As I again tried this and there is no sound whne recording unless i am overlooking otherwise I like it.

What is the difference between this software and 1AVCenter that was on offer on 1st Jan?

I wanted to capture streaming videosso I tried the PCHand Screen Recorder

Video worked fine - but I could not record audio.

Anyone else have audio problems with this program?

I also have camstudio which works fine for video & audio. I see no advantage of PCHand.

Anyone able to comment on how this compares with Camtasia with respect to quality of video capture? Thanks.

Help please. I am trying to install both programs as Ashraf describes above. However, it doesn't matter whether I click the icon named screencapture_setup.exe or the icon named screenrecorder_setup.exe - the program that is attempted to be installed when (an) icon is clicked is PCHandScreenCapture 1.8.0.2.

Even a second download with an attempt to reinstall in another directory wouldn't work.

Has anyone else had this problem?

@ #3 Fraps is for capturing video gameplay. If you weren't playing a game via Fraps, you wouldn't have captured anything anyway, as you found.

Well, this was worthless to me. First thing I tested it on was to play an MKV movie via KMplayer.

Results = FAIL

You are able to see the subtitles, however you are NOT able to see the movie play. Try again GAOTD. This is another one that needs to be filed into the toilet. Oh well...

PCHand Recorder is very easy to use, but end result videos look very pixilated. On my PC, anyway.

All Downloaded installed and Activated fine on my XPsp3 Machine. However, the screen capture program "wouldn't" (do anything)

After launching the icon showed up in the notification area, but appeared mostly brain dead. I was able to get to the capture screen, but after selecting the capture area and choosing capture, nothing else happened (No image editor, no indication that the capture occured, nada)

Uninstalled (sadly, iot looked like a good program. On to add a good freeware screen capture instead

Chuck

Installed successfully and activated with no issues.
The tool is really cool and i recommend this to anyone.

For Me I used ScreenshotCaptor It's works very well :D.

PCHand Screen Recorder is a slight update from the version I had from GOTD [v. 1.8.5.2 -> 1.8.5.4], but the Screen Capture app shows the same version numbers. The screen capture app uses profiles [i.e. saved settings] which are handy for some, but for me they're a bit of overkill that tends to get in the way -- in all fairness I'm only talking about a slight bit of extra clutter making a very small difference when trying to knock something tedious out as fast as possible [e.g. a lot of screen-shots you'll edit later]. The Screen Recorder app isn't bad at all, though it's badly lacking codec support -- with only one of the included video codecs really usable, it really needs to work with codecs the user has installed. This is a nice GiveAway, but in the retail market the combined screen & video capture/recording package at $30 can't stand up to Ashampoo Snap at the sale prices they've been offering lately [as low as $7 individually, I think lower in some package deals] -- Snap 4 has lots of extras, only 1 instead of 2 apps, & works with installed codecs.

I don't do a lot of video screen recording -- it had been a couple months so I decided to spend this morning looking at PCHand Screen Recorder & many of the alternatives. With an ATI 4870 graphics card together with a couple of ATI capture cards, performance related to anything video can come & go with the monthly driver versions. ATI's developing hardware support for Flash video makes things even a bit more *interesting*. Long story short, I can see once again why some folks just record their screen on external hardware ;-) ... it's not as efficient, & you have both space & monetary costs, but it doesn't get much easier than just pressing the record button. :-) Easier yet is running a cable from a PC to the TV & treating it like just another monitor, if/when you don't care if you have a copy or not.

VirtualDub + the UScreenCapture Direct Show filter was still the best for 1080p recording. Problems with the new V/Dub version & the latest ATI drivers *this time* included some occasional tearing -- I could probably get rid of it but solving the problem could take some time... none-the-less full motion video looked like full motion video rather than the slideshow other apps tended to produce. The app that came closest to 2nd place today was CaptureFlux, again using the UScreenCapture filter. I tested today on a network site that streams using Flash -- this site's a bit more challenging [at least for me], using more resources than some competing sites, & on that site Snap didn't do any better than anything else, including today's GOTD. PCHand Screen Recorder did handle [much less stressful] video windows on browser pages just fine, with the only complaint again being it's sad choice of codecs. Most screen capture apps can handle the far easier job of capturing a full screen or window for things like video tutorials, & there IMHO what matters are the extras &/or being able to edit the captured video -- if you thought it took a while for a program window or dialog to open, watch it in un-edited video.

