ScreenStudio 2.2: A new compositing engine

I've been working on ScreenStudio 2.2.0 today as I was stuck in bed with a major backache.

I took the time to rework the compositing of the desktop and the side panel to provide more customization in the future.

With version 2.1.x, the compositing was executed by FFMpeg itself.  This is faster to render, but the drawback is the synchronization between the audio and video that does not always work as expected.

As of version 2.2.x, ScreenStudio will take charge of compositing all the video sources and FFMpeg will only have to encode the audio and video.

I was expecting a loss in performances but I was quite surprised to find out that nothing was lost.  I even saw better performance in some specific cases.

More tests are to be done but if all goes well, it will open a lot of possibilities for ScreenStudio like dynamic layouts while streaming.

Source code is already available in the Github repository is you feel adventurous....

https://github.com/patrickballeux/screenstudio

ScreenStudio 2.0.3 is available!

Note: Get version 2.0.4 as there is a small glitch in 2.0.3...

Tonight, I released a new version of my project ScreenStudio.  If you don't know what is ScreenStudio, it's an open source software that lets you record your computer display and stream it live to services like Twitch or Hitbox.

Last years, after releasing the version 1.6, my computer crashed so hard that I had to reformat everything, losing the latest source code I had written.  I had to revert to the version 1.5 which was a bit too unstable for my taste.

After a short break, I decided to start from scratch, avoiding the pitfalls I had encounter while coding the version 1.5.  Then, after testing new ideas and concepts, I started a brand new ScreenStudio 2 and tonight, a beta version is available for download.  

You can get it at http://ScreenStudio.crombz.com.

What's new in ScreenStudio 2?

- Simple interface

- A side panel to display the overlay and webcam

- Interactive panel content that can be updated while recording/streaming

- Text tags for displaying remaining time, current date, etc...

- Less dependencies

- Based on FFMpeg instead of AVConv

- No more complex configuration files

- Better webcam Intégration 

- Easy on the CPU so it will work on an underpowered computer

The whole idea was to have a side panel instead of having overlays.  Basically, you can to record/stream your whole desktop and not cluster it with overlaid banners and webcam.  ScreenStudio is actually adding a small overlay to the right of your display making the video a bit wider than your screen.  This does ensure that your viewers will see 100% of what's happening on your screen while seeing your personal content on the right side.

The version 2.0.3 is considered a beta and may be unstable.  It is currently available of Ubuntu 15.10 and a version for OS X will be available soon.

Binaries and source code is available in the download section.

Record your iPhone with Android

Here's a short tutorial on how to record the display of your iPhone (or any iOS devices) using your Android device.

It works best with an Android tablet as you can easily display the content and also the webcam.  Yes, rooting is needed...

How to record your iOS/Android display

There are many ways to record the screen of your desktop or device to create amazing screencasts.  On a computer, it's easy as there are many solutions available.  For mobile devices, it maybe a bit more complex...

It all depends on what you have.  Most of the time, you'll need to record the mobile display with the help of a PC/Mac.  Creating screencasts can be expensive but there are many solutions that are free or will cost you just a few dollars.

To create a screencast, you'll need a good microphone, a fast computer and a few trials to get it right. If you want to improve the quality of your videos by adding overlays, titles and transitions, a good movie editor is mandatory.  Once you're set, all you need to do is to upload your video files on the web such as Youtube (www.youtube.com).

Now, let's start with the good stuff...

For the iOS devices (iPhone, iPod and iPad), you can capture the display easily if you have a Mac.  Just launch QuickTime, and from the File menu, record a new movie.  By default, the webcam will be selected.

Connect your iOS 8 device via the USB cable to your Mac OS X (Yosemite) and in the available sources, you should see your device listed.  

If you are running Windows, you'll need to use AirServer that acts as an AirPlay receiver.  This app also supports Mac OS X.  Launch AirServer then from your iOS device, mirror your display to your