191]

I doubt this will affect Screenflow. I highly doubt this software will be in the same league as Screenflow, which as demonstrated by it's price is certainly a professional/enthusiast level application. If Apple's inbuilt screen recording software encodes on the fly, then Screenflow has nothing to worry about.

You can find many cheaper alternatives to Screenflow, iShowU for example, but the serious users always step up to Screenflow because it's the best.

 

[Drumjim85]

what happened to "no new features"

 

[Peace]

Does this have a nice enough quality to be used to record full screen youtube or hulu videos?

It's done in motion jpeg. Not good enough to capture movies from youtube.

 

[LagunaSol]

Snapz Pro is a dinosaur that has been shown zero love by Ambrosia for years and is in no way worth its purchase price. I can see native capture functionality in Snow Leopard making Snapz Pro completely irrelevant.

As for Screenflow, on the other hand...no way. This is a fully-featured app with a great interface. I can't see Apple incorporating that amount of functionality into the OS.

 

[Ade-iMac-177]

awesome!! i hope it has the ability to capture a single window as well as the whole screen just like you can do with pictures, that would be really useful

 

[akm3]

what happened to "no new features"

That is a lie to:
a) Set our expectations low so they can exceed them
b) Not give their competitors heads up so it takes them longer to copy the applications
c) Not lock them into delivering something that is either bad or that they promise and then can't deliver

There will be many new features.

 

[mathcolo]

What will Microsoft's counterpart be? Microsoft ScreenRecord for Windows?

 

[nick9191]

what happened to "no new features"

$129 happened

 

[dvkid]

I'm guessing it'll be the same deal as taking screenshots. You aren't allowed to take videos while Quicktime etc. are open.

I've not encountered this limitation with QuickTime, only DVD Player. If you've got the content in QuickTime, you could easily export a still image with a Pro license (or without, as it seems in Snow Leopard).

To get around it, you could easily use an alternative DVD player app to the one the OS ships with. Grab.app won't know to stop you from screen-capping to your heart's content.

 

[Mal]

what happened to "no new features"

I think the statement was more along the lines of "We're not focusing on new features," but I don't remember the exact quote. I took it to mean that they were focusing on the backend stuff, and not the flashy features. This could still fall into that former category, though it's a nice feature. This also feels like something that's been added after the main work was well underway, so it could be that they simply imposed a feature freeze for the first 8-12 months of development then opened it up if someone had something that should be added in. That would mean that they focused entirely on what they really wanted to get right, then added some fun stuff later.

jW