Capture clean raw screen and camera footage for a tutorial or product demo - choosing the recorder (macOS Screenshot toolbar, QuickTime, OBS, Windows Game Bar), setting resolution / frame-rate / cursor / microphone, prepping a distraction-free stage, and recording in retakeable segments. Use when someone says "record my screen", "capture a screencast", "how do I record this demo", "what settings for screen recording", "set up OBS", "my recording looks blurry or laggy", "the cursor is hard to follow", or "record a tutorial walkthrough". Do NOT use to direct what happens on screen - cursor choreography, zoom/pan, callouts, screen-record-vs-recreate - that is product-demo-director; do NOT use to plan scenes or beat order before recording - that is video-storyboard; do NOT use to write what is spoken over the footage - that is narration-script; do NOT use to trim, cut, or export captured footage - that is downstream Remotion / editing.
Click to play with sound.
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name: Screencast Capture
description: Capture clean raw screen and camera footage for a tutorial or product demo - choosing the recorder (macOS Screenshot toolbar, QuickTime, OBS, Windows Game Bar), setting resolution / frame-rate / cursor / microphone, prepping a distraction-free stage, and recording in retakeable segments. Use when someone says "record my screen", "capture a screencast", "how do I record this demo", "what settings for screen recording", "set up OBS", "my recording looks blurry or laggy", "the cursor is hard to follow", or "record a tutorial walkthrough". Do NOT use to direct what happens on screen - cursor choreography, zoom/pan, callouts, screen-record-vs-recreate - that is product-demo-director; do NOT use to plan scenes or beat order before recording - that is video-storyboard; do NOT use to write what is spoken over the footage - that is narration-script; do NOT use to trim, cut, or export captured footage - that is downstream Remotion / editing.
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# Screencast Capture
Capture is the one stage you cannot fix in post. A blurry, laggy, notification-littered recording forces a re-shoot no amount of editing redeems. Get the raw footage clean and everything downstream gets easier.
## When to use
Reach for this when the user needs to **record** something on their screen - the act of capturing, not staging or editing it. That includes picking a recorder, dialing in settings, prepping the machine, and running the actual take. If the footage already exists and the question is about cursor moves, zooms, cuts, or narration, hand off to the skills named in the description.
## Pick the recorder by need
- **Quick, single-screen, no overlays** → macOS: `Cmd+Shift+5` (Screenshot toolbar) or QuickTime "New Screen Recording". Windows: `Win+G` (Game Bar) or the Snipping Tool video mode. Zero setup, fine for short clips.
- **Webcam bubble, multiple sources, scene switching, or system + mic on separate tracks** → OBS Studio (free, cross-platform). Worth the setup the moment you need a talking-head overlay or more than one source.
- **Polished product walkthroughs with auto-zoom and cursor smoothing** → a dedicated tool (Screen Studio on macOS, or similar). Only reach here if the user already has it; do not make a paid tool a prerequisite.
State the tradeoff plainly: OBS buys control at the cost of a 10-minute setup; the built-in recorders buy speed at the cost of overlays and track separation.
## Capture settings that matter
- **Resolution**: capture at the delivery resolution or higher, never lower. 1080p (1920×1080) is the floor for tutorials; 1440p/4K if the final will be 1080p and you want room to punch in.