monkeywork 11 hours ago

Would love to be able to self host this tool - I'd be fine with purchasing a license to do so but I'd really rather not have this running on hardware that isn't mine - wrapping this up in a docker container that I can deploy would be mint.

  • johnwheeler 11 hours ago

    Right on! That is definitely something I am willing to explore over time! I know Basecamp has been experimenting with the Pay Once model with great success.

    • chillfox 10 hours ago

      I don't really have a use for this particular software, but I wanted to add my +1 to pay once self-hosted Sofware. It's such a great model for the customer and I have bought software with that model even when there were free open-source alternatives. I really hope it works on the business side as I would love for it to viable.

  • Imustaskforhelp 8 hours ago

    Don't worry about the docker container right now, since the community can figure it out though it would obviously be a great step imo.

    First we really need the Source code of this tool though if we really want this tool to stay for posterity!

    • owebmaster 8 hours ago

      No mate, you need to help the creator of the tool to make enough money from it to create a sustainable business/project

      • aloisdg 7 hours ago

        both are possible

        • VWWHFSfQ 4 hours ago

          That's a fantasy of the hobby FOSS developer.

          "If I make something so great then people will still pay me even if I give it away for free!"

          A tiny percentage of people might still pay for it, but the vast majority will not, and will complain loudly about any attempts to monetize.

          • dackdel 3 hours ago

            reportin for complaning duty

    • scoot an hour ago

      "For posterity"?

      What is the cultural significance of this tool that would require it?

torarnv 30 minutes ago

Does anyone have suggestions for tools similar to this/Screen Studio that works as a webcam on macOS? I'd like to share 2-3 windows, with those fancy backgrounds, and a camera overlay, in a 16:9 or 4:3 aspect ratio, without needing to change the resolution of my ultra wide monitor or move/close all other windows etc.

  • corytheboyd 21 minutes ago

    OBS can always get you there, but you will be doing the scene work on your own.

pentagrama 12 hours ago

Seems cool! But for privacy reasons I prefer to do the recording locally and send the file myself. I've been using the extension https://cursorful.com/ (only for Chrome), which doesn't upload the video to the cloud, it just does everything locally, and the free tier features are enough for me.

  • jofzar 11 hours ago

    I have used cursorful before but make sure you aren't using it for commerical use, need to buy a license for that.

    I really want a free version from commercial use tbh, not that cursorful is expensive

  • johnwheeler 11 hours ago

    Thanks! Hosting in the cloud lets me centrally manage assets and makes it easier to add interactive features like Arcade and Supademo, which require server-side components. It also simplifies analytics and customization. Currently, I store everything in S3 but purge the videos every few days. If this gains traction, I'm already experienced with implementing standards like SOC 2.

  • santa_boy 12 hours ago

    pretty cool. soon there will be an open source version of this

jofzar 11 hours ago

You 100% need a privacy policy, you are potentially storing PII information and secure details with this.

People are a nightmare, I can already see someone leaking secrets with this.

remon 4 hours ago

I know people are going on about privacy and that's fair but easily sorted with the appropriate data privacy policies and actually adhering to your commitments in them.

If you are approaching this from a potential business perspective that will not be the major issue. As you can tell from the comments most people do want their screen recordings on a remote service, now matter the policies involved.

That leaves you with some options :

1) Encrypt the outgoing WebRTC stream before it leaves the client device/browser (e.g. through WebRTC Insertable Streams or similar), encoded with a client local key that only your customer knows/manages. This ensures any screen recordings stored on your end cannot be accessed in any way. They can then download the recordings as needed and decrypt on demand. Note that this still has the implication of you storing and transmitting massive amounts of data which is likely to become cost prohibitive as a service.

2) As above but do the decrypting for your customer on your end so they get to download playable media. This obviously introduces the security risk of your platform becoming temporarily able to 'see' the content.

3) Save your recording directly through MediaRecorder WebM or similar (has various browser compatibility challenges as standards materialize) and uses less obvious encodings (we're still living with the bullshit of H.264 requiring licensing).

souhail_dev an hour ago

congrats on the launch! how are you rendering the video? is it browser based (wasm ffmpeg for example) or is it on cloud using aws lambda?

