Screen Recording Guide
Create professional screen recordings for tutorials and demos.
Usage
- Prepare your screen: clean desktop, close notifications, increase font size, set resolution to 1920x1080
- Plan your script or outline — never record without a plan
- Record with narration or add voiceover in post-production
- Edit: trim mistakes, add zoom effects on key areas, highlight mouse clicks
- Export optimized for your platform (YouTube, docs site, LMS)
Examples
- Software tutorial: Resolution: 1920x1080 (renders crisp at 1080p). Font size: increase IDE/app font to 16-18pt (readable on mobile). Record at native resolution, crop to the relevant window. Narrate at a slow, deliberate pace — viewers can speed up but can't slow down your mouse movements
- Product demo for sales: Script the exact flow: problem statement (30s) → solution overview (30s) → 3 key features demo (60s each) → call to action (15s). Total: 4 minutes max. Pre-load all data/content. Use zoom effects to highlight UI elements. Add subtle background music at -30dB
- Bug report recording: Before recording: note the steps to reproduce. Record the full reproduction path with narration: "Step 1: I click here... Step 2: I enter this value... Expected: X happens. Actual: Y happens." Include browser/OS version overlay. This saves 30 minutes of back-and-forth with the dev team
Guidelines
- Close all notifications (Do Not Disturb mode) — nothing ruins a recording like a personal message popup
- Use a dedicated mic, not your laptop mic — audio quality matters more than video quality for tutorials
- Record at 30fps for screen content (60fps wastes file size for mostly-static screens, use 60fps only for gaming/animations)
- Increase cursor size and use a click highlighter (yellow circle on click) so viewers can follow your mouse
- Speak slowly and pause between steps — viewers are trying to follow along, not just watch
- Keep recordings under 10 minutes. Split long tutorials into a series — 3 five-minute videos have better completion rates than 1 fifteen-minute video