The presentation software of the Microsoft Office suite natively integrates a screen recording tool.
Finding good video capture software isn’t always easy. However, sometimes it is not necessary to look very far to find what you are looking for. You may already have software on your PC capable of performing the manipulation.
Not many people know this, but like VLC, PowerPoint, the presentation software for the Microsoft Office suite, has a built-in video recording tool for the screen. Its main advantage? Unlike dedicated applications, it is extremely easy to use, requires no configuration, and can export your screencast video with just a few clicks.
1. Create a new slideshow
To perform a screencast with PowerPoint, launch the program on your PC, and choose to create a New Presentation.
2. Insert a screen recording
Now go to the Insert tab of the PowerPoint toolbar.
At the right end of it, click on Screen recording to open the screencasting module.
3. Start the capture
By default, PowerPoint’s screen recording module turns the screen gray and offers you to select an area. Using the cursor, define the area of ​​the screen you want to record as video.
Then start the video capture of the screen by clicking on the Record button.
4. Record the video
To stop recording your screen, use the Windows keyboard shortcut + Shift + Q, or move the mouse cursor over the top of the screen, to the location of the tools window that has been automatically hidden, to deploy it again, and click the Stop button.
The video should automatically be added as a clip in the active slide.
5. Edit the video
If you want, PowerPoint allows you to quickly edit the video, trimming the beginning and / or the end.
To do this, right click on the video to display the optional menu and editing tools and click Supprespace.
The video should open in an individual edit window. Move the green and red handles displayed at the start and end of the video timeline to define, in blue, the part of the video to keep. Validate the trimming of the video by clicking on OK.
6. Save the video
Right click again on the inserted video clip on the slide, and choose to Save the media item as …
Then select the backup directory where your video will be stored, choose a name for your video and confirm it will be saved to your hard drive by clicking the Save button.
The generated video file is in MP4 format, playable by all recent media players. You can then close PowerPoint without saving the slideshow that was used to save the screencast.