  • johnwheeler 27 minutes ago

    Thank you - It uses AWS Lambda. I started out using remotion, but I ran into some issues and just wanted control over it so I wrote my own rendering engine similar to remotion targeted towards my use case. This part took me about 1 1/2 months and still needs work with the UX.

    • souhail_dev 22 minutes ago

      but this will cost you money, you need to charge users. Maybe give a number of renders for free (like 50 render every month for free) and charge for extra renders

sgallant 3 hours ago

Well done! Just tested this out and it's great but some feedback:

I couldn't successfully trim my recording. I could get into "trim mode" but couldn't figure out how to do it. That's a really important feature to me and the UX needs a lot of work there.

A feature that I always use with Screen Studio is changing the speed of clips. For example, if I'm typing in the recording, I like to speed it up super fast.

Also, I like the Cursor size/preferences (size, hide when mouse isn't moving, etc)

A feature that is missing from SS is: I can't insert title cards or my own clips. I kinda wish it took video editing to the next level and allowed me to insert other clips or title cards.

I'm still not happy with Screen Studio's pricing change.

Good luck!

  • johnwheeler an hour ago

    I removed the cut button - but trimming the start and end points still works

  • johnwheeler 2 hours ago

    Hey thank you so much for this feedback. What are your use cases for a tool like this?

    Right now, there is a button with scissors on it that doesn't work. I apologize for not removing that, but I didn't think this post would even make the front page. (as an aside - I've tried several times posting this without success, but a change to the landing page much have done it)

    I am definitely going to add the ability to add cards and title screens - and nice ones! I'd love for you to be a part of that conversation.

    If you're willing and you have time, I'd love to connect for ongoing feedback. Like some of the other comments have surmised, I will eventually want to charge for it, and I could give you free service (I don't want to say lifetime, because I don't know what that implies, but it would effectively be lifetime or something very generous). I don't want to pretend that means to much right now - as you've stated, it needs a lot of work. But I am determined! And the features you mention are on my roadmap.

    This offer extends to anyone willing to provide useful feedback over time, which would mean responding to one or two e-mails a month probably. I don't know what it looks like. I just want help. Thanks!

    • iambateman 18 minutes ago

      John, this is spectacular. I'd love to go back and forth with you on this...I've wanted something like this for a long time and I'm super impressed. Could you email me? stephen@bate-man.com.

lewiatan11 8 hours ago

Awesome stuff. It requires some polishing though, but I prefer it over many apps. To me - it didn't work well with USB camera on a laptop - it could only choose one and it was the one built into my laptop.

Take the feedback, do some improvements. I will use it even if you don't - love it :-)

  • johnwheeler 2 hours ago

    Thank you! If you're willing to provide feedback over time, I'll implement features you're looking for if you have legit use cases for this tool and are willing to use it. I'll give you free service in exchange once I begin charging.

    The aspect ratio issue you mention has not been well tested, and your feedback is already very valuable. I will fix this.

Imustaskforhelp 8 hours ago

Hey! What are your opinions on open sourcing this tool considering privacy considerations and simply I would love it if I can host my own data/ not have to worry about what proprietary thing is running!

Thanks in advance

  • owebmaster 8 hours ago

    > What are your opinions on open sourcing this tool

    What are your opinions on the best way for you to pay for it as an open source tool?

drpotato 13 hours ago

Doesn't appear to work on Firefox or Safari — dialog closes immediately after opening.

  • johnwheeler 11 hours ago

    Thanks again - I got it working on Firefox and it's deploying now. Still investigating Safari...

  • busymom0 13 hours ago

    Fails for me in similar fashion on macOS Safari.

  • johnwheeler 13 hours ago

    I'm looking into it now. It has been tested on those but I've made some changes to the home page that might have broken that. Thank you!

_pdp_ 8 hours ago

It is cool but I thought it was client-side only - it turns out the videos are exported and stored remote. Can you confirm?

