Maybe you want to show someone else how to do something (such as make an Archive Tutorial!?) or you just want to show off your skills in a video game. Either way, you'll first need a program to record the video.

Many people often recommend FRAPS. However, you have to “register” (aka pay $37) to get the unrestricted version.

Instead, you can use Taksi (pronounced “Taxi”). It's free (as in beer and as in speech) but is Windows only.

Using it is pretty easy. Once its installed, start it up:

Click the “Config” button and under the format tab select how fast you want the resulting framerate's video to be. A higher framerate requires more processing and can slow down your computer if the hard drive and processor can't keep up. For recording a screencast, 5 or 10 frames per second is probably enough. If you're recording a video game, you probably want more fluid video. 20 or 30 frames per second should do.

Remember to also select a video codec. “Full Frames Uncompressed” will use up almost no additional CPU and will output the highest quality video but it will create HUGE files on your hard drive. Use it with caution. If you're going to be editing the footage along with some other footage (e.g., multiple recordings of you playing a game along with maybe an intro. video and music) then it is recommended to record it uncompressed and then, after everything is put together, to then compress it before showing it to others.

Most people will want to use some form of compression. XvID is highly recommended. It produces good quality output at low bitrates and is also cross-platform.

Quickly glance at the “Directory” tab to see where Taksi will save the recorded footage.

Now click “Save” and then close the configuration window.

Now you're ready to record.

Start up the application/game who footage you want to record. Then, press F6 to start recording and eventually, press F8 to finish recording. Now, go look into Taksi's temp directory and you should see your .avi file right there!

If you're using XviD (which, again, we recommend!) then you might find that whenever you start to record XviD's GUI will pop up, displaying “helpful” information about the encode process. I'm not really sure how to prevent this, so if someone knows, please let me a staff member know. Otherwise, we recommend just hitting the record button half a minute or so before you REALLY want to record. Then when the window pops up, minimize it, switch to the application you want to record, and continue recording.

Many games allow you to take a screenshot while in game by pressing some keyboard button (typically the “Print Screen”) button. If you just want a screenshot of say, your desktop, then pressing “Print Screen” while in Windows will take a screenshot of your current Windows screen. Then, open up a graphics manipulation program (MS Paint?) and paste (Control-V) your screenshot. Save it in whichever format you most desire. You can also use the shortcut Alt-“Print Screen” to take a screenshot of the current window you are using. That's how I took the above screenshots of the Taksi program.

Questions? Suggestions? Discuss this tutorial in the forums!