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Free Screen and Sound Recorder: How to Get Started [2024]

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Free screen and sound recorder

Although it was four years ago, the global pandemic forced the world to adapt to new working methods. Whether to support working at home, enable distance learning, or find ways of socializing remotely, screen and sound recorders quickly became indispensable tools in homes, offices, and educational institutions worldwide.

The benefits of this new technology quickly became apparent and have informed new ways of working remotely in the post-COVID-19 world. Not only has it enabled workers to enjoy healthier work-life balance through hybrid working, but screen recording technology has also increased productivity, efficiencies, and cost savings for businesses across all industries.

Dadan has emerged as a screen and sound recording market leader.  Its comprehensive and versatile package allows businesses to embrace asynchronous communication to boost collaboration between remote teams simply by using its intuitive software to capture videos, screenshots, and audio recordings. You can also use its advanced editor to cut out fumbles and add annotations and comments to add context to recipients.

Other providers, such as Loom, Camtasia, and OBS Studio, have emerged to offer different options, each with their own strengths within this fast-diversifying market.

This article explains why you should consider embracing screen and sound recording to boost your business and guide you through Dadan’s offering.

Why Record Your Screen and Audio?

Recording your screen and audio offers several benefits, whether you’re a business owner, a remote team member, participating in distance learning, or a content creator.

Here are some of the main use cases and benefits offered by screen and sound recorders:

Asynchronous communication: As teams diversify, with members scattered across the globe, screen recording technology has revolutionized the ability for remote teams to communicate and collaborate through asynchronous communication. For example, teams delivering projects can record what’s on their screen and add commentary before sending it to other team members, even those in different time zones. This allows them to pick up when they’re online, provide comments and feedback, and not compromise the project delivery.

Webinars: Synchronized screens, webcams, and audio recordings have become game-changers in producing webinars. You can record all at once, enabling the creation of high-quality webinars. These are ideal for distance learning, whether at work or in education, with the option of live streaming so people can interact with you in real-time or recording so that others can engage at a convenient time.

Product demos: Similarly, screen recording is an excellent tool for creating compelling and persuasive product demos with audio commentary, annotations, and captioning for use on your website, social media, and YouTube accounts. Recorded product demos help build engagement with your audience by emphasizing the product’s features and benefits.

Customer service/troubleshooting: Screen recording software has proven valuable in improving customer service and providing easy troubleshooting solutions to regular queries. For instance, IT departments can create simple-to-follow troubleshooting videos resolving common issues. This helps users in your business find quick solutions and get back to work faster while releasing IT technicians to work on more significant value-added tasks.

Content creation: Social media interactions have never been higher, with many content creators using screen recording software to build a community of followers with whom they can interact in real-time through live streams or recordings. These tools are popular with gamers and people commenting on other content, as they can simultaneously record their screens, webcams, and audio to create engaging content.

What to Look for in Screen Recording Software

Now that you understand some of the uses and benefits of screen recording software, the question is what to look for when choosing screen recording software. Each package comes with different functionality and features that cater to different needs. Some are better for content creation, others as communication and feedback tools.

However, whatever your requirements, some things are non-negotiable. With that in mind, here’s a comprehensive list of features you should look for when choosing PC screen recording software.

4K video quality: Screen recording software that fails to clearly capture what’s on your screen immediately undermines trust in you, your brand, and your products. Video quality is the most crucial feature to look out for. Look for software that offers 4K or HD recording to ensure your recordings won’t pixelate, buffer, or freeze.

Webcam recording: Even if you don’t need to record your webcam as standard, there’s a chance it will be helpful at some point. Whether you’re demoing, presenting, or offering feedback, showing your face as you speak and record adds additional personality and engagement to your recordings that often lack from isolated voiceovers.  

Audio recording: Making sure your software captures all audio in your videos, both from your screen and via a microphone, ensures you can offer your audience the best-quality screen recording experience. You may want to invest in a plug-in mic for your device with a noise-reducing cover to minimize background noise, compromising the quality of your audio and giving your audience the best possible experience.

Intuitive UI: If you’re finding screen recording software to roll out across your business with multiple users, ensure it has a simple-to-use and intuitive user interface. This allows team members to use the software with minimal time lost through training. If you can’t access a critical feature with one click, then the software is more complex than it ought to be.

Presenting/Feedback tools: Uplifting your recordings with presenting and feedback tools should be high on your list of desirable features. Many screen recorders have advanced tools that offer interactivity, such as cursor highlighters, captions, annotations, and other tools that allow you to emphasize parts of your screen as you present and provide instant feedback on screenshots to help collaborative work. In addition, these tools will enable you to create accessible videos for those with visual or hearing impairments.

Sharing options: If you’re recording your screen, you want to share it with others. Whether as part of a webinar, enabling distance learning, troubleshooting, or facilitating cross-team collaboration, find software that either easily exports videos to MP4 file format or can share direct links with anyone who needs to access the video.

The above list may not be exhaustive in capturing your needs. You may want to add virtual green screens to project backgrounds into your videos, and you might need to find software that works on older-spec operating systems.

However, knowing what features you need makes it much easier to find the right screen recording software to help you get the best from your screen recording software.

