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webcam recording software

8 Best Webcam Recording Software Used To Stream On Any Platform

In today’s world of YouTubers and content creators, webcams have taken center stage in our lives, and having good webcam recording software has become a rather understated part of our lives. A lot of people don’t use recording software but here are a few reasons why you should :

  1. You get complete control over how you look online allowing you control how much you reveal to people hence providing privacy
  2. They can help improve video quality without having all the professional equipment
  3. You can adjust parameters such as the position of the face camera on screen, sparing you some time in editing.

WHAT IS A WEBCAM RECORDING SOFTWARE?

For the most part, people still regard webcam software as pointless bloatware, which couldn’t be further from the truth. Webcam software allows you to change your look on video calls. It could be that difference that separates you from the rest of your colleagues.

The difference between good webcam software and a bad one can make all the difference. Being a world of work from home it is important that we care more about how we look online as it can change people’s perception of who we are and having that extra professional touch always goes a long way.

But webcam software isn’t limited to making you look better online, it can also help you record meetings and presentations that you want to keep with you. It can help you create product videos and reaction videos.

As a student and a work-from-home intern, I can testify to how important it is to know your webcam software. I personally use OBS studio the most as it provides me the ability to finetune everything down to the last pixel. It works well on my laptop and has a great community around it. Another software that comes close to OBS studio on my list would be the paid version of YouCam 9 although most of its features are not available in the free version, the paid version sounds amazing value for money.

Apart from OBS studio and YouCam 9 Logitech Capture stood out to me as it has all the essential features and a bit more. It is perfect for everyday use in video calls and for some basic content creation.

In case you’re on mac or on windows you can use the default webcam and screen recording tools to get the work done. You can screen record on windows by bringing up the windows game bar (windows button + G) and hitting record there. You can record yourself using the camera app on windows. On a mac, you can use QuickTime to do both screen recording as well as record yourself on the webcam, but you can’t do them simultaneously to record your webcam as well as your screen. I would suggest using veed.io in case you don’t want to download any software. It provides basic 2 source recording (your webcam and your screen).

The other software on this list are ones that specialize in something or are free. You should check out the pros and cons for each and every one of these listed here before making a decision as these were the top 8 webcam recording software that I found.

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BEST WEBCAM RECORDING SOFTWARES

All said I would like to introduce you to some of the free/cheap options in the field of webcam recording software:

1. OBS Studio

webcam recording software

OBS Studio is a Free and Open Source Software or FOSS for short. This is my favorite kind of software since these are community-made and are free to use. OBS is very popular among streamers and YouTubers. Here are some of the pros and cons :

PROS:

  1. It’s free
  2. Real time video and audio mixing
  3. It has filters for chroma keying, masking and colour adjustment
  4. Easy and intuitive setup
  5. Has a dark theme
  6. Well optimised for streaming on twitch, youtube,facebook live, etc.
  7. Allows multiple sources and scenes
  8. You can control video and audio quality very easily by selecting the desired frame rate and the desired resolution from each source. You can also mess around with the bitrate
  9. Available on all platforms
  10. Plugins available to enhance stream
  11. Can record in 4K
  12. Crop screen recording region very easily

CONS:

  1. Is not able to link audio files as an audio source
  2. Does not work on windows XP

2. Bandicam

webcam recording software

Bandicam has been the internet’s favorite choice in screen recording and webcam recording software since the start. It has a free tier available for all platforms which is pretty decent but if you are considering creating premium video content I’d suggest that you pay for the paid tiers since the free version has an annoying watermark on top. Bandicam has evolved over the years to become one of the biggest players in the game, all said here are a few pros and cons :

PROS:

  1. It has a generous free tier
  2. Very light on the cpu
  3. It has dedicated modes to help better record what is happening on the screen
  4. You can external sources like webcams and external monitors
  5. Can record in 4K
  6. Supports a wide range of file types
  7. Hardware accelerated recording available
  8. Zoom into portion of source you want to record

