EasyScreenCast simplifies the use of the video recording function integrated in gnome shell, allows quickly to change the various settings of the desktop recording. Copyright (C) 2013-16 Borsato Ivano.
Note: Since Gnome Shell 42 a new built-in screenshot/screencast UI is available, which might already be all you need. Just run it via the default shortcut Ctlr+Alt+Shift+R.
This extension provides more options to configure the screencast:
- include audio channel
- include video stream from webcam
- various quality settings and formats for the resulting video
This extension is a simple ad-hoc solution for recording screencasts. For more sophisticated screencasts, I'd recommend OBS Studio.
- Gnome Shell 45 (EasyScreenCast 1.8.0; EasyScreenCast 1.7.1: Gnome Shell 3.38 - 44)
- Gstreamer 1.x [ common function/webcam support ]
- gst plugins ugly [ x264 support ]
- gst plugins base [ common function/theora support ]
- gst plugins good [ mp4/mkv/webm/vp8/vp9 support ]
EasyScreenCast is free software distributed under the GNU GPL. All files are under GPL v3. Read COPYING for more information about license.
There are several methods:
-
From github releases. Just go to https://github.com/EasyScreenCast/EasyScreenCast/releases/latest and download the latest zip file. Then install it (adjust the file name accordingly):
gnome-extensions install --force EasyScreenCast_1.5.0_42.zipAnd logout/login again to activate the extension.
-
From gnome extension site, just go on this page and click/touch on the button ON, that's all.
-
By installing the Debian/Ubuntu package "gnome-shell-extension-easyscreencast":
sudo apt install gnome-shell-extension-easyscreencast -
From github repo, if you want the most up-to-date version, just do these simple steps
git clone https://github.com/EasyScreenCast/EasyScreenCast.git cd EasyScreenCast make make installNote: You'll need to install the following dev dependencies once:
sudo apt install gettext jq intltool
You can run a new session to test changes to the installed extension:
dbus-run-session -- gnome-shell --nested
You must enable the verbose logs in options window and after that you can find the logs by typing this on terminal:
journalctl --since=today --no-pager --output=cat | grep ESC
journalctl /usr/bin/gnome-shell --since=today --no-pager --output=cat
to open the option windows from terminal try that on terminal:
gnome-extensions prefs EasyScreenCast@iacopodeenosee.gmail.com
If you want to help with translations, just follow these simple step:
1 - Create a new folders for the translations(if NOT exist), where $lang is a code language [https://www.gnu.org/software/gettext/manual/html_node/Usual-Language-Codes.html#Usual-Language-Codes]
mkdir -p locale/$lang/LC_MESSAGES
2 - Translate the string with the program Poedit by using a .pot files (locale/messages.pot)
3 - Save these files in the same directory of .pot files, use the code language for the name of them (locale/$lang.po)
4 - Convert in binary these .po files, where $lang is a code language, with that command:
msgfmt locale/$lang.po -o locale/$lang/LC_MESSAGES/EasyScreenCast@iacopodeenosee.gmail.com.mo
There are a wide variety of video editors that should be able to convert the screencasts to GIFs. An easy way to convert a file using the command line is:
ffmpeg -i _filepath -pix_fmt rgb24 _dirpath/_filename.gif
For more information see for example:
| Distribution / gnome-shell | ESC Version | Installation | Screen Recording | +Video Recording | +Audio Recording |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gnome OS (gnome-shell 46) | 1.9.0 | ✔ | ✔ | ? | ? |
| Gnome OS (gnome-shell 45) | 1.8.0 | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Debian 11 Bullseye (gnome-shell 3.38) | 1.7.0 | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Ubuntu 22.04 LTS (gnome-shell 42.2) | 1.7.0 | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Debian Experimental (gnome-shell 43) | 1.7.0 | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Note: Only wayland sessions, always a fresh install of the linux distribution. Screen cast was the whole screen. Quality setting: FPS 30, VP8, webm container.
X11 session is not tested.