Movavi Screen Capture for Mac User guide 2014
Minimum System Requirements: System Requirements Intel-based Mac computer Mac OS X 10.6, 10.7, 10.8, or 10.9 64-bit* Display graphics minimum resolution of 1024x768x32-bit color RAM 128 MB Minimum 60 MB of free hard disk space is needed for installation, minimum 750 MB for proper operation Administrative permissions are required for installation Recommended System Requirements: Intel-based Mac computer Mac OS X 10.6, 10.7, 10.8, or 10.9 64-bit* Display graphics minimum resolution of 1024x768x32-bit color RAM: Minimum 256 MB or higher 1 GB of free hard disk space for proper operation Administrative permissions are required for installation *If you are using a 32-big Mac OS, please download and re-install the 32-bit version of Movavi Screen Capture for Mac: http://www.movavi.com/download-screencapturemac32bit
Supported Formats Supported Devices Movavi Screen Capture supports a wide variety of devices from old and faithful classics to the newest flagships. You can find the full list of supported formats and devices here.
Activating Software If you have downloaded Movavi Screen Capture from our website, the first time you see the program it will be running in trial mode. The trial contains all the features, however, it will expire in 7 days and will only allow you to capture videos up to two minutes long. After the trial period expires, you will be offered to either purchase the program or activate it using an activation key. When you purchase a copy of Movavi Software, an activation key will be sent to the email you have specified at checkout. You will need to enter this activation key into the program to activate it and remove the trial limitations. This way you will not have to re-download or reinstall the software. The activation key you receive can be used up to six times if you wish to reinstall the software or your operating system. When you have used up your key's activation count, you can always contact support to receive a new one. However, please note that the activation key can only be used on one computer. Online Activation is the quickest and easiest way to activate your software, however, it requires a stable Internet connection. If you do not have a stable Internet connection, you can use Offline Activation: your program can be activated by by sending an automatically generated e-mail to our Activation server and then entering the reply into the program. Even though an Internet connection is still required to send an e-mail, you can send it from any other computer, not necessarily the one that Movavi software is installed on. If you did not receive a letter with your activation key after purchasing the program, please try the following: Check the Spam folder of your mailbox. Contact support
Licensing Multiple computers: Movavi software is licensed on a per-computer basis, which means that you will need to purchase an additional license for every computer that you intend to use the program on. Personal and Business License: If you intend to use Movavi software for commercial purposes, that is, to obtain profit in any way, or use the program within a government organization, you will need to purchase a Business License. A Business License for Movavi Screen Capture for Mac is available here. The Personal License is appropriate for personal, non-commercial use in a non-business environment.
Online Activation If your computer has a stable Internet connection, you can use Online Activation to activate your program in less than a minute. 1. Launch Movavi Screen Capture for Mac. 2. In the menu bar, open the Movavi Screen Capture menu and select Activate. The following window will open: 5. Type or paste your activation key into the box and click Activate. If your key is correct, you will see an activation successful message and the program will be activated. If you are having activation problems, try the following: 1. Make sure that you have entered the activation key exactly as in the e-mail you received after purchasing the program. 2. If you have more than one Movavi application, make sure that you are entering the activation key for Movavi Screen Capture for Mac. 3. Try the Offline Activation method.
4. Contact support.
Offline Activation If the computer you have Movavi software installed on does not have a stable Internet connection, or if you have experienced problems with Online Activation, you can still use the Offline Activation method. You will need to send an automatically generated e-mail to our activation server using any other computer that is connected to the Internet, and then entering the server's reply into your program. Follow the steps below to activate your software: Step 1: Open the Activation Dialogue Launch Movavi Screen Capture for Mac. In the menu bar, open the Movavi Screen Capture menu and select Activate. The Activation dialogue will appear on screen. Step 2: Enter Your Activation Key Enter your activation key into the field of the Activation dialogue, then select the Activate offline option and click Activate. You will see the offline activation dialogue:
Step 3: Send an Activation E-Mail Movavi Video Converter will generate a message that you will need to send to the activation server. Click Copy to copy the contents of the message to the clipboard. When you reach a computer that has Internet access, paste this text into the message body and send the e-mail to reg@movavi.com. The server's reply e-mail will contain a Registration Key. Step 4: Enter Your Registration Key When you have received your Registration Key, enter it into the corresponding field of the Activation dialogue and click Activate. Your program will now be activated. If activation fails, try the following: Make sure you have entered the activation key and the registration key correctly and try again. If you have more than one Movavi program, make sure that you are entering the activation key for Movavi Screen Capture for Mac. Contact our support team.
