Capturing game footage: Difference between revisions

Snapz Pro used to be the most popular screen recorder for Macs, but it was overtaken by competitors during a period when its development halted. Snapz Pro is now being maintained for new versions of macOS again, but it doesn't offer a lot of recording options, and it can't record above 30fps like iShowU, ScreenFlow, and OBS can. It also does not support capturing by window, only by screen region, which opens you up to the danger of selecting a region that is misaligned by a row or two of pixels, ruining the end result (however, macOS' Zoom feature, under the Accessibility preferences, can help you make a precise selection).

shinywhitebox offers several versions of their capture technology, from the classic version of iShowU ($20, and somehow still supported for macOS) to the full-featured capture-and-editing suite iShowU Studio ($79). If you're thinking of getting classic iShowU, it probably makes more sense to go with the newer product iShowU Instant ($24) instead. Both apps do record system audio, though technically classic iShowU should be under the "video-only" section since it requires Soundflower (bundled with it; see "audio-only" section for info) to capture this sound. The newer iShowU apps come with iShowU Audio Capture, a replacement for the semi-defunct Soundflower that shinywhitebox wrote themselves (all the video capture apps on this page which capture system sound require a kernel extension).

Simply choose File>New Screen Recording. You will be prompted to select a region of the screen to record, which still leaves you the challenge of precisely capturing the window's region (you may find macOS' Zoom feature, under the Accessibility preferences, helpful for making a precise selection). Like OBS, QT Player also will not record system sound without additional help; see below. If you use one of those methods to direct the game's sound output back into the computer, then make sure you also select this input source in QT Player's window by bringing up the pop-up menu using the arrow next to the Record button and choosing the right "Microphone" setting. The volume slider controls the volume of the <u>input</u> that QT Player will record; it does not seem to make much difference if it is set to the lowest volume or a little higher, but if it is set too high, it causes echoes. To make sure your recording won't have echoes, plug in headphones, open the Screen Recording window, and test-play the output from the game before you begin recording.

Note that you may not hear sound output from the game when you are directing the audio output to your video recording program, unless you have passthrough turned on. macOS' Audio MIDI Setup app should allow this if you select your input device and check the "Thru" box on the "M" (or "Master") channel's line. If you send passthrough to your speakers, you might get an echo that is captured in the audio recording (yes, even though you are not recording through the Mac's built-in microphone). You should use headphones to prevent this. Note that "Thru" is disabled when using Soundflower, below, but there are instructions under Soundflower's section for getting passthrough audio sent to your headphones.

Now, if you want to have passthrough audio, so that you can actually hear the game while playing and recording it, you need to go an extra mile. First, plug in some headphones. Then, open macOS' Audio MIDI Setup app (which can be reached by choosing Soundflowerbed's "Audio Setup…" menu item), click the "+" button at the lower-left, and create a new "Multi-Output Device", then check the "Use" box for both "Built-in Output" and "Soundflower (2ch)". Then, expand the Multi-Output Device item in the left-hand list of the window and select the Built-in Output sub-item. You'll want to turn the volume for channels 1 and 2 down to -33dB or lower in order not to blow your ears out (macOS doesn't automatically dampen the volume for headphones when they are part of a multi-output device). Note that once you are recording, you won't simply be able to adjust the headphones' volume from the speaker icon in your menu bar; it will be grayed out because macOS cannot set the volume for multiple devices at once. Finally, go back into System Preferences>Sound, under the Output tab, and choose "Multi-Output Device" instead of "Soundflower (2ch)".