.. Copyright (c) 2008-2026 OpenShot Studios, LLC (http://www.openshotstudios.com). This file is part of OpenShot Video Editor (http://www.openshot.org), an open-source project dedicated to delivering high quality video editing and animation solutions to the world. .. OpenShot Video Editor is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version. .. OpenShot Video Editor is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details. .. You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with OpenShot Library. If not, see . .. _recording_ref: Recording ========= OpenShot can record a microphone, the desktop, and a webcam directly into the current project. You can enable one source or combine several in a synchronized recording session. Each source remains an independent media file and timeline clip, making it easy to adjust microphone volume, crop a webcam, or edit the screen capture separately. Open the dedicated layout with :guilabel:`View → Recording View`, or show only the dock with :guilabel:`View → Docks → Recording`. .. image:: images/recording-view-default.jpg :alt: OpenShot Recording View with the microphone source selected by default Quick Start ----------- 1. Move the timeline playhead to the point where the recording should begin. 2. Open :guilabel:`View → Recording View`. 3. Enable :guilabel:`Mic`, :guilabel:`Screen`, :guilabel:`Webcam`, or any combination of them. 4. Select the destination :guilabel:`Track`. Multiple sources use adjacent tracks automatically. Select :guilabel:`No Track` to add completed recordings to :guilabel:`Project Files` without creating live previews or clips on the timeline. Choose whether the timeline :guilabel:`Preview` should play during Mic or Webcam recording. 5. Open each source's :guilabel:`Advanced` section and verify its device and quality options. 6. Click :guilabel:`Start Recording`. Perform the narration or action you want to capture. 7. Click :guilabel:`Stop Recording`, either in the dock or from the recording status control. 8. Wait briefly while OpenShot finishes the files. They are imported into :guilabel:`Project Files` and, unless :guilabel:`No Track` is selected, placed on the timeline. Quick Audio Commentary ---------------------- To begin commentary at an existing clip, right-click the clip and choose :guilabel:`Audio → Record`. OpenShot moves the playhead to the clip's first frame, opens the Recording dock, and selects the first available unlocked track below the clip. Verify that :guilabel:`Mic` is enabled, then click :guilabel:`Start Recording`. The full :guilabel:`View → Recording View` remains the general entry point for screen, webcam, microphone, and combined recording sessions. Recording Sources ----------------- The source cards at the top of the dock can be enabled independently. An unavailable card indicates that the required device, operating-system capture service, or libopenshot feature was not detected. .. list-table:: Recorded sources and outputs :widths: 16 25 27 32 :header-rows: 1 * - Source - Recorded File - Audio - Typical Use * - Mic - ``Mic-`` - Microphone only - Narration, voice-over, commentary, or interviews. * - Screen - ``Screen-.mp4`` - Optional system audio - Tutorials, demonstrations, presentations, or games. * - Webcam - ``Webcam-.mp4`` - No audio - Presenter video or a picture-in-picture camera. When Mic and Screen are enabled together, microphone audio is kept in its own file while system audio is embedded in the screen video. This separation is intentional: it lets you independently adjust, mute, fade, or process the voice and computer audio during editing. Webcam video has no audio, avoiding a duplicate microphone track and echo. Live Feedback and Timeline Placement ------------------------------------ The microphone meter responds before and during recording, which helps confirm that the selected input is working. During recording, OpenShot draws a temporary clip and live microphone waveform on the timeline. The completed files replace these previews after recording stops. Select :guilabel:`No Track` in the Track list when you want to capture media without adding live objects or completed clips to the timeline. The finished recordings are still imported into :guilabel:`Project Files`, ready to preview, organize, or add to the timeline later. This is useful when recording several takes before choosing which one to edit. All enabled sources start at the same timeline position. OpenShot stacks them in a useful compositing order: .. table:: Default source stack :widths: 25 75 ================= ============================================================= Source Placement ================= ============================================================= Webcam Highest assigned track, so a corner camera appears on top. Screen Below the webcam and above microphone audio. Mic Lowest assigned track because it contains audio only. ================= ============================================================= If there are not enough tracks below the selected track, OpenShot creates or selects additional tracks as needed. Recordings are also added to :guilabel:`Project Files`, so they can be reused even if you remove their first timeline clips. Timeline Preview During Recording --------------------------------- The :guilabel:`Preview` control beside :guilabel:`Track` can play the project from the current playhead while a Mic, Webcam, or combined Mic + Webcam recording is captured. This is useful for voice-over, commentary, and reaction videos. Stopping the recording also stops timeline playback when the recorder started it. .. table:: Preview options :widths: 26 74 ================== ========================================================================================= Option Behavior ================== ========================================================================================= Off Records without starting timeline playback. Full Plays the timeline using the normal preview resolution. Half Reduces preview rendering resolution to improve recording performance. Quarter Uses the lowest preview resolution for demanding projects or slower computers. ================== ========================================================================================= Preview resolution changes only the temporary OpenShot preview. It does not reduce the resolution or quality of the recorded Mic or Webcam files. Use headphones when the timeline contains audio so the microphone does not record the speakers. When :guilabel:`Screen` is selected, Preview is forced to :guilabel:`Off` and disabled; deselecting Screen restores the previous choice. Microphone Recording -------------------- Enable :guilabel:`Mic` to record narration as a separate audio file. Use the Mono/Stereo control beside the level meter for the common channel choice, and open :guilabel:`Advanced` for all settings. .. table:: Microphone options :widths: 22 22 56 =============== =================== =============================================================== Option Typical Default Description =============== =================== =============================================================== Input System input Selects the microphone or audio-input device. Format FLAC Chooses WAV, FLAC, or MP3. FLAC is lossless with smaller files than WAV. Sample Rate 48000 Hz Sets the recording sample rate. Match the device and project when possible. Channels Mono Records one or two input channels. Mono is usually best for one microphone. =============== =================== =============================================================== Aim for a healthy meter response without clipping. A quiet waveform should remain visually quiet; OpenShot no longer normalizes every newly generated waveform to full height. The lighter peak envelope highlights transients while the solid RMS envelope summarizes sustained energy. Their detail is controlled by :guilabel:`Edit → Preferences → Timeline → Waveform Samples (per second)`. See :ref:`clip_presets_ref` for waveform display and audio volume controls after recording. Screen Recording ---------------- Enable :guilabel:`Screen`, then choose a capture mode: .. table:: Screen capture modes :widths: 20 80 =========== ================================================================================================= Mode Description =========== ================================================================================================= Full Screen Captures the selected display or combined desktop area. Window Click a window to capture its bounds. Availability and exact behavior depend on the platform. Region Drag or select a rectangular desktop area. Availability depends on the platform. =========== ================================================================================================= On Wayland desktops, the operating system's sharing portal asks which screen or window to share when recording starts. The numeric window and region controls are hidden because selection belongs to that portal. Screen Advanced Options ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ .. table:: Screen options :widths: 22 20 58 ================== =============== ======================================================================== Option Default Description ================== =============== ======================================================================== Screen Primary display Selects a display or the complete desktop when supported. Offset Selected bounds Sets the capture area's X and Y desktop coordinates. Size Selected bounds Sets capture width and height. OpenShot uses encoder-safe even dimensions. FPS 30 Sets the screen recording frame rate: 15, 24, 30, or 60 FPS. System Audio On Embeds computer playback audio in the screen MP4 when supported. Cursor On Includes the mouse pointer in the screen recording. Hide OpenShot No Temporarily hides OpenShot during selection and recording when enabled. ================== =============== ======================================================================== .. note:: On some Windows systems using high-DPI display scaling, the mouse pointer may be displaced or missing from screen recordings made on a scaled display. If pointer visibility is important, record on a display configured at 100% scaling, temporarily set the target display to 100%, or use a separate screen-capture application. Screen video is still recorded normally, and setting :guilabel:`Cursor` to :guilabel:`Off` avoids the affected pointer overlay. System Audio ^^^^^^^^^^^^ :guilabel:`System Audio` is enabled by default on supported capture backends. It records sound playing through the computer—such as a game, browser, media player, or presentation—inside the screen recording. It does not replace the Mic source. Enable both sources when you want system audio and commentary on independently editable clips. If the control is disabled, the active platform or libopenshot build does not provide system-audio capture. OpenShot forces the option Off rather than producing a misleading silent audio track. Operating-system privacy settings and audio-routing configuration can also affect capture. .. note:: System Audio recording is not currently available on macOS. Screen video, microphone, and webcam recording remain available, but the :guilabel:`System Audio` option is disabled and forced to :guilabel:`Off`. .. warning:: Avoid playing captured system audio through speakers while also recording a microphone unless that sound is intentional. Headphones reduce echo and prevent the microphone from recording the speakers a second time. Webcam