CamStudio

So, I got an email from Google engineer Dimi Shahbaz a little while ago …

I have been working on a command-line only version of CamStudio, for use internally (at Google) to record automated tests, where the GUI is not usable.

About my changes: I run my version from the command-line only, and it records the entire screen, with no audio.  It picks the best codec out of the ones available, or you can specify your own on the command line.  I took out about 95% of the code that made up the GUI version CamStudio, so I don’t know how well my version will fit, but I’d love to help.  :)

So, here’s the download link: http://camstudio.org/CamStudio_cl.01.zip

For those of you who don’t know, you have to run this this version CamStudio (now called CamStudio CL) from a DOS box (Start Menu > Run > type “cmd” without quotes.)

If you’re not experienced with DOS stuff and command lines, probably best to leave this one alone.

But for the old school nerds out there (and I’m one of ‘em) use “-help” to get the syntax of the various options.

PLEASE NOTE

CamStudio CL is very basic – there aren’t a lot of options and development of this version won’t be a priority. We’re concentrating on getting the 2.6.x release done and dusted and there are a LOT of things that need fixing and tidying up.

The CamStudio CL source code should be on Sourceforge by the time you read this post, but it’s possible this version was based on the old 2.0 source code, so if you decide you’d like to help develop it further, you might need to use Dimi’s source as a “template” and recreate it using the existing 2.6.x source code as your starting point. (I’ll get clarification from Dimi on this and post his answer here.)

CamStudio CL 0.1 Source Code Location:

https://camstudio.svn.sourceforge.net

Path to repository: /svnroot/camstudio

I only know as much as you when it comes to CamStudio CL, so if you have any questions, send them to me at support@camstudio.org and once every 2 or 3 weeks I will send them to Dimi so he can reply and I’ll post his answers here.

A big shout out and thanks to Dimi for donating code back to the community.

Cheers and enjoy!

Nick

CamStudio user Jard Y Dooku (otherwise known as Jake) sent me an email the other day saying he’d fixed the bug with the lossless codec that made the black bar appear when the width wasn’t divisible by 4.

So all being well you shouldn’t see the black bar appear on the screen any more.

It’s available to download from here:

CamStudio 1.4 Codec <- Sourceforge link

CamStudio 1.4 Codec <- CamStudio.org mirror
(added after problems with SF, thanks to Jack for letting me know!)

There’s no EXE installer for it yet so You’ll need to extract the contents from the zipfile to a folder, right click the INF file and select Install from the context menu.

UPDATE: Thanks to CamStudio user, Scott White, there’s now an installer for CamStudio Codec v1.4.

Here’s the download link:

CamStudio 1.4 Codec – EXE Installer

More cool stuff coming soon.

Cheers

Nick

Calling all coding geeks!

CamStudio user Tim McCarthy has spent a lot of his time over the last few days going through the source for the CamStudio Recorder program and has fixed a load of bugs and sorted out some of the (apparently) nightmare-inducing code.

It’s been uploaded to Sourceforge and is ready for people to compile into a working program.

And this is where I need your help …

I need coding geeks with Visual Studio 2008 (Professional, not Express) to compile the latest code to make sure it starts, stops, etc.

If you’re interested in helping out, let me know in the comments below.

The more, the merrier. As soon as I’ve set-up the Beta Testers mailing list, I’ll send you details of how to sign up for it.

Thanks for your help in advance.

Cheers

Nick

P.S. Got some cool news coming soon, thanks to a software engineer who works for a search engine company that starts with “G” and rhymes with “Shmoogle” – stay tuned!

EDIT: BTW, if you’d like to help but don’t have a copy of Visual Studio 8 Pro, you can download a free 90-day copy directly from Microsoft using this shortened link:

http://snipurl.com/vs2008trial  [download_microsoft_com]

It’s a 3.3GB ISO, so you’ll need to be patient and burn the image to a DVD using DeepBurner, Nero, etc.

EDIT #2: A great tip from Michael in the comments – Students can also get VS2008 Pro and other cool tools from Microsoft for free – check out Dreamspark at https://downloads.channel8.msdn.com. Thanks Mike!

