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I need a screen recorder. However, I try to avoid using closed-source software whenever possible except from major vendors like Apple and Skype.

I am wondering, is there an open source screen recorder for Mac OS X?

Or if not, does Apple include such a thing with the OS? Or how about using Skype? I'm running Snow Leopard.

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Try and answer some other questions and once you have the reputation, you can answer your own questions. You could also flag your comment and see if a moderator can move it to an answer. I'm not sure they can do that, but it shouldn't hurt to try... –  bmike Sep 15 '11 at 20:39
@Mithras May I ask why you've edited your question to remove the parts that make it specific to screen recording? The question is now extremely vague... –  Dan J Apr 26 '12 at 20:24

3 Answers 3

You've answered your own question, but I thought I would flesh it out a bit.

You are correct that QuickTime will record a window, or the whole screen, but it only does so with the version of QT that ships with Lion. It wasn't available in earlier versions of QT or OS X (I'm not sure if the latest QT would do this on an older OS - I don't have one to try it on.)

I was pleasantly surprised to see that it now had that functionality - there really aren't any other free or low cost options.

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QuickTime in Snow Leopard also recorded the screen –  Kyle Cronin Sep 24 '11 at 7:02

VLC is an open source media player which also offers screen capture facilities (via File -> Open Capture Device..).

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This only gives the option for the FaceTime camera. What version of VLC are you using? –  Alex Gittemeier Aug 14 '13 at 2:11
It looks like the feature was removed at some point in the last year. I'd suggest Quicktime's built-in screen recording feature. See "Record your screen" on this Apple support page. –  noffle Aug 19 '13 at 6:14
  1. Capture Me

  2. QuickTime is very solid.

  3. IShowUHD

  4. jScreenRecorder

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Which of these are open source? –  patrix Aug 8 at 5:53

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