Hobbies And Interests
Things You'll Need
Instructions
Download and install Krut, a cross-platform screen-recording application developed in Java. Krut is distributed as freeware and generally provides reliable video quality. It also records the audio on your computer.
Download and install Audacity. Audacity is a free, open-source audio recording tool that offers all the necessary bells and whistles you̵7;ll need to record high-quality commentary.
Connect your microphone to your computer. The better the quality of the microphone, the higher the quality of your commentary recording will be. Generally, USB microphones provide better quality than microphones attached to the ̶0;Line In̶1; port on your sound card. If your computer has a built-in microphone, you can use that as well, although the results may be inferior quality.
Launch Krut. A pop-up screen appears.
Click on the ̶0;Menu̶1; tab and select ̶0;Settings/Save Files.̶1; Krut̵7;s preferences dialogue opens.
Set the necessary parameters for your gameplay video. Krut can record the entire screen or a selected area. If you are recording a game running in a window, click on the ̶0;Set capture area with mouse̶1; button, then click and drag your mouse over the window. The frames-per-second parameter and audio options are also established in this dialog. Make sure a check mark appears next to ̶0;Synchronize Audio̶1; in the upper right portion of the window.
Set Krut's save location settings. The upper left corner of the dialog is dedicated to Krut's save functions. Select a save location for the video and audio portions of the recording. The video and audio are stored as separate files and must be imported separately into your video editor.
Launch Audacity. The application's empty project screen opens by default.
Open Audacity̵7;s ̶0;File̶1; menu and select ̶0;Preferences.̶1; In the preferences pop-up, click on the ̶0;Audio I/O̶1; tab.
Open the ̶0;Recording Device̶1; drop-down menu and select your microphone from the list. Click the ̶0;OK̶1; button to close the preferences dialogue.
Start the game you want to record. When it loads, switch to Audacity. Click ̶0;Record̶1; in Audacity and Krut. Both applications will begin recording. Starting the recordings as close together as possible will make editing easier later, but it̵7;s not necessary that they start recording at precisely the same moment. Any synchronization problems can be corrected later using the video editor.
Play the game and comment into the microphone as you play. Krut records the game̵7;s video and audio while Audacity records your voice.
Click "Stop" in Krut and Audacity when you are finished recording gameplay commentary. In Audacity, open the ̶0;File̶1; menu and select ̶0;Export as WAV.̶1; Type a save location in the pop-up and press ̶0;Enter.̶1; Krut will automatically save the video and associated audio file in the location specified in the preferences screen in Step 7.
Open your video-editing application, such as Windows Movie Maker, Vegas Pro or Final Cut. Even basic video editors have the required functionality.
Load the Krut video and audio files onto separate tracks in your video editor. Load the commentary audio file made using Audacity onto another. Play them back together to make sure they are in sync. One or the other may have to be shifted left or right to be in proper alignment. Consult the documentation for your video-editor application for details on this procedure.
Save the project in the desired format when the video and commentary tracks are correctly aligned. This will produce a single file containing the gameplay video and your commentary. The file can now be viewed, distributed or uploaded to an online video service such as YouTube.