Record a video of the screen using .NET technologies

Question

Is there a way to record the screen, either desktop or window, using .NET technologies?

My goal is something free. I like the idea of small, low CPU usage, and simple, but I would consider other options if they created a better final product.

In a nutshell, I know how to take a screenshot in C#, but how would I record the screen, or area of the screen, as a video?

score 19 · Accepted Answer · edited Dec 30 '22 at 21:36

19

There isn’t any need for a third-party DLL. This simple method captures the current screen image into a .NET Bitmap object.

    private Image CaptureScreen()
    {
        Rectangle screenSize = Screen.PrimaryScreen.Bounds;
        Bitmap target = new Bitmap(screenSize.Width, screenSize.Height);
        using(Graphics g = Graphics.FromImage(target))
        {
            g.CopyFromScreen(0, 0, 0, 0, new Size(screenSize.Width, screenSize.Height));
        }
        return target;
    }

I am sure you can figure out how to capture a smaller portion of the screen, if that is needed :-).

edited Dec 30 '22 at 21:36

Peter Mortensen

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answered Dec 29 '08 at 14:25

driis

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Thanks, sorry I didn't make that clear enough, that I want to record video of the screen. – Chris Craft Dec 29 '08 at 14:39
video is just many single frames pressed together, you could take these snapshots and create an AVI out of them pretty easily. – justin.m.chase Dec 29 '08 at 14:50
1

http://www.adp-gmbh.ch/csharp/avi/write_avi.html – justin.m.chase Dec 29 '08 at 14:52
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I have considered this option, just threading the bitmaps together. I was just "assuming" there was something more "canned". Kind of like you shouldn't roll your own security API, there is already something better out there. – Chris Craft Dec 29 '08 at 14:57
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Just to save people a search or two, you need the references to `System.Windows.Forms` and `System.Drawing` for the above code. – TankorSmash Mar 10 '13 at 19:45
For anyone that's curious, CopyFromScreen is using BitBlt. – Phylliida May 25 '16 at 17:52
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This answer shouldn't be accepted. – Yoda Apr 04 '19 at 13:11
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This answer should not be accepted and is simply not answering the question... – Andry Feb 14 '20 at 06:42
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This answer is now very outdated and is incompatible with newer Windows frameworks (i.e. mixing UWP/WinUI with WinForms) – Gabriel Pizarro Feb 03 '22 at 01:30

score 4 · Answer 2 · edited Dec 30 '22 at 21:39

4

You can use the Windows media Encoder SDK to build a C# application to record the screen. There are in-built options to record the entire desktop, a particular window or a portion of the screen.

edited Dec 30 '22 at 21:39

Peter Mortensen

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answered Feb 17 '09 at 07:08

score 2 · Answer 3 · edited Dec 30 '22 at 21:31

2

There is a DLL file out there that can do it. I don't remember the name of it, but it's used by Jing. A friend of mine implemented a screen recorder in just a few minutes by using that DLL file, just for testing. Check out Jing and you'll probably find the DLL file they use.

edited Dec 30 '22 at 21:31

Peter Mortensen

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answered Dec 29 '08 at 14:08

PEZ

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I am trying to check out the jing project. I was given the impression that jing has a limit on the duration of recording that you can do. Maybe that limit is built right into the dll you are talking about. Also, it might not be under gpl/lgpl so it may not be "free" strictly speaking. – Kinjal Dixit Dec 29 '08 at 14:26
In the jing license agreement: Separation of components - [...] Its component parts may not be separated for use [...]. My advice: be safe. try searching google for: c# screen capture – Kinjal Dixit Dec 29 '08 at 14:31
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Just making sure everyone understands the goal is to record video of the screen, and not a simple bitmap screen capture. – Chris Craft Dec 29 '08 at 14:40
I have no clue about the licensing deal for that dll. It's probably not open source or even free. But it does record video of the screen. – PEZ Dec 29 '08 at 21:21
I used Jing and works fantastic. but it only works on .net 4 or 3. I want it for .net 2. – Matin Lotfaliee Aug 18 '14 at 12:17

score 0 · Answer 4 · edited Dec 17 '12 at 23:25

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You can use Media Encoder SDK but it is not supported on Windows 7.

edited Dec 17 '12 at 23:25

Brent Worden

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answered Jul 10 '10 at 07:43

chatura

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score -2 · Answer 5 · edited Dec 30 '22 at 21:43

-2

You may try this open source utility: ScreenRecord

It's based on AForge.NET.

edited Dec 30 '22 at 21:43

Peter Mortensen

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answered Nov 26 '15 at 06:41

Fuel

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Link only answers should be posted as comments. In anycase if some day the link changes, your answer will become invalid. At least mention name of the utility in the answer so that it could be searched even if the link goes down. – NSNoob Nov 26 '15 at 06:45

Record a video of the screen using .NET technologies

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