  • johnwheeler 26 minutes ago

    Yes this is correct - they are stored in s3 and deleted every few days.

orliesaurus 12 hours ago

Is there any way I can host my own version of this?

  • johnwheeler 11 hours ago

    Do you mean the video that you create or the editor itself? I'm always open for discussing anything.

    • alessioalex 8 hours ago

      He probably means the whole thing, to self host it somewhere (potentially even on localhost).

thund 7 hours ago

It’s time to have self hosted solutions for this kind of activity, with simple UIs, voice editing, text to audio, without subscriptions. Just a matter of time OSS will deliver

garganzol 3 hours ago

I love this tool, but I am pessimistic because the following is probably going to happen next:

1. At some point, the app will be covered with tonloads of ads to the point of impossibility to use

2. The core functionality will be hid behind sign-up/sign-in walls. The email addresses will be collected and then spammed to the brim

3. To add an insult to the injury, the app features will be gradually crippled unless you switch to a "Pro" plan. But you will not be able to do that efficiently as a user because you will be constantly attacked, bombarded and poisoned by ad banners and popups everywhere

4. Then, the app will start to upsell other offerings (of course, with modal banners!)

Those are cynical observations but they are 99% precise. I wish you good luck if you are among 1% elite.

  • jitbit 3 hours ago

    This is the author's 3rd or 4th attempt to launch a product in this niche, Interactivedemo.ai (ProductHunt launch), demo.fun (link in their profile), a chrome extension with the same name (never took off), etc. I got this all from their Twitter profile

    I'm a bootstrapped software developer myself, so I can't decide if I should admire this or flag this as spam. But you're probably right, we're getting a "pricing" page very soon.

Daub 11 hours ago

I use screen recorders all the time. Question: what format does it capture in? Some screen recorders capture as mov files, which get janky in high zoom. A pro app like Camtasia captures in what I assume is the raw screen data, and for this reason zooming in on a clip works really well.

pratio 11 hours ago

Congratulations on the release, is there a plan to opensource it? I've been using https://snapify.it/, it's opensource but I haven't been able to selfhost it.

  • johnwheeler 11 hours ago

    Thank you pratio! I quit my job and this is my full time gig now. I've got about three years of runway, so if I can't get it to PMF soon--then yes and I'll move on to something else.

    I'm super passionate about this though. Totally up my alley as a Dev and aspiring Growth Hacker, Product Marketing Manager.

    The idea is to build a tool and use it to grow itself.

    Also, anyone want to talk offline about anything at all, please contact me at john@screenrecorder.me

    • owebmaster 8 hours ago

      Hey! Great product you released. Don't feel pressured by the people asking you to release everything for free, it's a terrible strategy to create a profitable business.

retox 13 hours ago

Does the video get stored on your server at any point in the process?

Might be worth calling that out either way.

  • johnwheeler 13 hours ago

    Yes, I currently save them to Amazon S3, but they're deleted after a few days. It's still just a hobby project, so I haven't set up a privacy policy yet. You're right though, I definitely need to clarify this explicitly. Thanks for pointing it out!

kleiba 8 hours ago

I never thought I'd see the expressions "screen recording" and "stunning" being used together...

sandos 8 hours ago

I tried capturing a portrait mode monitor, and that video came out very weird: Only the upper right quadrant of the video had a gradient, with my portrait window in the middle....

johnwheeler 13 hours ago

Hi HN,

I've built a 100% web-based screen recording tool aimed at product marketing managers, developers, or anyone wanting to showcase their work along with a talking head. Inspired by ScreenStudio, it allows you to effortlessly create polished recordings directly from your browser.

A couple of technical highlights I'm particularly proud of:

Initially, I used ReMotion but ran into limitations. I ended up building my own animation engine from scratch, closely inspired by ReMotion's capabilities but tailored specifically for my use-case.

Due to browser security constraints with getDisplayMedia(), I couldn't directly track cursor movements. To overcome this, I trained a custom YOLO (You-Only-Look-Once) model for cursor detection. This allowed me to implement smooth, mouse-following animations within recordings, bypassing the browser limitations entirely.