This is something I’ve been meaning to get done for months now, but finally I got around to getting some help.

Last month a CamStudio user, Carlo Lanzotti sent me a version of CamStudio with a number of fixes but he lost the full list of changes and fixes he made.

This is the list he sent me:

[BUG FIXES]

- Fixed the option saving bug, now all the options in the configuration dialogs are saved correctly.

- Fixed the swf/html generation bug that created an html file with bad height/width.

- Fixed minor/major bugs here and there.

[NEW FEATURES]

- Added Support for compiling with Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 (Should work on the Express too). Just open the vscap.sln and build it.

- Added a basic setup script for use with InnoSetup 5.x (www.innosetup.com).

He also made a good point …

Some other changes and bug fixes where made but unfortunately the full list where lost. Better to use a source code version control for future development (e.g. svn). (Maybe there is already something like this?)

This prompted me to finally pull my finger out and get this setup.

So, for all you coders out there who’d like to start playing properly – now’s your chance.

http://sourceforge.net/svn/?group_id=131922

This version should be thought of as V2.6 – even though it’s still showing as 2.5, so please amend your code and binaries accordingly.

Any fixes and features you’ve added to the 2.0 and 2.5 sources may need to be applied to 2.6.

Sorry it took so long to set this up, but I’m looking forward to seeing what you guys and can now.

Cheers

Nick

“mcclenj” just posted this as a comment, which I thought I’d post here so everyone can see it …

Okay, this is TOTALLY the solution for Vista users, anyone who gets the “WaveoutGet…blah blah” error, who only hears static on the audio, etc. At least it worked for me.

All you gotta do is open up your Sound control panel, click on the “Recording” tab, then right-click anywhere in the menu that shows all your recording devices. You should see the options “Show Disabled Devices” and “Show Disconnected Devices” each with or without a check-mark. Make it so that both of these are checked, especially Disabled Devices, and a new item should appear, the “Stereo Mix”. Once that’s enabled, and your other microphone(s) are disabled, CamStudio works FINE as if it was recording from speakers.

AWESOME. And I’m totally un-technologically savvy, just lucked onto this, so take that all you programmers and dorks. That is, if it works for anybody else.

OK, peeps – is “mcclenj” a superstar or does he suck like a Dyson on steroids? Test the method and vote below …

P.S. Got some really cool news coming soon – keep ‘em peeled …

Sorry about the extended downtime …

Turns out my webhost thought one of their MySQL servers had suffered a hack and promptly shut it down.

Unfortunately all my websites using blogs (CamStudio too) and anything remotely dynamic used that database server and so everything went dark – including my mailing list software, so I couldn’t even update everyone as to what was going on.

Anyway …

We’re back online now and I’ll look into moving my mailing list onto another service so I can keep you in the loop.

Apologies, once again.

Cheers

Nick

Okey Doke – you wanted it, so here it is:

http://camstudio.org/forum

Right now, members are manually approved so it might take 24 hours-ish to be granted access.

I’m still getting to grips with the Vanilla forum software so you might see some changes as new features and functions are added.

Anyone interested in becoming a moderator, reply here and I’ll be in touch.

A few people have asked before if I’m going to put up a forum but I want to make sure it’s something that users and visitors genuinely want, so now is your chance to tell me … do you want one?

Hey all

Check this out:

http://pctutorials.at3host.com/camtasia.html (thanks to johnk42 for the link)

If you need a full-on recording and editing application, this will do the job, plus you can use the Techsmith Codec in CamStudio.

If you use this info, please feel free to show your appreciation [cough]donate[cough] …

Enjoy!

BAD NEWS UPDATE: Looks like Techsmith have pulled the offer – sorry peeps!

Here’s a quick video showing how to obtain pan and zoom effects with CamStudio.

Panning is built into CamStudio, but zooming isn’t (yet!) so in the meantime, I used a freeware third-party application called Magnifying Glass which you can get from http://www.workerscollection.com