Free Screen Video Capture – Web based solutions

With the advent of free video sharing sites like Youtube, Blip.tv, Vimeo, Viddler, Dailymotion, and so on, screen video capturing tools have gained in popularity. The leader in screencasting is no doubt Techsmith’s Camtasia Studio. However Linux users can put together decent screencasts using XVidCap screen capture utility.

Recently there has been a spurt in websites which allow you to capture videos of your screen  right from their websites. After you have recorded your screencast, it will be uploaded to their servers and made available for sharing with others. Here is a list of such websites which allow you to freely capture video of your Desktop.

Screenr – This is a screen video capture website which allows you to record your desktop and then upload the resulting video to your Screenr account. It allows you to record just a portion of the desktop. Once you have finished creating the recording, Screenr will generate a high definition web version and an iPhone version and host it on its server. You can share the video with others or tweet it right from your Screenr account. I was able to record a screencast video in Linux but it didn’t succeed in uploading the video to my Screenr account. So I guess it still has some teething troubles. Screenr.com is owned by Articulate -  the developers of a popular eLearning suite by the same name.

ScreenJelly – This is another web based screencasting solution that records your screen activity with your voice so you can spread it via Twitter or email. The video is remarkably crisp. Though one drawback I find with Screenjelly is that you end up capturing the whole desktop. It does not allow you to selectively capture a portion of your desktop.

Screencast-o-matic – This is a free online tool which lets you create recordings of your desktop with audio and then upload them to share, or export them to a movie file all from your browser for free. It allows you to upload your screen capture videos directly to Youtube too (More details here). Screencast-o-matic allows you to capture your screencasts in 4 sizes namely 640×480, 800×600, 1024×768 and 854×480 (Small HD).

ScreenToaster -  This web based screencasting solution allows you to capture videos of onscreen action in one click. You can record screencasts, tutorials, demos, training, lectures and more; And then, share and stream videos online in Flash by embedding them in blogs and web pages, or sending them by email. ScreenToaster works well in Windows, Mac OS X and Linux.

ScreenCastle – This is a no frills web based solution to creating a screencast of your Desktop. You can choose the size of the recording window and then start recording your screencast. Once you have finished recording the screencast, you have to save the screencast which will then be uploaded to ScreenCastle website. Now you can share your screencast video with others or embed it on your website or blog.

All the above mentioned screencasting apps have one thing in common. All of them depend on Java applets. So you need to have Java Runtime installed on your machine for these screencasting solutions to work for you.

Related Posts

• How to create a screencast in Ubuntu Linux
• ZScreen – An Open Source Screen Capture Tool For Windows
• Most popular screen capture extensions in Firefox
• LightScreen – A Free Screenshot Capture Tool for Windows
• Shutter – Screenshot Capture Tool