User Interface When you launch Movavi Screen Capture, you will see it appear on your desktop as a small options window and a larger transparent rectangle, like so: The transparent rectangle represents the capture area, namely, the area of your screen that you would like to be shown in your video. Its position and size properties are displayed at the top of the rectangle. The window beneath the capture area is your capture control panel which you can use to set up and control the capturing process. This control panel will change depending on the stage of recording you are on, and has three states: before recording, during recording, and after recording. Click on each panel to find out about its functions: I. Before Capturing II. During Capturing
III. After Capturing
I. Before Capturing Custom Capture Area Selection The Select button enables a smart capture area selection mode, where you can specify the capture area by either selecting an automatically recognized window or frame, or clicking and dragging to draw the capture area on the screen. Size Selection The size selection box contains a list of common capture sizes which you can choose from, including capturing the entire monitor. Custom Capture Area Properties If you need to capture a custom area of definite size, you can enter its width and height into the corresponding fields. Audio Channel Selection Select the preferred audio channel from the drop-down list. If you want to record your video without sounds, simply uncheck the Audio option. Audio Channel Volume Drag the slider to set the recording volume. You will be able to change the volume during capture. Record Button When you are done with the set-up, click the REC button to begin recording.
II. During Capture Capture Duration Here you can see the total duration of the video. Capture Volume Use the slider to change the audio volume. Cancel Capture The Cancel button terminates capturing without saving the video. Pause Capture The Pause button pauses capturing so that you can resume capturing the video from where you left off. Stop Capture The Stop button stops the capturing process and you can proceed to saving the video. In addition to the main Screen Capture window, you can also control the capturing process from the menu bar: when you begin capturing screen activity, you will see the capture timer and two control icons appear on the right side of your menu bar. You can use these buttons to pause, resume, and stop capturing.
III. After Capturing Player Use the Player to reivew your video before saving. Delete Recording The Delete button permanently deletes the video along with any temporary capture files. Convert Video If you want to save your recorded video in a format other than the default MP4 with H.264 video codec, you can check the Convert to checkbox and select a format or device from the Select Format list below. Select Format Click this list to select a format or device to convert your video for. Save/Convert Video Clicking the Save button will save your video in MP4 format with the default H.264 codec. If you check the Convert to checkbox, the Save button will change to Convert.
Program Settings To open the program settings for Movavi Screen Capture for Mac, open the Movavi Screen Capture menu in the menu bar and select Preferences. The preferences are organized into four categories: General, Keyboard Shortcuts, Video, and Audio. The General tab allows you to change the interface language and set the folder where you want the captured files to be stored by default. As you record your screen activity, Movavi Screen Capture stores the recording files in the *.mscproj format. These files can be opened at any time using Movavi Screen Capture for saving in a different format. For your convenience, you can change the folder these files are stored in to another location (for example, if you prefer the files to be stored on a different drive), or leave the default Movies/Movavi Screen Capture/ folder. This directory will only be default for temporary *.mscproj files; you will still be prompted to specify a location for captured videos when you save or convert them using the post-capture dialog. Select the Automatically check for updates option to make sure your Video Converter is always up-to-date. Send anonymous usage stats to Movavi checking this box will allow Movavi Screen Capture to send usage statistics to our development team, enabling us to fix any bugs you may encounter much faster, as well as add new features that you might be missing. The data sent by Movavi Screen Capture contains no personal information, will not be disclosed to third parties and will be used for software improvement purposes only. You can find more information about usage statistics on our Movavi Improvement Program page. The Keyboard Shortcuts tab allows you to set your own custom shortcuts for such actions as starting or pausing the capturing process.
