The laptop I’ll be recording them with is running Windows 11 Pro.
Not loving the ‘Camera’ app that comes stock with Windows.
Tried recording just with my cellphone, but ran into issues with audio quality and battery life. I have an old webcam, and just ordered a tiny bluetooth microphone that I’m hoping to either plant near or literally pin onto the prof if they’re cool with it.
Not looking for anything fancy… ability to choose both video and audio device, record/pause, and save so that I can upload to YouTube and forward it to the class. (side question… best video format for this?).
Not really familiar with this kind of software… I recall one of my gaming buddies being a fan of OBS Studio, but unsure if that’s just on-screen capture for gaming/streaming or if it can do webcam-only too - DL’ing right now to experiment. In the mean time, taking all suggestions!
Thanks, all!
Edit -
Took about 5 mins to get all the shit on my wishlist figured out in OBS (https://obsproject.com/), and if my dumb ass can figure it out that quick, that is some GOOD software!! Kinda wish I’d have tried first before asking, but was not expecting it to be that easy. I’ll leave the thread up just incase its helpful for someone else later.
OBS Studio for sure. It’s awesome. You can configure a bunch of different video input sources, even capture simultaneously from more than one.
Just make sure the camera has a decent resolution. A webcam from a couple years back often got 3.1 MP and a native resolution of 480p and less.
Best video format for recording is mkv (easy on the CPU), then you can cut it with DaVinci Resolve (free!) and export to mp4. Youtube will do the rest during upload.
Just came back to the desktop from the OBS experiment on the laptop… dude, that is some solid software! This kind of thing is well outside my area of expertise, but I was able to hop in and figure out everything on my wishlist within about 5 mins. I really thought figuring this shit out would be a struggle.
Hell yeah!
Just as a side comment: every time you open OBS to get ready for a lecture, do a quick test record and playback of your recording to make sure everything’s working. Since you’re not streaming live, there’s no way to check if it’s all working right until after the lecture when it’s too late. I’ve struggled with my operating system randomly picking my laptop or webcam microphone instead of my usb microphone as “default”
You can save a profile as default and click the lock-icon next to the audio and video source, that should prevent changes. (And yeah I still do a test recording either way…)
Check also the codec to avoid filling your hard drive in 5min. Depending on your video card, you could use nvec, x264, … codecs (in the recording tab)
Do some tests (including opening it in your video editor) to avoid bad surprise
If don’t have a video editor in mind, look for davinci resolve, it’s free and a very good tool.
Obs can also be used for camera use.
It’s easy enough to record using Zoom. Start a meeting with only yourself. I’ve used OBS too and it’s fine, but not necessary if you’re just looking to record something simple.
You’ll almost certainly want something to edit the videos. Rather than trying for a perfect take, if i flubbed something I would start over from a convenient place and edit out the bad part. I hated Adobe Premiere. Reaper isn’t really ideal for this stuff, but at least it isn’t Premiere. I dont remember if OBS had anything. LightWorks was OK.
You’ll want a good mic. Although lapel mics are ideal for your use, Bluetooth tends to suck. This webcam has an OK mic. https://www.logitech.com/en-us/products/webcams/c920s-pro-hd-webcam.960-001257.html
For unrelated reasons, I had an audio interface (Scarlett 4i4) and a cardiod mic (MXL 770). The Scarlett is very nice. I don’t love the 770, but it’s better tham a webcam. These are not critical but if you plan to do this a lot, these would make it sound noticably better, and maybe someone has a better mic recommendation, and again lapel would be perfect for lectures. Somewhere I got a baffle like this for $20 to $30. https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1116780-REG/primacoustic_p300_0101_voxguard_vu_vocal.html
It makes a difference and for a low price it’s nice to have if you aren’t using a lapel mic. I wouldn’t pay $100 for one.
