Simple Screen Recorder

Whether you want to save a scene from your favorite movie, record a gameplay session of a captivating video game or film a software tutorial for your family and friends, there are plenty of programs to choose from.

However, for those find OBS’ complex interface and Bandicam’s price tag daunting, Simple Screen Recorder’s minimalist layout and support for multiple output files may be a great alternative for quickly capturing video and audio.

In terms of the layout, the application boasts a straightforward window displaying all available functions directly, letting the user avoid having to dig through multiple sub-menus of options. For those who like making tutorials, the program allows recording both system sounds and microphone audio concomitantly, making it perfect for voice-overs as well.

Users with laptop-based setups may want to use an external microphone when recording video game walkthroughs for a higher audio quality. As such, the application includes a drop-down list for choosing the right input device, thus removing the need to set a default recording device through the Windows sound menu.

Thanks to its portable nature, the program lets the user start recording instantly, without requiring the use of an installation wizard beforehand. However, what makes the software particularly interesting is the way it captures your desktop.

Recordings are stored in a dedicated folder in the application’s main directory in three separate files: one of the microphone input for voice-overs, a recording of the system sounds for possible gameplay footage and the video capture of the desktop itself.

This separation can be useful for those who want to have three different timelines in the editing suite of their choice, giving them a larger degree of freedom in terms of adjusting the volume of each sound input layered on the video recording. All of these separate files can be merged into an MKV video format within the application itself, for those who want to avoid the use of a separate editing program.

In terms of improvement, the application could use multi-monitor support, in order to accommodate more complex setups geared towards productivity. Moreover, an option to choose the saving directory for the recordings would also be welcome for a higher degree of customization.

Windows users who want an alternative to OBS’ complexity, Bandicam’s price tag and the Xbox Game Bar’s resource-hungry recording capabilities have the option to try out Simple Screen Recorder, a lightweight utility that separates the video, microphone and system audio inputs for an easier editing process.