To change one of the shortcuts: 1. Click inside the box with the shortcut you want to change. The box will become blank. 2. Simultaneously press the keys you want to use as a shortcut to the selected action. The box will now display your custom shortcut. Please note that you will not be able to use certain key combinations that are already reserved by your Mac OS, as your system shortcuts will have precedence over individual application shortcuts. You can find the full list of reserved system shortcuts on the official Apple support page. 3. Click OK to apply the changes. In case you forget a shortcut, you can always look it up here in the keyboard shortcut settings. The Video tab contains the following settings:
Codec: the codec which will be used for capturing. If you need your videos in another codec, you can also convert them into a more convenient format when saving. Maximum capture frame rate: like in regular video, the frame rate will define how many frames will be captured each second. A lower frame rate will result in smaller output size, however, the video may not turn out as smooth. The recommended frame rate is 20-30 frames per second. Output frame size: defines the dimensions of the captured video. Full size means that it will be captured "as-is", while other frame sizes will result in some scaling to fit the captured area into the specified frame. For example, if you are capturing a 1280x720 screen with a frame size of 480x320, the captured image will need to be scaled down. Likewise, if the area you are capturing is smaller than the output frame size, the video will need to be scaled up, which results in larger file size with no gain in quality. Setting custom video preferences allows you to save time if you intend to always capture videos in one format, but some options like a higher frame rate and larger frame size will require more resources. We recommend that you keep the default settings and convert your videos to the necessary format and frame size when saving. The Audio tab allows you to change the preferred audio quality, including the sample rate, number of channels, and bits per second.
Defining the Capture Area Before you begin capturing, the first thing you will need to do is define which part of your screen you want to appear in the video. You can do this in one of the following ways: Selecting an area using the smart selection tool: 1. Click the Select button. The screen will dim slightly. 2. Specify a capture area: If you want to capture a window or a window frame, hover your mouse pointer over that frame. Automatically recognized windows will be outlined with a blue border. Click the necessary window once it is highlighted with a border. The capture area will be set automatically to fit the entire window. If you want to draw a custom size capture area, place your mouse pointer where you want the corner of your capture area to be located (it doesn't matter which one), then click and drag the mouse to where you want its opposite corner to be. Manually selecting a capture area: 1. Define the dimensions of the capture area: Click the drop-down box to open a list of sizes and select one of the Fullscreen, Standard, or Widescreen options that best suits your needs. If you need a capture area size that is not on the list, you can enter its width and height manually into the boxes. 2. Click the blue position icon ( necessary position. ) in the center of the blue rectangle and drag it to move the capture area into the Tip: if you select a fullscreen capture area, the control window will hide, but you can still use the File menu in the menu bar to set a different capture area and begin recording.
Selecting an Audio Source If you want to record audio along with your screen activity: 1. Make sure that the Audio option is checked. 2. Select the necessary audio device from the drop-down box. The list will display all your connected devices, including USB-microphones, Built-in Input, as well as any virtual or aggregate devices. If you want to capture your system's sound, including alerts, music and other sounds you can hear through your speakers, select the System Sound option. If you want to capture system sound but see an error message, please see the Installing Movavi Sound Grabber section. If you need to capture a Skype call, please refer to the Capturing Skype Calls section.
Recording System Sounds If you need to capture music, alerts, videos, and other sounds that you would normally hear through your speakers, you will need to select System Sound as an audio source when you prepare to record your screen activity: In the Recording Source section of the Movavi Screen Capture window, make sure that the Audio checkbox is selected. Open the list to the right of the Audio checkbox and select System Sound at the bottom of the list. Troubleshooting If you get an error message when you try to select an audio source or system sound is not recording: 1. Close Movavi Screen Capture. 2. Click the button below to download Movavi Sound Grabber a free extension that enables your Mac to capture system sound. Normally, it is installed with Movavi Screen Capture, but it may have been removed from your system or corrupted. 3. When the download finishes, open the.dmg file and install it following the on-screen instructions. For detailed instructions, see the Installing Movavi Sound Grabber section. 4. Restart Movavi Screen Capture. System Sound should now be working properly.
