MAC TREAT #189: Screen Capture in QuickTime

ByMike Moffit

Recently, I wanted to capture a set of commands to create a video tutorial, and I was ready to download a third party application to help me record them. Turns out, in Snow Leopard and later, QuickTime (v10+) does just that — and it’s included in the OS.

  • Screen Recording mode is located under File > New Screen Recording
  • Once the window pops up, access the audio input, quality, and mouse icon settings under the arrow in the bottom righthand corner
  • Then, select which best suits your video (I chose “None” since I intended to use text boxes instead)
  • Click the red button under Screen Recording to start your screen capture
  • You’ll be prompted to either record the whole screen or to select a portion of the screen to capture (If you select a portion of the screen to record, you’ll need to click Start Recording to begin)*
  • From there, everything you do will be captured, and you’ll be able to stop the recording by clicking the Stop icon or by pressing Command-Control-Escape

You can then save the movie as 480p, 720p, or 1080p quality, and there are options for iPod touch, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPad, Apple TV, and Mac and PC compatibility.

QuickTime does a great job of producing a basic screen capture. If you find that you need more options, Camtasia is nice alternative, as well as the lighter-weight Jing.

*Note that the exact prompts may differ depending on your OS. I am using Mountain Lion.

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