DonationCoder.com Software > Easy Screencast Recorder

Display keystrokes in video?

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rjbull:
I can't see an option to echo keystrokes to screen and have them captured in the video.  Have I missed it?

Otherwise, please can someone recommend a separate tool to do this?  I've tried those below in conjunction with FastStone Capture rather than ESR, but wasn't happy with any of them, and some are getting a bit old, too:

* KeyPosé
* Carnac
* QiPress

mouser:
It's a good question.  Have you tried Skrommel's "ShowOff"

Discussed here as well: https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=792.0

I'd like to hear what features you'd like to see added in such a tool.

rjbull:
It's a good question.  Have you tried Skrommel's "ShowOff"
-mouser (March 19, 2019, 05:47 PM)
--- End quote ---
That's the best one yet.  Thanks for the pointer.  Skrommel is a marvel.

Discussed here as well: https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=792.0

I'd like to hear what features you'd like to see added in such a tool.
-mouser (March 19, 2019, 05:47 PM)
--- End quote ---
Skrommel points out that what ShowOff shows is what happens at keyboard level, but I'd like to see "real keypresses" in the sense of what the user thinks they're doing too, so that "Ctrl+D" is shown as exactly that.  Perhaps both methods could be available as a choice.

Skrommel's comment (that I don't think he went on to implement)
Maybe I'll show all keys pressed, just adding up until all are released again?
--- End quote ---
would be good too.

I'd like a GUI configuration.  I realise one can edit the INI file, but I'd guess most non-coders would appreciate not having to delve into hex codes for colours, for example.

Is there an inconsistency in the INI?  In the comment block at the top it says

;timetohide             ;time in ms
but in [Settings] it has

timetoshow=1000

Although ShowOff's display is described as a window, you can't resize it, and it isn't big enough for some keypresses, e.g. Shift+Ctrl+Alt+Win+Z, which I have configured for one program (that I don't use very often).  It might be nice to have a thin border round the window, as a bit of psychology, to emphasize that what's being shown is monitoring what's happening, not the event itself.  The default black on white colour scheme underlines this; if you put ShowOff on top of the white background of another program like an editor, say, it can be a bit disconcerting to see text being apparently typed twice in different sizes.  That probably means that the default colours should be something else.  Besides, white-on-white makes it hard to see where the window is for when you want to move it.

Most of this amounts to cosmetics, which indicates that ShowOff is basically sound.

I did a quick search for screen recorders that included showing keypresses.  The only one I could find in a hurry that actually claimed to was Movavi Screen Capture Pro.  I'm surprised this feature is (apparently) still so rare.

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