.TH "RECORDMYDESKTOP" 1 "13/7/2006" "Linux"


.SH NAME
recordMyDesktop \- record desktop sessions to an Ogg\-Theora\-Vorbis file.


.SH SYNOPSIS

.B        recordmydesktop 
[
.B
Options
]^
.B
filename
.br
.br
.SH DESCRIPTION
.PP
        recordMyDesktop produces a file(default out.ogg) that contains a video and audio recording
.br
of a linux desktop session. The default behavior of recording is to mark areas that have changed(through libxdamage)
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and update the frame. This behavior can be changed (option 
.B
\-\-full\-shots
) to produce a more accurate result
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or capture windows that do not generate events on change(windows with 3d context or video display) 
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but this will notably increase the workload. In this case, enabling the 
.B
\-\-with\-shared
option is recommended
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(by default this option is switched on or off at every frame, according to the size of the area to be aquired).
.br
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recordMyDesktop doesn't have a commandline interface.
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After startup, it can be controled only through the following signals:
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.br
.B
SIGUSR1
causes the program to pause if it's currently recording, and vice-versa.
.br
.B
SIGTERM
causes normal termination of the recording.
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.B
SIGINT
also causes normal termination.
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.B
SIGABRT
terminates the program and removes the specified output file.
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A typical scenario of recording can be a command as simple as:
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.B
~$ recordmydesktop
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which will produce a fullscreen recording named out.ogg
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while a command like:
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.B
~$ recordmydesktop foo.ogg
.br 
will write output to foo.ogg
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To specify a region for recording you can type this:
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.B
~$ recordmydesktop -x X_pos -y Y_pos -width WIDTH -height HEIGHT -o foo.ogg
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where X_pos and Y_pos specify the offset in pixels from the upper left
.br
corner of your screen and WIDTH and HEIGHT the size of the window to be recorded(again in pixels).
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If the area extends beyond your current resolution, you will be notified appropriately and nothing will happen.
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Notice also, that if any option is entered you have to specify the output file with the \-o switch.
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.B
To normally end a recording you can press ctl-c.
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(which will send a
.B
SIGINT
to the program).
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For further manipulation of the end result look at the 
.B
OPTIONS
and 
.B
NOTES
sections.
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.br 
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.SH EXIT STATUS
0 is success
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Non-zero means an error occurred, which is printed in stderr.
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.SH OPTIONS
.PP
.B
Generic Options:
.br
.TP
.B
    \-h or \-\-help    
    Print help summary and exit.
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.TP
.B
    \-\-version
    Print program version and exit.
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.PP
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.B
Image Options:
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.TP
.B
    \-windowid id_of_window
    id of window to be recorded.
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.TP
.B
    \-display DISPLAY
    Display to connect to.
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.TP
.B
    \-x X
    Offset in x direction.
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.TP
.B
    \-y Y
    Offset in y direction.
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.TP
.B
    \-width N
    Width of recorded window.
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.TP
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    \-height N
    Height of recorded window.
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.TP
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.TP
.B
    \-dummy\-cursor color
    Color of the dummy cursor [black|white](default black)
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.TP
.B
    \-\-no\-dummy\-cursor
    Disable drawing of a dummy cursor.
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.TP
.B
    \-\-with\-shared
    Enable usage of MIT\-shared memory extension at all times.
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.TP
.B
    \-\-no\-cond\-shared
    Do not use the MIT\-shared memory extension when aquiring large areas.
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.TP
.B
     \-shared\-threshold n
     Threshold over which shared memory is used(default 75).
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.TP
.B
    \-\-full\-shots
    Take full screenshot at every frame(Not recomended!).
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.TP
.B
    \-fps N(number>0.0)
    A positive number denoting desired framerate.
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.PP
.B
Sound Options:
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.TP
.B
    \-channels N(number>0)
    A positive number denoting desired sound channels in recording.
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.TP
.B
    \-freq N(number>0)
    A positive number denoting desired sound frequency.
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.TP
.B
    \-device SOUND_DEVICE
    Sound device(default hw0:0).
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.TP
.B
    \-\-nosound
    Do not record sound.
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.PP
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.B
Encoding Options:
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.TP
.B
    \-v_quality n
    A number from 0 to 63 for desired encoded video quality(default 63).
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.TP
.B
    \-v_bitrate n
    A number from 45000 to 2000000 for desired encoded video bitrate(default 45000).
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.TP
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    \-\-drop\-frames
    Allow theora encoder to drop frames(this can significantly lower proccessing times).
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.TP
.B
    \-s_quality n
    Desired audio quality(\-1 to 10).
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.PP
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.B
Misc Options:
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.TP
.B
    \-delay n[H|h|M|m]
    Number of secs(default),minutes or hours before capture starts(number can be float).
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.TP
.B
    \-\-scshot
    Take a bitmap screenshot(default rmdout.bmp) and exit.
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.TP
.B
    \-scale\-shot N
    Factor by which screenshot is scaled down(1<=number<=64,power of 2).
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.TP
.B
    \-o filename
    Name of recorded video(default out.ogg).



.PP
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If no other option is specified, filename can be given without the \-o switch.
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.br
.SH USAGE
.TP
.B        recordmydesktop 
.br
[\-h| \-\-help| \-\-version| \-delay n[H|h|M|m]| \-windowid id_of_window|
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\-display DISPLAY| \-x X| \-y Y|\-width N| \-height N| \-fps N(number>0)|
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\-v_quality n| \-s_quality n| \-v_bitrate n| \-\-no\-framedrop| \-dummy\-cursor color|
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\-\-no\-dummy\-cursor| \-freq N(number>0)| \-channels N(number>0)| \-device SOUND_DEVICE|
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\-\-nosound| \-\-with\-shared| \-\-no\-cond\-shared| \-shared\-threshold n| \-\-full\-shots|
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\-\-scshot| \-scale\-shot N| \-o filename]^filename
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.SH ENVIRONMENT
.TP
.B
DISPLAY
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Display environment variable, specifying X server to connect to.
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.SH NOTES
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    Recording a window using the \-windowid option, doesn't track the window itself, but the region that it covers.
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Also when using that option the \-x,\-y,\-width and \-height options are relative to the specified window area.
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An easy way to find out the id of a window, is by using the 
.B
xwininfo
program.
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Running a command like :
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.B
xwininfo |grep "Window id:"|sed \-e "s/xwininfo\\:\\ Window id:\\ // ;s/\\ \.*//" 
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will give you only the id of the window(which should look like this: 0x4800005)
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More conviniently you can put all that in the command that launches recordMyDesktop like this:
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.B
~$recordmydesktop -windowid $(xwininfo |grep "Window id:"|sed \-e "s/xwininfo\\:\\ Window id:\\ // ;s/\\ \.*//" ) 
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.br
    Also, the lower quality you select on a video recording (
.B
-v_quality
option), the highest CPU-power that you will need.
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So it's always better to start with default values and manipulate the end\-result with another program.
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An excellent converter is
.B
ffmpeg2theora
, which despite its name is also a theora to theora converter.
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Changing the quality of a recordng with it,can be as simple as :
.br
.B
ffmpeg2theora infile.ogg -v 3 -a 4 -o outfile.ogg
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It can even perform resizing on the size of the recording, or change the overall duration.
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.SH BUGS
Too resource intensive, straightforward subsampling of chroma plane degrades quality
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(though fixing this with averaraging would make the program even more cpu-hungry).
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.SH AUTHORS
John Varouhakis(biocrasher@gmail.com)
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.SH SEE ALSO
.BR xwininfo(1)
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.BR ffmpeg2theora(1)
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