Recording ---------------- Enable :guilabel:`Webcam` to record a camera as a silent video clip. A live preview helps verify framing before you start. When Screen is also enabled, the default layout is a rounded, 30% camera in the bottom-right corner. When the webcam is recorded alone, it defaults to full size. .. table:: Webcam options :widths: 22 78 =========== ================================================================================================ Option Description =========== ================================================================================================ Input Selects an available webcam or video-capture device. Resolution Selects a resolution reported by the camera. Record FPS Selects a frame rate supported at the chosen resolution. Layout Chooses Bottom/Top Left/Right, Left, Right, Center, or Full Size placement. Size Sets a corner camera to 20%, 30%, or 40% of the project frame. Corners Uses Rectangle, Rounded, or Oval camera corners. =========== ================================================================================================ Layout choices are applied as ordinary clip properties. After recording, use :guilabel:`Gravity`, :guilabel:`Scale X`, :guilabel:`Scale Y`, :guilabel:`Margin`, and :guilabel:`Corner Radius` to refine the result. See :ref:`clip_properties_ref`. Combining Sources ----------------- The Recording View keeps all enabled source controls together while leaving the preview and timeline visible. .. image:: images/recording-view-all-sources.jpg :alt: OpenShot Recording View with microphone, screen, and webcam sources selected .. list-table:: Useful recording combinations :widths: 26 34 40 :header-rows: 1 * - Workflow - Enable - Result * - Voice-over - Mic - One editable narration file. * - Silent tutorial - Screen - Screen MP4; turn System Audio Off if silence is desired. * - Game commentary - Mic + Screen - Separate mic clip plus screen video with game audio. * - Presenter camera - Mic + Webcam - Separate voice and silent camera video. * - Tutorial with camera - Mic + Screen + Webcam - Three synchronized clips with webcam above the screen. Where Recordings Are Saved -------------------------- Recordings are saved in the project's assets folder under ``recordings``. If the project has not been saved yet, OpenShot uses its user-data location. Filenames contain the source name and a timestamp; another numeric suffix avoids overwriting a file created during the same second. Save the project before a long or important session so its recording destination is predictable. Do not move or rename recorded files outside OpenShot while the project is using them. Permissions and Platform Behavior --------------------------------- Screen and camera capture depend on operating-system services, hardware, and build support. The controls in the dock adapt to the available backend. - **Linux/X11:** Full-screen, window, and numeric region capture are available when the X11 capture backend is built. - **Linux/Wayland:** The desktop sharing portal chooses the capture source after recording starts. - **Windows:** Desktop capture uses the available Windows screen backend; camera devices use Windows capture services. - **macOS:** Screen capture uses the supported macOS backend, with window and region choices represented as cropped screen bounds when required. System Audio recording is not currently supported; microphone recording remains available as a separate audio source. The first recording may trigger Screen Recording, Microphone, Camera, or desktop-sharing permission prompts. Approve the requested source, then restart OpenShot if the operating system requires it. A disabled source card or option is preferable to a recording that silently omits an unsupported source. Troubleshooting Recording ------------------------- .. table:: Common recording problems :widths: 28 72 =========================== ================================================================================= Problem What to Check =========================== ================================================================================= Mic meter does not move Select the correct Input, verify OS microphone permission, and check mute/gain. Mic clips or distorts Lower hardware/input gain and keep peaks below full scale. Mic is very quiet Raise input gain near the device; timeline waveform height does not change audio. System Audio is disabled The active screen backend/build does not support it; check platform audio routing. System Audio is silent Play audio before testing, verify the output device, and inspect OS privacy/routing. Voice contains game echo Use headphones so the mic does not capture speaker playback. Screen source is incorrect Re-select Full Screen/Window/Region; on Wayland, choose again in the portal. Cursor missing on Windows High-DPI scaling can affect the pointer overlay; try the target display at 100%. Webcam is unavailable Check camera permission, close other camera apps, and reconnect the device. Recording is choppy Lower screen/camera FPS or resolution and close CPU-intensive applications. Clips appear on wrong track Choose the top destination Track before recording, then move clips if needed. =========================== ================================================================================= After Recording --------------- Recorded clips behave like imported media. You can trim, slice, move, mute, fade, add effects, and adjust volume or layout with the standard editing tools. Useful next topics are: - :ref:`clips_cutting_slicing_ref` for trimming and slicing. - :ref:`clip_presets_ref` for waveform, volume, fade, and other clip actions. - :ref:`clip_properties_ref` for webcam placement and detailed adjustments. - :ref:`playback_ref` for playback and audio troubleshooting.