Many (most?) analog video capture apps will work with the UScreenCapture filter [Videohelp.com has a selection of video capture apps & the VLC player can do screen or live captures], or you can go with dedicated screen capture software like Camtasia, Snap, or PCHand Screen Recorder. General purpose video capture apps record directly to disk, while apps like today's GOTD record to a buffer -- some like Snap give you a choice... a buffer *might* help with poor capture codecs, but it's best to start with a decent [i.e. fast] capture codec in the 1st place that you can easily edit, like mjpeg or DV or HUFFYUV [mpg2 *can* work, makes much smaller files, but isn't as editable as the others]. The best [IMHO Only option] in PCHand Screen Recorder is its mp4 encoder -- for avi they use a broken version of 1 of the worst codecs made, the mpg2 encoder is poor, & the only thing the wmv encoder has going for it is it isn't quite as bad as their avi.

Installation isn't bad for either PCHand app, amounting to uninstall keys for each, & a key storing your GOTD registration info. Screen Capture takes up ~19 MB with 73 files, 7 folders -- Screen Recorder takes up ~17 MB with 39 files, 4 folders. When it's there to use, PCHand Screen Recorder uses Direct 3D. Video capture is often as much [if not more] about the smooth, free flow of data as it is about horsepower -- Screen Recorder didn't come close to maxing the CPU or take anywhere close to all the available bandwidth going to the capture drive. When it didn't do a good job capturing full screen, on-line video today it was because of the way it's written & because it had to work with the other processes running in Windows at the same time. Going from Medium display to default font sizes in 7 helped, just like the browser used made a difference. You *may* be able to boost how well it works for you by trying different things like changing your graphics card/chip settings, maybe tweaking the Flash settings if that's what you're trying to capture, killing unneeded apps/processes *might* help, &/or try different browsers or players.

Re: several questions on versions:
Last offer, 02-2010: capture 1.8.0.2 and recorder 1.8.5.2.
This current offer: capture 1.8.0.2 and recorder 1.8.5.5.
And: Yes, you can install them over a previous installation.

thank you GOTD and PCHAND Software. I have 3 other screen recording software programs but not like these.very nice
Thanks

The software developer knows this is not the first time it is offering the product here so why not tell us what is different between this the the one on Feb 2010? If it is not too much different and the comments from last time should be the basis of having it offered here again. The opportunity is to change users perception, if the comments are bad from the last time the was offered.

Please indicate the OS and processor you are using if you describe programs as "junk" or as experiencing "crash/blue screen of death". Your otherwise potentially useful comment is negated without that information! Thanks.

I've previously installed PCHandScreenCapture & PCHand Recorder seperately when they were offered by GAOTD. Question is if this Suite will write over the previously installed Softwares or will it ask me to uninstall them before installing this suite. Pl. Help.

Screen recorder works great, but something's wrong with screen capture. Whenever I try to run, there is a popup that says:
"PCHand Screen Capture????!" Exactly like that.

Got this last time it was given away and I love it. It can record everything on the screen. The only thing that was difficult was knowing which choice I needed to get the sound right, but once I figured it out, it worked super! Get it now. Thanks GOTD for this fantastic software.

Free Alternative
Camstudio

Does this version differ from v1.8.02 given away here before , and if so how?

This is the best site for getting real information about programs! After reading the comments, I'm sticking with Ashampoo4, not a free prg., as it is just what I need. This one as offered does more than I need and has too many issues to sort through. I never would have determined that any other way than experiencing it myself without this site, so thank you GOTD for these great opportunities.

