Recording Your Actions at the Interactive Screen

Using SMART Recorder, you can record the full screen, a specified window or a rectangular portion of the screen. If you connect a microphone to your computer, you can record your narration.

You can create the recording as a SMART Recorder video file that you can view using SMART Video Player, or you can create the recording as a Windows Media video file that you can view using Windows Media Player. If you create the recording as a SMART Recorder video file, you can also convert it to a Windows Media video file or a self-extracting file to share with those who don't have SMART Notebook.

NOTE: You can also create a Windows Media video file or a self-extracting file of previously created recordings to share with others.

To create a recording

1. Change SMART Recorder settings to configure the recording's quality, video format, file location and watermark.

NOTES

If you're using multiple displays, you must select the display that you want to record from.

You can hide SMART Recorder and continue to access its menu options by pressing the SMART Recorder icon in the notification area.

2. To record the entire screen, press Record in SMART Recorder or press F8 on a connected keyboard.

NOTE: To record the entire screen while SMART Recorder is hidden, press the SMART Recorder icon in the notification area, and then select Record.

OR

To record a screen area, press the down arrow next to the Record button in SMART Recorder, select Record Area, and then draw a rectangle around the area you want to record.

OR

To record a window, press the down arrow next to the Record button in SMART Recorder, select Record Window, and then select the window you want to record.

TIP: If you need to reduce the file size of the recording, limit the recording to a rectangular area of the screen or to a window.

3. Perform the on-screen actions you want to record. If you connected a microphone to your computer, speak into your microphone.

SMART Recorder displays the time elapsed during the recording.

TIP: Animations and other special effects greatly increase the file size of the recording.

4. If you want to pause your recording, press Pause in SMART Recorder. To resume recording, press Record in SMART Recorder.

NOTES

To pause the recording while the SMART Recorder window is hidden, press the SMART Recorder icon in the notification area, and then select Pause.

To resume recording, press the SMART Recorder icon in the notification area, and then select Record.

5. After you complete the actions you want to record, press Stop in SMART Recorder.

NOTE: To stop the recording while SMART Recorder is hidden, press the SMART Recorder icon in the notification area, and then select Stop.

The Save As dialog box appears.

NOTE: If you want to exit without saving your recording, press Cancel, press Yes to confirm deletion, and then ignore the remaining steps of this procedure.

6. Type a file name.

7. If you want to save the recording in a different location, browse to the new location.

8. Press Save.

The Completing Capture dialog box appears while SMART Recorder creates the video file.

After SMART Recorder creates the video file, the Recording Complete dialog box appears. The information in this dialog box includes the file location of the recording, file size and duration of the recording.

8. If you want to view the recording after you close this dialog box, select Play Recording.

9. If you want to share the recording with viewers who don't have SMART Video Player but you created the recording in the SMART Recorder video format, select Share Recording.

10. Press OK.

If you select Play Recording, the file plays in your default media player.

If you select Share Recording, the Share Recording dialog box appears. Create a Windows Media video file or a self-extracting file as described below.

To create a Windows Media video file or a self-extracting file

1. Create the recording as described above. Ensure you select the Share Recording option.

The Share Recording dialog box appears.

2. Select WMV to create a Windows Media video file, and then press Next.

OR

Select Self extracting to create a self extracting file, and then press Next.

3. Press Next.

4. Press Browse, browse to the location where you want to save the file, type a file name, and then press Save.

5. Press Next.

6. Press Finish.

Enhancing System Performance for Recording

If your system performance is slow when you use SMART Recorder, or the recording quality isn't the standard you want, the following may improve performance:

• Reduce your computer's screen resolution and display color settings. Smaller screens and fewer colors result in faster performance.

• Save your files to a local hard disk. Network drives are slower and reduce performance.

• Disable hardware acceleration.

• Try a different video card. Some video cards perform better than others. PCI Express cards generally provide a faster performance than Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) or Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) cards.

• Select a lower video quality setting. You need to balance your expectations for video quality with your computer's limitations. Higher video quality produces larger files and places higher demands on your computer.