Classic AVI Still Works

very good
key review info
application features
  • Follow the cursor mode
  • (3 more, see all...)

Back in the days, capturing your screen was quite a thorny dilemma. Sure there were applications apt for the job, but they were quite difficult to handle and sometimes the results were a real disaster (low quality and large output file were among the most popular issues). Plus the software that did a good job cost a bit more than a home user could shell out.

Those days are long gone now; as the world of freeware started to become a serious competitor, more and more neat applications are available for the home user. Screen capturing can now be done with little effort and with good quality infusion into the output file.

Though high quality video formats like DVD, HD-DVD or Blu-Ray are taking over feature films and AVI is long forgotten by many users, there still is a use for this video format. It is true that its use is somewhat limited, but users do not hesitate to take advantage of its features when it comes to creating short video tutorials that can be posted on the Web or when providing video quality samples.

Aviscreen Classic is a small freeware designed to capture all the slick moves you make on the screen of your desktop. The result is recorded either as video (AVI format) or as a still image (GIF, BMP or JPG).

There is no proper interface for the program and all you are going to see from it is the settings area. Despite its small size (almost 700KB archive) Aviscreen Classic is highly configurable and meets all the minimum requirements necessary for a proper recording.

The five tabs in the settings area provide options for defining the capture area, customizing the keyboard shortcuts, selecting the video compression codec and the number of frames per second of the video, setting the image format of the capture and the storage location for the output result.

The capture area has several preset options (240x160, 320x240, 480x360 and 640x480) and also allows you to grab the entire desktop screen or a selected object like the foreground window. More than this, Aviscreen Classic is flexible enough to let you customize the capture area. Additional options in this tab include showing the mouse cursor during the capture and following cursor mode. The latter alternative consists in following the trajectory of the cursor considering the defined capture area.

The application can be controlled through keyboard shortcuts. Practically every action can be dictated through a mere touch of the keyboard. You can take an image of the capture area, start/stop filming or pause/continue the movie clip. Also, changing them to suit your needs is just a matter of typing in the new combination. And if you want to revert to the default settings, just press the Default button in the lower left hand area.

When taking a video of the screen, a very important role is played by the codec used. However, no matter what you have installed, I recommend going with the uncompressed format as it is a sure shot to quality. The FPS also count when your aim is good video quality, so I suggest you crank up that value a little (but be sure that your computer can stand the duress though there shouldn't be any problem with today's technology).

As mentioned before, Aviscreen Classic can take still pictures of the defined capture area. Out of the three formats supported, GIF is the one that will not do in terms of quality. For JPG there is a quality slider going from a small file of poor quality to a good looking large one.

The last tab available in Settings section is folder. By default, the application will save every screen capture, be it video or image, in the installation folder. For some of the users this may be a very long way to reach to the result. But you can change the destination folder to any location you feel comfortable with.

Aviscreen Classic makes available the Hide button which will send the application to system tray so that you can start recording. You will notice that the start/stop controls for capturing are also available in the tray icon's context menu. However, it is recommended that you use the shortcuts for any recording related action. This way you can ensure that the shot is clean and there are no intrusions.

The Good

Easy to use and handle, Aviscreen Classic is able to create good quality captures of your desktop. Despite the small file size, the application garners lots of options for getting the best results possible.

The Bad

The application hasn't been updated for a long time and GIF capture really needs an upgrade in quality.

The Truth

The application will get the job done no questions asked. You can adjust the codecs in order to make a good compromise between the size of the resulting file and quality.

Here are some snapshots of the application in action:

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user interface 3
features 4
ease of use 5
pricing / value 4


final rating 4
Editor's review
very good
 
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