I've captured 3 minutes of video of the nVidia PhysX Screensaver running on my PC at 1920x1200 using Microsoft Expression Encoder 4 (Free) Screen Capture (the screensaver doesn't have audio). Unfortunately, most people's displays are lower-resolution, 1080p is popular because they can use the panels for TV's, but they're not so great for computers, they can't even display a 1600x1200 image.

The screensaver runs at a high frame-rate on my PC, unfortunately, MEE4 doesn't capture at a high frame-rate so it looks like the screensaver isn't rendering as fast as it actually is. On the plus side, MEE4 doesn't impact my PC's performance, and as I stated in my comment #3, I couldn't get other capture software to capture more than a couple of seconds at that resolution.

Your computer will need to be capable of rendering 30 FPS (encoded, not captured frame-rate) 1920x1200 VC-1 WMV, and for most of you, downscaling to your screen resolution (quality will suffer).

The file is 75 MB, hosted on YourFileLink free hosting. There will be a bunch of ads with download links. Look for the small blue text preceded by a green dot, all in a faint gray box. They make you go through two pages, with a countdown delay on the first page. Look for the same download-link text on both pages. You can download the .wmv here.

For those of you with sufficiently powerful nVidia cards, if you want the PhysX Screensaver, you'll need to download it, the latest drivers for your card which contain the card-specific portion of PhysX, and the PhysX System Software. From Microsoft, run the DirectX End-User Runtime Web Installer. Obviously, install the other stuff before installing the screensaver. On a 64-bit system, if the screensaver doesn't show up with your other screensavers, find the .scr (usually in System32, but this was in Program Files (x86)\The Game Creators\PhysX Screen Saver), right-click the .scr, and select Install.

Dl only foundscreen recorder's Reg, capture I can do without as its simple to cntrl?prt scrn and use and paint.

Stil will wait for better programs offered. as I lost the last one here.

Mine indicated it wasn't registered and was the trial version despite running the activation two times. Hope you all have better luck.

I tested and reviewed this product on 25 February 2010 - see comment 49.

In summary, I wasn't impressed, especially by the Windows crash and blue screen of death following my third attempt to record a video.

Works as it's designed to with an intuitive interface that everybody can understand.

thanks!

Install went cleanly in Vista Business.

Please add indication that software is registered, ie in HELP ABOUT.

I've been using FastStone Capture 5.3 for years, so that is my yardstick for comparison...

The selection window is really large and "clunky" compared to FastStone.

I would like to be able to change the "effects" in the editor that are preselected in the selection window.

Please add an option, to turn on text labels for buttons. I am not a long dead Egyptian who can read hieroglyphics...

The "Balloon" stamps, I could not add text to them even though there is an edit text option in the right click context menu ... ?

I like the filters, but I would like to be able to add the various filters to selected areas only, ie inside an "added shape" to obscure personal text in the capture. Apply the filter only to the whole capture is too limited.

In the "Effects", the selection fields for "Torn Effect" and "Wave Effect" should not be check boxes, they are a pair of radio buttons. Only one or the other may be selected.

When I added the "Wave" edge effect, the wave is applied to a straight edged white background on the upper and left sides, and grey one on the other 2 sides. Sorta undoes the wave effect

Overall, not bad, no major problems, a couple of effects that make it worth keeping.

I look forward to what they do with it in the future.

Not at all impressed with the PCHand Screen Recorder - the recorded video of my desktop - icons, taskbar and the PCHand Screen Recorder interface weren't even "almost close" to the actual colors.

HW Config is nothing weird - nVidia 8800GTS - 260.99 WHQL Drivers - Win7 32bit.

This was one of those giveaways that I wanted to like. However, when I tried it the last time it was given away, February 25, 2010, it was a disaster (see my comment #55, as well as other people's comments). Their website lists the most recent version as 1.8 from December 19, 2009. Even if this version is different, I have no confidence in their coding abilities.