Don't have Movavi Sound Grabber installed? If you don't have Movavi Sound Grabber installed on your system or if you get an error message trying to select system sound, click the button below to download and install Movavi Sound Grabber. For detailed installation instructions, please see the Installing Movavi Sound Grabber section.
Capturing Skype Calls When you record audio or video calls using Skype or a similar program, it is important that you record both ends of the conversation. To do that, you will need to create an Aggregate Device that combines input from the sounds you hear from your system, including your interlocutor's voice, and your own microphone or recording device. 1. In Finder, go to Applications and find the Utilities folder. Open this folder and launch Audio Midi Setup. 2. In the bottom left corner of the left pane, click the + button and select Create Aggregate Device. You can rename it by double-clicking on its name in the left pane. 3. With the newly created Aggregate Device selected, make sure that Movavi Sound Grabber and your external microphone (usually USB Audio Device, USB Microphone or Built-in Input) are checked in the right pane. Now you can proceed to capturing your Skype call. 4. Open Movavi Screen Capture for Mac and select the Aggregate Device you've just created in the Recording Source drop-down box. Make sure that the Audio checkbox is checked. Adjust your Capture Area to the call window and click REC to begin recording your call.
When you're done, click Stop in the main Movavi Screen Capture window or press 2 to finish capturing and proceed to saving the video.
Movavi Sound Grabber Movavi Sound Grabber is a free extension that allows you to capture system sound. It is installed along with Movavi Screen Capture and acts as a virtual input device, accumulates audio output from various sources and transfers it to Movavi Screen Capture. You will be able to find the virtual device in Audio MIDI Setup. If you want to remove Movavi Sound Grabber from your system, see the Uninstalling Movavi Sound Grabber section. If you want to capture system sound but get an error message, see the Installing Movavi Sound Grabber section.
Installing Movavi Sound Grabber Movavi Sound Grabber is a free extension that enables you to capture system sounds on your Mac. It acts as a virtual audio input device and sends the sound from music, videos, and system alerts that you would normally hear through your speakers to the input channel so that it may be recorded by screen capturing software. By default, Movavi Sound Grabber is installed with Movavi Screen Capture. However, if you have uninstalled Movavi Sound Grabber or it is missing from your system, you will need to install it in order to capture system sounds. 1. Click the button above to download the installation package. 2. Once the download has finished, open the.dmg package you've downloaded. 3. Double-click the package icon to launch the install assistant. Then, follow the on-screen instructions to install the software just like you would install any other program. 4. Restart Movavi Screen Capture if it was running during installation. That's it! You can now easily record system audio using Movavi Screen Capture! For more details, see the Recording System Sounds section.
Uninstalling Movavi Sound Grabber Since Movavi Sound Grabber is a virtual device and does not show up under Applications in Finder, you need to use an Uninstall file to remove Sound Grabber from your system. 1. Click the link below to download the uninstaller. Movavi Sound Grabber Uninstaller.zip - 6.5 MB 2. Make sure that Movavi Screen Capture is closed and launch the downloaded file. If you see a security warning, click Open. 3. You will see the following confirmation dialogue. Click Yes to continue and enter your user password to confirm deinstalling Movavi Sound Grabber. Movavi Sound Grabber will then be removed from your system. If you need to re-install Movavi Sound Grabber for capturing system sounds, please see the Installing Movavi Sound Grabber section.
Recording System Sounds with Soundflower If you prefer using Soundflower instead of the built-in Movavi Sound Grabber, follow the steps below to capture system sounds using Soundflower. 1. Download the Soundflower application from this webpage: https://code.google.com/p/soundflower/ You will find the Downloads category on the left. If you have OS X 10.5.8 and above, download the Soundflower 1.5.2.dmg file. Otherwise, click the "Show all" link and select the version for your processor and OS X version. 2. Open the.dmg file you've just downloaded and follow the onscreen instructions to install the application. 3. Open the Apple Menu and select System Preferences. 4. In the Hardware section, choose Sound preferences. 5. In the Sound preferences, click the Output tab. In the Choose a device for sound output list, choose Soundflower (2ch). You will now no longer hear the system sounds as they are now being sent to Soundflower. 6. Click the Sound Effects tab. 7. In the Play alerts and sound effects through drop-down menu, choose Line Out or Internal Speakers. This will keep some system sounds and alerts from appearing in your video by routing them to the Line Out or Internal Speakers.
