how to capture video and audio with vlc of desktop sessions

mia_tech · 05-04-2015, 11:55 AM

I'm capturing my video desktop recording sessions using vlc, but I'm unable to capture any audio, does anyone know how to capture audio along with video in vlc?

davidvNY · 05-04-2015, 01:15 PM

Surprisingly, vlc can't capture audio as I've tried in the past. I use ffmpeg to do screen captures with audio and video.

Code:

ffmpeg -threads 4 -f x11grab -framerate 29.970 -video_size 1280x1024 -i :0.0+0,0 -f alsa -ac 1 -i hw:0,0  -pix_fmt yuv420p -c:v mpeg4  -c:a libmp3lame -q:v 3 outputfile.mkv

Replace items in blue to reflect your situation. Use xwininfo to get info on your desktop screen or a window area and note the geometry and corners values to use with the code above.

If using pulse audio, replace -f alsa hw:0,0 with -f pulse -i pulse

replace 29.970 with your desire framerate

The -q:v is the video quality. A value between 1 and 5 is best.

Replace outputfile.mkv with your desire output name

Do a test run like 15 or 30 seconds of a screen capture of your desktop and see the result.

beachboy2 · 05-04-2015, 01:52 PM

mia tech,

SimpleScreenRecorder works very well as an alternative to VLC and the audio is fine.

Code:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:maarten-baert/simplescreenrecorder

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install simplescreenrecorder

http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2013/12/s...recorder-linux

mia_tech · 05-04-2015, 03:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davidvNY

Surprisingly, vlc can't capture audio as I've tried in the past. I use ffmpeg to do screen captures with audio and video.

Code:

ffmpeg -threads 4 -f x11grab -framerate 29.970 -video_size 1280x1024 -i :0.0+0,0 -f alsa -ac 1 -i hw:0,0  -pix_fmt yuv420p -c:v mpeg4  -c:a libmp3lame -q:v 3 outputfile.mkv

is there a way to specify the audio input device? since I got several hooked up the computer (webcam, headphoe w/ microphone)

Replace items in blue to reflect your situation. Use xwininfo to get info on your desktop screen or a window area and note the geometry and corners values to use with the code above.

If using pulse audio, replace -f alsa hw:0,0 with -f pulse -i pulse

replace 29.970 with your desire framerate

The -q:v is the video quality. A value between 1 and 5 is best.

Replace outputfile.mkv with your desire output name

Do a test run like 15 or 30 seconds of a screen capture of your desktop and see the result.

Thanks, I will give it try, I've always used recordMydesktop, but it hugs a lot of resources, and since I started using vlc, I get better performance. Like you said, the only drawback is that it doesn't record audio. So I'll give ffmpeg a try...

davidvNY · 05-04-2015, 04:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mia_tech

is there a way to specify the audio input device? since I got several hooked up the computer (webcam, headphoe w/ microphone)

If you're using pulse, I'm not sure on how to map to those devices. But, with alsa, you can run this command.

aplay -l

that's a lowercase l

or

aplay -L

The address format is hw:X,Y

X = card number, Y = DEV number

You might have to experiment with the values to get the right audio device.

PS: If you want to capture audio from all sources, you can setup your mixer to capture from the Mix channel or the Capture channel.

davidvNY · 05-05-2015, 01:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mia_tech

Thanks, I will give it try, I've always used recordMydesktop, but it hugs a lot of resources, and since I started using vlc, I get better performance. Like you said, the only drawback is that it doesn't record audio. So I'll give ffmpeg a try...

There is another screen capture program called vokoscreen. It's more intuitive and straight forward to use. Not sure on how much resources it takes, maybe you can give it a try. It's available in the Mint repos, so it should be available in most debian/ubuntu derivatives and some other linux distros.