Getting recordMyDesktop

The core of recordMyDesktop is a command line tool, however there are useful graphical front ends available for KDE and Gnome. We’ll be using the Gnome version for this guide. Ubuntu users can install via the command

sudo apt-get install gtk-recordmydesktop

or by clicking here. Otherwise, it can be downloaded manually from their Sourceforge site.

How it Works

The Gnome front end will add an icon to your panel when the app is running. This icon can be clicked to start and stop recording at any time. When started, recordMyDesktop will make a video of everything on your screen (or in a particular region, we’ll get to that) and save it in Ogg Theora format to your home directory. Live audio can be included in your recording as well, or disabled completely with the checkbox.

Setting Up Your Video

Once you start up gtk-recordmydesktop, you’ll get the main config screen.

There are several important options here. For starters, you can see that there are slider bars to set the quality of the output. As with most things of this type, higher quality means a larger output file and slower encoding.

Another useful option to consider is the Select Window. With this, you can either choose a particular window to record or drag a box over the thumbnail view.

Advanced Options

Most of the advanced options can be safely left alone and will work fine, however there are a few you might want to check, particularly in the Performance section. The defaults will work fine for most, however if you want higher quality or your machine is fast enough to encode on the fly, you may find some useful settings here.

Handling Your Output

As noted earlier, recordMyDesktop will save to an Ogg video format. Each video recorded will be saved to your home as out.ogv, out-1.ogv, out-2.ogv, etc. If you wish, you can use a video editor of your choice to make any needed edits to your file. Not all video editors can handle Ogg video, but there are a multitude of tools available to convert to different formats within Linux.

One simple way to convert to a more widely available format is with the command

mencoder -ovc lavc -oac copy -lavcopts vcodec=mpeg4 -o NAMEOFOUTPUTFILE.avi NAMEOFINPUTFILE.ogv

which will save into a compressed MPEG4 file.

If you want to convert into another format without losing a single pixel of data, you may instead wish to convert into a lossless format so that you can open it in other programs without losing any quality. In that case, you could use the very similar command:

mencoder -ovc lavc -oac copy -lavcopts vcodec=ffv1 -o NAMEOFOUTPUTFILE.avi NAMEOFINPUTFILE.ogv

If you have a another desktop recorder you prefer, or have a better encoding suggestion, please let us know in the comments!

There are several ways to record inbound and outbound audio in Linux, but Skype Call Recorder (SCR) is specifically designed for Skype. It is a free and open-source application with which you can record calls in MP3, Ogg Vorbis, or WAV format. It supports manual and automatic recording, which can be configured for specific callers.

Installation

1. Go to the Skype Call Recorder website.
2. Scroll to the download area on the main page. Packages are available for Ubuntu (x86 and x86_64), Debian, Asus Eee PC (running Xandros), RPM-based (x86 and x86_64), Arch Linux, a Gentoo ebuild and a source code tarball.
3. Download and install the Skype Call Recorder package for your system. It should then appear in your application menu.

Preparation

1. Start Skype.
2. Open your application launcher menu and start Skype Call Recorder. If you cannot find it, you can manually start it by running the command “skype-call-recorder“.
3. Skype should pop up a window saying “A program “SkypeCallRecorder” is trying to connect to Skype”.  Click “Yes“. If you want, you may also check “Remember this selection”.
4. Right click on the new icon in your system tray area and click “Preferences“.
5. Select whether you want it to automatically record every call, ask before recording, or not at all. From this tab you can also edit “per-caller recording”.
6. Click the “File Names” tab and select the folder where you want SKR to save your files.
7. Click the “File Format” tab and select the format you prefer. Ogg Vorbis is an open format and less lossy than MP3, but MP3 is more widely available for playback on portable devices. WAV will be uncompressed but will produce a large file if you have long calls. You can raise the MP3 bitrate to improve quality.
8. When you are satisfied with your preferences, click “Close”.

Making a call

Assuming you have already used Skype, your audio mixer settings should be ready to record calls. If not, you need to make sure you have “mic” or microphone set to record and that “capture” is enabled. To test it, you can use a regular sound recorder to record your own voice.

1. Start a Skype call the way you normally would. Click on a contact or enter a number.
2. The call will ring as it normally does, but when the person on the other end answers, a window will appear asking you if you would like to continue recording. Select “Yes“, and your call will now be recorded until you hang up.
3. After you end the call, check the folder you specified for your phone call file. You should be able to listen to it in whatever music player you prefer.

That is all it takes to record your Skype calls. Anytime you want to record calls, it will be configured and ready to go.

*Note: Please be advised that it is illegal in some countries to record calls without the consent of the other party. Even if it is not in your country, it is considered ethical by most people to inform the other person that you are recording them.