8. Disable unwanted sound alerts. Since not all Mac applications behave the same way and may be unaffected by the above changes, you might need to manually disable notifications in apps such as ical and quit applications which may produce unwanted sounds. 9. If you want to be able to hear the sounds while capturing them, find the SoundflowerBed application and run it. Then, find its icon in the right-hand side of your menu bar. Click the icon and select Built-in Output. 10. Open Movavi Screen Capture for Mac and select Soundflower (2ch) in the Recording Source drop-down menu. Make sure that the Audio checkbox is marked and click the REC button to begin recording. Hint: Remember that there's an easier way to capture system sounds! Just select System Sound in Movavi Screen Capture as your Recording Source!
Mouse Cursor Effects Movavi Screen Capture offers various options for displaying onscreen actions. You can choose to display or hide the mouse cursor as well as draw attention to mouse clicks using a spotlight or sound effect. To toggle mouse cursor effects: 1. In the menu bar, open the Effects menu 2. Click one of the options to enable it. You can select as many effects as you like. To disable an effect, click on it once again.
Recording Video To begin recording screen activity, click the REC button in the main Movavi Screen Capture Window. You will be given a 5-second countdown before recording begins. Then, the borders of the selected capture area will flash red and the control panel will change to the following: There are three ways to control the capturing process: 1. Using the control panel: The Duration counter displays the length of your video. Click the Pause button to temporarily pause capturing so that you can continue recording into the same file. The Duration timer will pause and the capture area outline will turn white. Click the Resume button (located in the same place as the Pause button) to continue capturing. Press Stop if you are done capturing and are ready to save your video. Press Cancel to terminate recording and delete the temporary files. 2. Using the menu bar: When you begin capturing, you will see the capture timer and two control icons appear on the right side of your menu bar, like so: You can use these buttons to pause, resume, and stop capturing. 3. Using the keyboard shortcuts: To pause capturing, press 1; press 1 again to resume. To stop capturing, press 2.
Saving Video When you click the Stop button during recording, the control window will change to the following: You can now use the player to review your video. The Delete button discards the video and permanently deletes the temporary captured file. The Save button saves your video in the default MP4 format with the H.264 codec. If you want to save the video in another format: 1. Check the Convert to checkbox and click on the box below to open the list of available formats (you can also see the full list of formats and devices in the Supported Formats section) 2. Select a format or device from the list: Click More presets for formats to see a list of available formats. Then, click the necessary format and select one of the presets from the list. The presets can vary depending on the video or audio codec and resolution. Click More presets for devices. Find the category with your device's brand or model and click to open it. Then, select your specific model or, in some cases, the most suitable resolution from the list.
3. (Optional) If you need to fine-tune the selected preset, click the arrow button ( ) to bring up the preset settings panel. Here, you can set a different resolution, frame rate, and other settings for converting your captured video. Click OK to apply the settings and hide the panel. 3. Click the Convert button on the right. The program will then begin processing your files. Useful tips: If you have unwanted footage in your recording, the Movavi Split Movie application can help you cut it out and break it into parts without the need to re-capture the entire video. If you didn't find the necessary format or device in the Convert to list, you might like Movavi Video Converter, which supports over 180 popular formats and over 200 mobile devices, and is amazingly fast!
Saving Previously Captured Files When you record videos using Movavi Screen Capture, they are first stored as files with the *.mscproj extension. These files are located in the directory you've specified in General Preferences, or in the default /Movies/Movavi Screen Capture folder. You can later open these captured files in Movavi Screen Capture and save them in the format of your choice. To open the temporary files: 1. In the menu bar, open the File menu and select Open Captured File ( O) 2. Select the *.mscproj file you want and click Open. You can now save or convert the video just like after any other capture.