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Recording a Video

This workflow guide walks you through the complete process of creating a screen recording from start to finish.

Workflow Overview

graph TD
    A[Main Menu] -->|New Recording| B[Recording Setup]
    B -->|Go Live| C[Countdown]
    C -->|5...4...3...2...1...GO!| D[Recording]
    D -->|Stop| E[Processing]
    E -->|Complete| F{What next?}
    F -->|Upload| G[YouTube Upload]
    F -->|Done| H[Main Menu]
    G -->|Complete| H

Step-by-Step Guide

1
Start from Main Menu
Launch the application and select New Recording from the Main Menu.

Configure Your Recording

2
Set Recording Title
Enter a descriptive title for your video. This becomes the filename and YouTube title.
3
Select Topic
Choose a topic category. Use ←/→ to cycle through options.
4
Configure Recording Options
Toggle the features you need:
  • Record Audio - Capture microphone
  • Record Webcam - Add picture-in-picture
  • Record Screen - Capture monitor
  • Vertical Video - Create 9:16 version
  • Add Logos - Professional branding
5
Select Monitor
Choose which monitor to record if you have multiple displays.
6
Press Go Live
Navigate to the Go Live button and press Enter.

The Countdown

7
Prepare During Countdown
A 5-second countdown with audio beeps gives you time to:
  • Position your mouse
  • Clear your throat
  • Take a breath
  • Focus on your content

Cancelling the Countdown

Press Esc at any time to cancel and return to setup with your settings preserved.

During Recording

8
Record Your Content
The recording screen shows:
  • Blinking ● REC indicator
  • Elapsed time counter
  • Pause and Stop buttons

Recording Controls:

Key Action
P Pause/Resume recording
S Stop recording
9
Pause if Needed
Press p to pause for breaks. The timer freezes and you can resume seamlessly.
10
Stop When Finished
Press s or select Stop to end the recording.

Post-Processing

11
Automatic Processing
The application automatically:
  1. Finalizes raw recordings
  2. Normalizes audio levels
  3. Merges video and audio
  4. Adds logo/banner overlays to merged video (if enabled) — visible for the first 15 seconds
  5. Creates vertical version (if enabled) with logos, banner, and title in the lower third
  6. Saves metadata

Logo & Banner Placement

When Add Logos is enabled, branding overlays are applied to both merged and vertical video outputs.

Merged Video (Landscape)

Logo and banner overlays appear for the first 15 seconds of the video, then fade out:

  • Left logo — scaled to ⅛ of the video width, positioned at the top-left corner
  • Right logo — scaled to ⅛ of the video width, positioned at the top-right corner
  • Banner — scaled to ½ of the video width, positioned at the bottom-left corner

Circular webcam overlay — when both screen and webcam are recorded, the webcam feed is shown as a 250px circular overlay in the bottom-right corner with a 20px margin. The overlay is visible for the full duration of the video. If webcam recording is disabled, this overlay is skipped.

Vertical Video (1080×1920)

The vertical video is divided into three zones:

Zone Position Content
Top third 0–640px Screen recording (scaled to 1080px width)
Middle third 640–1280px Webcam feed (scaled to fit)
Bottom third 1280–1920px Colored background with branding (configurable in Options)

The bottom third contains:

  • Left logo — scaled to 360px width, top-left of the branding zone
  • Right logo — scaled to 360px width, top-right of the branding zone
  • Banner — scaled to full 1080px width, centered above the title
  • Title text — centered below the banner

After Processing

12
Choose Next Action
  • Upload to YouTube - Continue to YouTube workflow
  • Return to Menu - Save for later

Output Files

Your recording is saved to:

~/Videos/Screencasts/<topic>/<title>/
├── final.mp4           # Processed video
├── final_vertical.mp4  # Vertical version (if enabled)
├── metadata.json       # Recording information
├── video.mkv           # Raw screen capture
├── audio.wav           # Raw audio
└── webcam.mkv          # Raw webcam (if enabled)

Quick Reference

Minimum Recording Setup

For a basic screen recording:

  1. Set title
  2. Ensure "Record Screen" is enabled
  3. Select monitor
  4. Press "Go Live"

For professional videos:

  1. Set title and episode number
  2. Select appropriate topic
  3. Enable audio, screen, and logos
  4. Configure logo positions
  5. Select monitor
  6. Add description
  7. Press "Go Live"

Systray Quick-Record

The system tray icon provides a streamlined recording workflow without the full setup screen.

First-Run Flow

graph TD
    A[Click systray icon] -->|First time| B{Presets configured?}
    B -->|No| C[Open TUI to Recording Presets]
    C -->|Save| D[TUI auto-closes]
    D --> E[Click systray icon again]
    B -->|Yes| F[5-second countdown with beeps]
    E --> F
    F --> G[Start recording]
  1. First recording attempt: If you haven't configured recording presets, clicking the systray icon opens the TUI directly to the Recording Presets section in Options.
  2. Configure presets: Toggle Audio, Webcam, Screen, Vertical Video, and Logos as desired, then press Save.
  3. Auto-close: The TUI closes automatically after saving.
  4. Subsequent recordings: Click the systray icon to begin a 5-second countdown. During the countdown, audible beeps play and the systray icon displays the current countdown number (5, 4, 3, 2, 1). Recording starts automatically when the countdown reaches zero.
  5. Cancel countdown: Click the systray icon again during the countdown to cancel it and return to idle.

You can change your presets at any time through the Options screen in the full TUI.

Stopping a Recording

When you stop a recording from the systray (single click while recording), the TUI opens directly to the recording detail edit page so you can fill in the title, description, presenter and topic. The recording is saved with a "needs metadata" status until you complete this step.

Processing Screen

After processing completes, the processing screen displays the standard header and footer. The footer shows keyboard shortcuts to preview your recording output:

  • v: Play the vertical video
  • m: Play the merged video
  • a: Play the audio
  • o: Open the project folder in the file manager

These are the same shortcuts used in the recording detail view in Recording History.

CLI Presets Mode

You can also open the presets configuration directly from the command line:

kartoza-screencaster --presets

This opens the TUI focused on the Recording Presets section and auto-closes after saving. This is the same mode used by the systray first-run detection.

CLI Edit Recording Mode

To open the TUI directly to edit the latest recording that needs metadata:

kartoza-screencaster --edit-recording

This is the mode used by the systray after stopping a recording.

Troubleshooting

No Audio Captured

  • Check microphone is connected
  • Verify audio system (PipeWire/PulseAudio) is running
  • Test with arecord -l to list devices

Black Screen Recording

  • Ensure correct monitor is selected
  • Check FFmpeg can access display
  • On Wayland, ensure screen sharing permissions

Recording Stutters

  • Close unnecessary applications
  • Reduce recording resolution
  • Disable webcam if not needed