Screen recording allows you to capture what is happening on your screen for future playback. Whether you're watching a presentation or webinar that you might want to view again or you're putting together a video game tutorial, capturing what happens on your screen can have a number of important uses.
Before starting your screen recording, however, you will want to make sure that it will capture everything you need. How long can you screen record for? The answer may lie in your screen recording software.
How Long Can You Screen Record?
With the right screen recording software, you can screen record indefinitely. As long as the action continues on your screen, you can continue to capture it. However, that does not necessarily mean that you can always capture hours upon hours of footage. Take into consideration:
1. File size.
Large files are clunky, hard to send, and difficult to store. The longer you screen record, the longer your file will be, which can cause problems with future playback.
2. Resolution.
You can record your screen in various resolutions, depending on the settings on your monitor and your video recorder. If you screen record at a high resolution, you may find that your file size increases more quickly.
3. Available storage.
How much data can you store? Some free screen recording software will limit the size of the file you can save to the platform. In other cases, the limitations of your storage solution may limit your recording.
Check the specific limitations of your screen recording software before you begin recording, and make sure you have a backup solution if needed to allow you to continue capturing your screen for the time you need.
Editing for Conciseness
In many cases, after you capture a long screen recording, you may want to edit it for conciseness. Keep your audience in mind as you decide how you want to edit your video. Keep in mind:
1. Viewers may not have limitless time.
In many cases, your viewers will have only a specific amount of time to sit down and watch your video. If your video takes longer than they anticipate to watch, or if it gets boring, they probably won't watch it until the end.
2. You may want to edit out duplicate content or dead space.
You're playing a video game, working on a tutorial. Unfortunately, you die the first three times you take on a specific boss. Perhaps you're screen recording a webinar, but the finished product has a lot of dead time in it: the time when nothing is happening. Not only can that content cause your viewers to get bored and fall away, but it can also decrease the overall perceived value of your content--and extend your file size.
3. Upload time matters.
Many people watch videos from their mobile devices, often while on the go. If it takes your video more than a few seconds to load, they may decide to do something else with their time instead--and that may leave you without the video views you were hoping for. The larger your file size, the longer your upload time. And the greater the likelihood that your viewers will decide to go with something else, instead.
Conclusion
Screen recording offers a number of key benefits. You can screen record indefinitely on many free screen recording platforms. That does not necessarily mean, however, that you want to put those videos up fully intact. Learn more about our screen recording and video editing software options and how they can help you take your video to the next level.