Hi all,

Was hoping to get some personal recommendations for what are some of the best current video capture programs out there. Using Windows 7 and money isn't too much of an issue (< 100 USD would be nice) Bonus if it can edit recorded video.

I want to record my desktop and in games as well -- I'd also like to capture mic audio for commentary. I don't have much experience with such programs but the videos will go on Youtube, if that makes a difference.

Thanks.

For HD video-capture I'm using Bandicam. Some people have issues with it but I haven't run into any, though because it lets you pick your own codec settings you have to be very careful to choose settings that your system can handle.

For capturing the desktop and not necessarily a hardware-accelerated game, I use VirtualDub, which is free. You can capture game footage with it too, though it takes a lot more effort and a powerful system to pull it off decently.

I have only really used Fraps here. I haven't had a need to record games since I got Open Broadcaster however, so I'm not sure if it's better or not.

I don't personally record games... but I watch a lot of people on youtube and twitch that do, and they tend to keep to OBS, Dxtory and Fraps.

Here's a screenshot from Debut:
{"name":"608478","src":"\/\/djungxnpq2nug.cloudfront.net\/image\/cache\/d\/2\/d221ecd57cff31f4bb4d1e1edd1936bd.png","w":1115,"h":875,"tn":"\/\/djungxnpq2nug.cloudfront.net\/image\/cache\/d\/2\/d221ecd57cff31f4bb4d1e1edd1936bd"}

Records video from screen, webcam or network camera. Records audio from mic, stereo mix, speakers, mouse clicks. Can add text captions. A whole bunch of file formats.

And this is Videopad:
{"name":"608479","src":"\/\/djungxnpq2nug.cloudfront.net\/image\/cache\/2\/d\/2d48536224ce39eef71759c02fd65bf0.png","w":1333,"h":810,"tn":"\/\/djungxnpq2nug.cloudfront.net\/image\/cache\/2\/d\/2d48536224ce39eef71759c02fd65bf0"}

This is from the unlicensed professional version. The middle frame shows the clip that's selected in the left frame. You can view it and select start and end points to be copied down to the timeline (Yay for a proper timeline. Hang yourself, Windows Dead Moviemaker.) The right frame shows the video of the timeline. Nice set of effects. Nice set of transitions. Several video tracks, several audio tracks (even the light version has 2 video tracks, IIRC).

I have nothing bad to say about any of these programs. Seems you get the fully featured versions for $90 as a bundle. I haven't bought them, I'm using only the light versions, which suit me perfectly (the unlicensed professional doesn't save, it's strictly for evaluation). Of course the light versions have a heavy mechanism of advertising all NCH products, popping up their web page, installing shortcuts to all of their software. Look out for the tool bar, that they want to add to your web browser.

Funny that you should say that. I haven't used any version of Premier. But I believe if I'd create videos for living, I'd buy Premiere. If I'd create graphics for living, I'd skip Gimp and buy Photoshop. And if I'd write sheet music for living, I'd skip MuseScore and buy Sibelius. I really like Videopad, Gimp and MuseScore and I actually can't imagine me ever using the alternatives on a regular basis. But I think I'd learn the difference, when I started to count working hours, income, productivity and quality.

What's the thing with blurring the license plates anyway?

Yeah, I'd do the same.

As far as software goes, it's been mentioned before (I know Elias uses it), but PiTiVi is a pretty swell video editor. The web site might give off some iBloat stench, but the software itself is squeaky clean.

I find viewport adjustment unintuitive in OpenShot, but it does the job well otherwise. So I agree with Elias. K3B also works, but I would only recommend it to KDE worshipers.

As for obscuring a moving object... you might want to look for a Japanese video editor.

Why Japanese?

FFSplit. It's a free alternative to XSplit. Fraps didn't always work for me but this did. It also lets you record and display multiple things at once via layers (and of course stream to Twitch).