Recording a Tagtool session using screen capture software

As well as using video and still cameras to document your Tagtool session, you could also try using screen capture / screen recording software too.

This technique removes any flickering / out of phase problems that you could get when using video cameras. However, it can affect the performance of your computer so test it out before doing a live session.

Another difference with using this recording technique is that you lose the object you are projecting on. You will just get the drawn image that appears on your computer screen - thus you lose the site specific aspect of the drawing.

CamStudio - a free, open source screen recorder. Nice and simple.

Fraps - try for free (watermarked output), register for $37

If you think you have found a better program to record your screen, please share it here.

Video files can be big. Do some tests before you run a live session to see how big your recorded video files are. You may have to change some of the settings in the screen recording software to minimise the output file size.

• Turn off audio recording / turn audio bit rate down to a minimum
• Reduce the resolution of the output video file (depending on what you want to do with the footage afterwards)
• Use a different codec to compress the video.

Make sure you have enough space on your hard drive to record your Tagtool session. Allow for extra space just in case your session runs over time.

To test how much space you will need, record 1 minute of screen footage. Do lots of drawing so that the video is as detailed as possible. Save the file and see how big it is. Multiply the length of your future Tagtool session (plus, say an extra hour just in case) by the size of the test file to see how much space you need.

Example:

• 1 minute video = 15Mb
• 3 hour Tagtool session = 180 minutes
• (180 + 60) = 240 minutes
• (240 x 5) = 3,600 Mb

If you have any experiences good or bad with screen recording your Tagtool sessions please add your thoughts here.