I've found that the only thing that successfully captures all screen video on my Win7x64 PC (1920x1200, latest nVidia drivers), is Microsoft Expression Encoder 4 (the free version, Screen Capture tool). On my PC, the frame capture rate tends to top out at 15-20 FPS, which is lower than I would like (30 would be acceptable). I tried the latest version of Fraps, it's junk and couldn't capture anything. Unlike Fraps, the ZD Soft Screen Recorder was written by a programmer, but it couldn't capture anything, either. As I stated previously, MEE4 will edit but doesn't do annotations. You can add captions, but WMP will scale down the video to make room for the captions, which are displayed below the video. You can convert to WMV and do some editing, annotations, and effects in Windows Live Movie Maker, but you're limited on output formats, and it recodes (MEE4 Free lets you set all relevant output VC-1 WMV properties).

See my comment #55 from last time for still-image captures. (I don't care if people thumbs-down my comment because they're too lazy to read earlier comments, I don't waste time on endless reruns).

Screen Capture and Screen Recorder are simple to use and have an intuitive user interface. They make creating a screen capture a simple task. An editor is available for still captures, but nothing for video which is a shame.

There are a variety of ways that you can perform a capture, region, full screen, scrolling window etc.

There are some missing items that would be useful such as text capture or web page capture but this does not detract from the feature set that already exists.

The recorder would benefit from editing tools as #1 Ashraf states. The ablity to append to captures or combine them with transitions and text overlays would be very nice. Also it would be useful if it could capture the audio stream if a video is playing in your capture area (although most other offerings I have tested don't have this ability either).

Screen capture/recording software is not in short supply both in commercial and freeware versions but this suite is definitely worth the download at today's price of FREE :-)

The Good
* Is made up of two separate programs, PCHand Screen Capture and PCHand Screen Recorder.
* PCHand Screen Capture:
o Straightforward and easy to use.
o Allows users to use multiple different methods to take screenshots: Rectangle freehand, freehand, window, active window, scrolling window, full screen, and "fixed rectangle".
o Screenshots can be sent to a built-in image editor, Windows clipboard, e-mail, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Word, be saved on computer (directly, with no edits), or be saved automatically.
o Can automatically apply edge effects and add a watermark to all screenshots.
o Has the ability to apply captions to all screenshots.
o Allows users to save screenshots as BMP, JPG, PNG, GIF, or TIFF formats.
o Users can save custom screen capturing settings as custom profiles which can easily be reused at any time.
o Built-in editor can be used to edit any images, not just screenshots taken with PCHand Screen Capture.
o Supports hotkeys.
* PCHand Screen Recorder:
o Straightforward and easy to use.
o Allows users to save recorded videos as AVI, WMV, MP4, MPG, FLV, or SWF formats.
o Allows users to record whole screen, a specific window, or a custom region.
o Can record audio from microphone and (supposedly) speakers.
o Allows users to select if they want to include the mouse cursor in videos or not, and is able to highlight mouse cursors and clicks.
o Videos can be saved manually, or automatically.
o Supports hotkeys.

The Bad
* PCHand Screen Capture:
o Does not use automatic naming scheme when manually saving screenshots or editing screenshots and then saving them. (Only uses automatic naming scheme for auto-saved screenshots.)
o Needs better ways to control output image quality/compression.
o Needs "global profile settings" feature so users don't have to manually change all the profiles' settings when they want them all to be the same.
o Needs an option to automatically apply a user-defined caption to all screenshots, instead of prompting the user every time for every screenshot to input the caption they want to add.
* PCHand Screen Recorder:
o AVI videos are discolored. (At least they are for me - all other formats work fine.)
o Claims to be able to record audio from speakers, but needs a better/more direct way to do this. (I couldn't get recording audio from speakers feature to work, even after following the directions in the Help file.)
o Doesn't give users any sort of countdown between when the start recording button is hit and the actual recording happens.
o No video editing/modification features.

Free Alternatives
[Screenshot Tool] FastStone Capture (v5.3)
[Video Recorder] BB Flashback Express
[Screenshot tool and video recorder] Ashampoo Snap 3.50

For final verdict and recommendations please click here.