How to get started with Dadan’s free screen and sound recorder

Dadan is compatible with Microsoft Windows, Mac, and a Google Chrome extension.

Follow these simple steps to understand how to record screen and audio in Windows 10, Mac, or through Google Chrome.

1. Sign up to Dadan for free

Dadan.io sign up page

Sign up for a free account at Dadan using your Google or Microsoft account or email address.

2. Chrome extension or App? or both?

Dadan download Chrome extension or app

Either install the Chrome extension or download the application for either Windows or Mac

3. Select your chosen recording types

Dadan Recording Extension

Choose how you’d like to record your screen. You can choose from:

  • Screen & webcam
  • Screen only
  • Cam only

4. Choose what you want to record

Dadan sharing preferences

Choose how much of your screen you want to record from:

  • Fullscreen
  • Window
  • Customized size

Then click start recording

5. Control the recording

Dadan screen recording controls

Control your recording using the toolbar to pause, restart, save, and delete recordings

Advanced Features of Dadan

Using Dadan’s screen and sound recorder is simple, yet it has an excellent suite of features that sets it apart from the competition.

Annotations: Dadan’s advanced annotation tools allow you to add layers of context as you record by writing and drawing directly onto the screen. This will enable you to highlight details on the screen and get to the point quickly. You can draw circles and arrows, use free-hand annotations, use different colors to mark up your recordings, emphasize priorities and warnings, or express your thoughts more easily. Annotations also allow remote teams to share feedback efficiently.

Interactions: Recording your video is only part of the fun with Dadan. If you’re interacting with other teams or customers, add a call-to-action button to the video to get them to take the next step. Whether that’s signing up to a mailing list, taking them to your website, or redirecting them to a product page, increase engagement with internal and external stakeholders. If you’re holding a webinar, you can include fun interactive elements like polls and quizzes.

Auto-transcription: Dadan’s screen recording software is critical to creating accessible videos. Its automatic transcription capability autonomously creates subtitles to assist viewers who  need to watch the video in a quiet place.

4K video recording: Dadan records your computer screen and webcam in full 4K quality, meaning there’s no fuzziness, buffering, or pixelating. Record confidently and share high-quality visual videos to suit your business needs, whether for internal collaboration, to help your customers, or to interact with your social media followers.

Alternatives to Dadan

Here are some other free screen and sound recorders that offer similar services to Dadan:

Loom

Loom is widely used as a communication tool that enables asynchronous communication across remote teams and different time zones. It’s easy to use and works across all operating systems. However, its auto-captioning capabilities sometimes generate inaccurate subtitles, compromising the quality of its product.

Nimbus

Nimbus is a screen and video recorder that allows users to watermark images, eliminating the risk of images being copied. While it has advanced screencasting capabilities, the free version comes with a limited number of features.

Awesome Screenshot

Awesome Screenshot is a versatile Chrome screen and video recording extension with many core features. Users can easily share video and/or webcam recordings via Jira, Slack, Trello, and other workflow tools. However, its user interface is clunky, and voice recordings are sometimes distorted.

OBS Studio

One of the most popular screen recording tools for live streamers, OBS Studio, is popular with gamers and content creators. While it’s free and has advanced recording tools, video editing features are minimal.

Movavi

Movavi offers excellent video quality, an intuitive user interface, and the ability to schedule your screen recording to capture webinars or videos while you’re away from your desk. However, you have to sign up for an annual subscription, and additional downloads are needed to access the platform’s editing tools.

Camtasia

Camtasia’s screen recording software stands out for its excellent range of image editing features, including animations and emojis. However, it is one of the most expensive packages on the market, and video exporting is more complex than with other tools.

The Final Word

Screen video recording software has advanced rapidly as business and individual needs have evolved in the past five years. While offering easy solutions to potentially complex collaborative challenges, screen video recorders are an increasingly important part of enabling smooth remote working, appealing content creation, and boosting customer engagement.

Dadan’s stands at the forefront of the market with its intuitive and easy-to-use screen recording software, which captures your screen, webcam, and audio for engaging content.

So, whether you’re looking to improve your marketing, interact with your customers, or use video screen recording for educational or training purposes, Dadan’s outstanding software is perfect for you.

Why not see for yourself and explore Dadan’s screen capture and collaboration features with a free 14-day trial?

Free Screen and Sound Recorder FAQs

How do I record my screen with sound?

Dadan’s screen recorder automatically records sound through your computer and via your computer microphone. You can also plug in an external mic to improve sound quality.

How do I record my computer screen?

Sign up for screen recording software, download it to your computer or Google Chrome browser, and follow the simple steps to get started.

How do I use a screen and sound recorder on my computer?

Follow these simple steps to use a screen and sound recorder.

  1. Sign up for a free account
  2. Download the software or Google Chrome Extension
  3. Log into the screen and sound recorder
  4. Press “Start Recording” to record your screen
  5. When finished, save your video, and it’s ready for editing

How do I record my screen on a Mac?

Dadan has a downloadable app for Mac users. It can also be used as a Google Chrome extension.

How do I record my screen on Windows?

You can download Dadan to your Windows PC via the Dadan website or the Google Chrome extension.

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