Using Screen Capture

You can use the screen capture feature in Microsoft Expression Encoder to record all your on-screen actions. In addition to capturing the action on-screen, you can simultaneously capture both the video feed from your webcam and audio from a microphone, thereby creating a video production that can include your screen actions, an additional video frame displaying the image captured by your webcam, and a voiceover.

The application can be either open or closed when you capture your screen. When you are done, you can choose to save the captured screen as a .wmv file or to have it open in Expression Encoder for further editing.

To perform a screen capture

1. Prepare the screen element that you want to capture. If you also want to capture external audio or video along with your screen capture, connect your webcam and microphone to your computer.

   Note

   Because Expression Encoder cannot share video resources with other applications, if you plan to use your webcam for image capture, make sure that no other application is using it.

2. Do one of the following:

   • To perform a screen capture when Expression Encoder is closed, browse to the Expression Encoder installation folder and double-click EEScreen.exe to run it.

   • To perform a screen capture while Expression Encoder is open, in the Media Content panel, click Screen Capture.

3. On the screen capture strip, click Edit Options. If you want to perform a screen capture without including an external audio or video source, go to step 5. If you want to include or exclusively capture external audio or video, continue to step 4.

4. In the Settings dialog box, click the following tabs to set these options:

   • Camera   On this tab, you can choose a video source. Expression Encoder detects all cameras that you have connected to your computer. You can choose which one you want to use by clicking the menu and then clicking a camera name. Once you select a camera, its captured image displays.

     Click Capture Setting to set the Stream Format options for the external video source.

     Click Camera Setting to access the image adjustment options. These options will vary depending on which camera model you have connected.

     Click Compression Setting to choose an encoding codec, the bit rate for your capture, and a quality level.

   • Audio   On this tab, you can select audio recording and playback sources, recording format, and bit rate options.

5. Click the following tabs to set these options:

   • Hotkey   On this tab, you can set keyboard shortcuts for starting and pausing, and for stopping your recording. To create a shortcut, click the box that contains the shortcut you want to change, and, on your keyboard, press the key or key combination that you want to use as the new shortcut.

   • Other   On this tab, you can enable features that help you monitor your recording.

6. After you have set your capture options, click OK.

7. When you are ready to begin, on the screen capture toolbar, click Record . Red crosshairs appear on the screen. As you move the mouse, the center of the crosshairs moves to pinpoint the area to be captured.

8. Select an area for capture by doing one of the following (you can stop the capture by pressing ESC at any time):

   • If you want to capture a window, move the crosshairs to the area you want to capture. As you move the crosshairs, note that a solid red border appears around the various segments of the interface as the crosshairs move. When the solid borders encompass the segment that you want to capture, click to capture the image.

   • If you want to capture the full screen, move the crosshairs to any corner of the screen.

   • If you want to define a particular area of a window for capture instead of capturing the entire window, drag the crosshairs over the area that you want to capture.

9. After you have defined a region for capture, the Select Region dialog box opens and the area to be captured is highlighted. To further adjust the region, do any of the following:

   • In the Select Region dialog box, enter new values in the Width and Height boxes to adjust the corresponding dimensions. To pick a preset size, choose one from the menu.

   • In the Select Region dialog box, if you plan to resize the area, click the lock icon to retain the aspect ratio of the area to be captured.

   • If you want to adjust the region to a predefined size, in the Select Region dialog box, choose a size from the menu.

   • To manually adjust the region, drag any of the black square control points on the region border.

   • To move the entire region, drag the anchor point in the middle of the region.

10. When you are ready to begin the capture, in the Select Region dialog box, click Record .

11. If you selected the countdown option on the Edit options tab, an on-screen countdown begins. When the countdown ends, a recording toolbar appears, and the recording begins. Perform all your on-screen actions. As you record, flashing green border marks delineate the area that is being captured. The recording toolbar indicates the length of your capture, the file size, and the number of captured frames. Click Pause/Resume or Hide to perform the corresponding action. If you hide the bar, you can restore it by clicking the Expression Encoder Screen Capture menu on your taskbar and clicking Show Recording Toolbar.

12. When you are finished, click Stop. The capture begins loading. If you previously hid the recording toolbar, click the Expression Encoder Screen Capture menu on your taskbar, and, on the menu, click Stop. Alternatively, you can use the Stop keyboard shortcut that you set in Step 5.

13. Once the loading process finishes, the capture opens in the Review window. Do one of the following:

    • Click Play/Pause video preview to play back your capture.

    • Click Throw away current capture and capture another to discard the current capture and perform a new capture.

    • Click Save current capture and capture another to save the current capture and perform a new capture.

    • Click Full Screen to view your capture at the monitor size. Click it again to reduce the screen to the default size.

    • Click Launch Expression Encoder to open your capture in Expression Encoder. Expression Encoder prompts you to save the capture before opening it in the application.