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Easy way to record window client area only?

Is there an easy way to record only the client area of a window? Recording a window is great, but I don't want to record the title bar and borders in the video.

I know that a fixed region could be used, but that requires a fair degree of manual calculation to determine the location and dimensions of the region each time.

I guess what I'm looking for is a "Grab non-client area of window" checkbox option that affects how Region->Window works. With this, I could just uncheck that option, use Region->Window, and click the window to grab only the client area of the window.

My apologies if this is discussed elsewhere, but I found none when I searched.

Thanks!

Comments

  • Not at all - the Fixed Region has a "Select" button that allows you to drag your cursor to select an area. The two tricks to using it are:

    1) UN-check the "Fixed Top-Left Corner" checkbox before performing your selection, then check it before making your recording, and your selection will be positioned where you wanted it.

    2) If using any kind of MPEG-4 based codec (Xvid, x.264), correct your dragged selection so that both the width and height are even numbers. (If you happen to be using 2.6c, subtract to make them both odd numbers as a program bug adds one pixel to each dimension in that version... the soon to be released 2.7 has this bug squashed.)

    That should have you going! It is the technique I use on most of my videos for the very same reason you want that.

    Terry
  • edited January 2013
    Thanks for the response.

    I'm using v2.6, r294.

    Having to drag the cursor can make it imprecise. I want to be sure I'm grabbing 100% of the client area and nothing more. I actually didn't notice a difference between having "Fixed Top-Left Corner" checked or unchecked, so maybe I don't know what I should be expecting with it.

    Right now I'm taking a screenshot of my entire screen and using that to determine the client area of the window and manually entering the values in the fixed region screen.
  • Make note of what I said about un-checking "Fixed Top-Left Corner" before making the selection and then re-checking it before starting to record. Also, those numbers are not set in stone - you can change them to suit your needs. Just keep the width and height even-numbers. Position the rectangle precisely with the top and left corner settings.

    Terry
  • As mentioned, I don't see a difference between unchecking or checking "Fixed Top-Left Corner" before clicking "Select" and dragging to select the area. "Left" and "Top" disable when it's unchecked, but the values still change when I select a region. The same thing happens when I leave it checked.

    Dragging to select an area is not really what I'm looking for though. While not hard, it is not as easy as selecting a window to record. Manually dragging the selection area to grab only the client area of a window takes either a lot of trial and error or manually changing the numbers. On the other hand, selecting the entire window takes a mouse click.

    I guess I'll just stick to manually entering the client area values using a screenshot. Thanks.
  • Though the values change, they don't "take" - that is, your selected region will not use the top and left numbers there - it's a bug. At least, I should say, that's what happens on my machine.

    I use Sizer by http://www.brianapps.net/sizer/ and mention that and how I use it in the 2012 tech webinar video.

    http://camstudio.org/forum/discussion/980/2012-camstudio-2.0-and-2.6-b-c-tech-webinar-win7-xvid-audio-video-settings-etc-

    Note the issues 2.6c had with that... another bug repaired in 2.7 upcoming.

    Terry
  • OK, I understand now. Thanks for the info.

    I know the client area of my window is 1024x768. It's actually the top left point that I have to redetermine when I move the window. The screenshot method I mention works for now.

    Thanks again.
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