QuickTime player is a media player that is pre-installed on Mac devices. While QuickTime player has numerous features, one of its predominant standouts is screen recording. This feature enables users to record everything that happens on their Mac screen, which includes video, audio, and mouse movements.
Here, we will explore the advantages and drawbacks of QuickTime Player for Mac Screen recording and how this software can elevate how you use your Mac device.
Built-In to MacOS
One of the major conveniences of QuickTime Player is that it’s already installed on Mac computers. This means there is no hassle or need to download or install any extra software to use it. If you wish to screen record, you can get started within a matter of seconds. As you won’t be spending excess time searching for third-party software, this convenience is what makes QuickTime Player a firm favourite with Mac users.
Simple to Use
Whether you’re brand new to the Mac scene or you’ve had your device for years, you’ll be happy to know that QuickTime player is simple to use, even for beginners. To begin recording your Mac screen, simply open up QuickTime Player and select ‘new screen recording’, which can be found on the File menu. Next, you can pick an area of the screen you’d like to record and start recording with a simple click of a button. QuickTime Player has a straightforward editing interface, enabling you to adjust and trim your recordings. Although QuickTime player can be useful for screen recording, you may have difficulty stopping the recording. Thankfully, Setapp have a guide on how to stop recording on Mac. They go into detail on keyboard shortcuts you can use to stop recording and explain the controls to use to screen record on Mac.
Audio Recording
As well as video recording, you have the option to record audio on QuickTime player too. This is especially handy for those recording presentations or tutorials and want to feature commentary or narration. QuickTime Player lets you pick which audio input to use, whether it’s an external microphone or your computer’s built-in microphone.
High-Quality Recordings
Another key benefit of QuickTime Player is that it produces high-quality screen recordings. You can use your recordings for all kinds of purposes. For example, some Mac users may want to create a tutorial. Alternatively, you may want to record a presentation to use for an important business meeting. QuickTime player can be used for non-related work purposes too, like capturing gameplay footage. Because QuickTime Player captures everything in high-resolution, you can be confident your recordings will look fantastic, and professional, and there are no compromises on quality.
Key Strokes and Mouse Clicks
QuickTime Player boasts a feature that lets you display key strokes and mouse clicks during your screen recording. You may find this helpful if you are creating a tutorial or demonstrating how to use a certain application. By showing your key strokes and mouse clicks, this can help your viewers establish exactly what you are doing on the screen.
Customisable Recording Settings
You can use QuickTime Player to customise your recording settings to suit your needs. You can pick whether to record the whole screen or a certain part of it. You’re also able to set the frame quality and rate, and even select whether to show key strokes and mouse clicks. Having this flexibility is certainly an advantage, as you can create screen recordings that are tailored to your specific needs and requirement.
Limited Editing Options
One of the primary cons of QuickTime player is that there are limited editing options. Although you can trim the start and end of recordings, there aren’t any built-in editing tools to help the pros make more advanced edits. Naturally, this can be frustrating if you need to get rid of sections of the recordings or feature annotations, or text overlays.
No Webcam Recording
Unfortunately, QuickTime player doesn’t support webcam recording. This can be a huge disadvantage for those who want to record both themselves and the screen simultaneously. Although there is the ability to seek out third-party software to record your webcam separately and then combine the recordings using a video editing tool, this adds extra time and stress to the process, which may not end up being worthwhile.
Limited Output Formats
Another drawback of QuickTime Player is that it only supports a couple of video formats, like MP4 and MOV. Although such formats are compatible with most video players and editing tools, they may not be useful for all cases. For instance, if you need to upload recordings to a specific platform that requires a different format, you may have to use a video conversion tool to convert recordings to the required format.
To put it simply, QuickTime Player is a convenient and versatile screen recording tool on Mac computers. However, while it boasts many benefits, it’s important to outline the cons too.