Happy to dive deeper into the tech if anyone's interested!

santa_boy 12 hours ago

Looks interesting mate. screenstudio keeps crashing for me endlessly ... so this is a welcome effort

dsco 9 hours ago

Fantastic product! I almost feel bad for Screen Studio as he's a solo creator and charges for the product, this will most certainly be bad news for him

namanyayg 13 hours ago

I was looking for something like this since so long. Thank you for making it! Will test it out soon.

  • johnwheeler 13 hours ago

    That's great to hear. I am going to put up some communication channel on the site soon so I can talk back and forth to users. Let me know if you have any recommendations on what that could look like. I have tried Discord, but I think I want something more one on one.

    I'd love to make it do what you need.

kisamoto 3 hours ago

I have no connection but seeing as these conversations often discuss alternatives I'd like to mention https://screenrun.app/.

It's web based, offers plenty of features and can be had for a one-time of $40.

I've only used it a handful of times however I keep coming back.

nico 13 hours ago

How long can the recordings be? Recently needed to do some 1-2hr long recordings. Look works pretty well for that, QuickTime + OBS could, but generates massive files, which are hard to share

  • ffsm8 12 hours ago

    Fyi, you can easily encode your obs recording via good old Handbreak or similar (editors usually also let you so that, but if you are not planning to edit.. )

    https://handbrake.fr/

  • johnwheeler 13 hours ago

    Currently, videos are recorded and uploaded directly to Amazon S3, and I haven't set an explicit limit on video length. I've personally tested uploads around 15–20 minutes without issues, and a couple of users have successfully recorded 30-minute videos, though I haven't fully rendered or extensively tested videos at that length yet.

    The app uses a custom renderer inspired by ReMotion, so while the app can output MP4s, I also have a player that is dynamic HTML/CSS animation powered by JS, hosted either on my site. I could make it a player that is hosted from anywhere, and I think I will do this for a free tier.

    Theoretically, this setup can handle videos of arbitrary length, but practically speaking, I've only thoroughly tested around 10–15 minutes. I'd recommend caution with significantly longer recordings (like an hour) for now, as you might encounter rendering issues.

todotask2 10 hours ago

What does it means "Return here after selecting your screen"? I have no idea how I should selct, select what?

android521 14 hours ago

Doesn’t seem to work on mobile

  • johnwheeler 13 hours ago

    It doesn't, and I need to put up a little blurb when it is launched on mobile. I will do that now.

taherchhabra 9 hours ago

congrats on the launch. I was just about looking for a tool like this.

Oras 8 hours ago

I’ve using screen studio since it was beta release. Making alternative is a start but if you want to be better, I would suggest adding what’s missing from screen studio.

Few things I would like to see:

- Ability to add images in the time line, think of intro/outro.

- Ability to add notes (text) on frames to explain something or highlight an area.

As some comments mentioned, running locally is a must, and I have no problem paying for it.

Good luck

johnwheeler 12 hours ago

OP here: I'm looking for testers for my web-based screen recorder app—specifically product marketing managers or anyone regularly demonstrating software to clients. I'd love your feedback, and in return, I'll prioritize building or adjusting the tool based on your specific needs (within my technical capabilities). I'm particularly interested in exploring interactive demo features similar to Arcade or SupaDemo, so suggestions in that direction would be especially helpful.

kvallans 13 hours ago

F, I bought the lifetime of screen studio

Brosper 7 hours ago

Why people still write "Follow me on Twitter" (found on web website) when there is no Twitter anymore?

  • conductr 7 hours ago

    The same reason we call the computer in our pocket a phone?

    • Brosper 3 hours ago

      What? That not the same reason. It's a name of a service.

      Then we should call Vercel Zeit because it was always Zeit and Vercel name is just a founder joke.

      • hombre_fatal 2 hours ago

        It's not that deep. "Twitter" just has more cultural mass than "X".

        This is like correcting someone who says "legos" instead of "Lego": who cares what a corporation wants you to call it?