CONS:

  1. Annoying watermark in free version
  2. No colour grading and chroma key options available 
  3. Does not support multiple scenes
  4. No live mixer available

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3. Wondershare DemoCreator

webcam recording software

PROS:

  1. It has a free tier that can get you up and running in no time
  2. The screen recorder and the video editor are very well integrated and boast amazing features
  3. Flexible screen recording
  4. Easy to use interface
  5. Free updates
  6. Crop into regions on your screen that you want to record

CONS:

  1. Paid version bills annually
  2. The video editor is not well suited for everyone
  3. Exported videos in the trial version are watermarked
  4. It still has a few known bugs
  5. No live mixer
  6. Known to not be very well optimised for game recording and streaming

4. Logitech Capture

webcam recording software

If you are a Logitech user this is a must-try software as it offers some of the quintessential features required to record yourself. It works well with video calls and also boasts youtube streaming capabilities. Logitech has done a good job at keeping this software updated and with the times. It allows you to control basic things such as saturation, brightness, and lighting. Even though it’s fairly basic it is a worthy rival to the other software we have talked about until this point so without any further ado here are some pros and cons :

PROS:

  1. It comes as a free bundle along with logitech cameras
  2. Works well across platforms (windows and mac)
  3. Light on cpu usage
  4. Multiple sources are supported
  5. Many transitions and effects are available

CONS:

  1. Comes free but only with logitech webcams
  2. It is highly feature deficient hence not suited for professional use
  3. Lacks audio mixers
  4. You have to make a logitech account to avail this software

5. WINDOWS CAMERA

webcam recording software

The aptly named camera app on windows is a good starting point for most users, it provides good support for all video cameras and can record up to 4K (only if your camera supports 4K). Although it does not support multiple sources hence you can’t record your screen simultaneously. It is aimed at making blogs and taking pictures with your webcam. Here are some pros and cons to consider :

PROS:

  1. It comes preinstalled on all windows computers
  2. Easy to use
  3. Lots of funky filters and effects

CONS:

  1. Does not have any picture controls such as saturation, brightness or hue
  2. Filters lack practicality they are mostly just gimmicks
  3. Cannot record your screen
  4. Cannot upscale your resolution or downscale it
  5. Limited support for various file types
  6. Low quality video in general
  7. No audio mixer of any sort
  8. Lags on older computers
  9. Grainy picture quality on most laptops
  10. Does not have video call enhancement features
  11. Cannot be used for streaming at all

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6. QuickTime

webcam recording software

QuickTime comes preinstalled on Mac and is available for download on windows. Helps you capture your screen, your webcam, etc. It works well across devices as well (apple devices) It also allows you to edit videos. It is light on the CPU and an able competitor to other such software

PROS:

  1. Comes preinstalled on mac
  2. High quality screen recording and webcam capturing capabilities
  3. Beginner friendly environment 
  4. You can decide which portion of the screen is captured or which window is captured
  5. Has great support
  6. Integrated video editor available as well

CONS:

  1. The windows version cannot screen record
  2. Is not available on linux
  3. Single source recording only, cannot record your screen and webcam at once
  4. Cannot upscale resolution
  5. Does not have audio mixer
  6. Lacks filters such as chroma key and colour adjustment tools
  7. Cannot switch sources while recording
  8. Does not enhance video call quality
  9. Limited support for different file types
  10. No support for streaming at all
  11. Last update for windows was in 2016

7. YouCam 9

webcam recording software

Owned by CyberLink, YouCam 9 boasts some amazing features such as skin tone adjustment and video call enhancement features. It offers two tiers, a free and a paid tier none of which are a bad offer. The paid tier starts at Rs.2799 (at the time of writing this article). Here are some pros and cons to consider while trying this out

PROS:

  1. Available for free
  2. It has skin tone enhancement and beautification features
  3. It enhances video call quality
  4. Supports a wide range of augmented reality effects
  5. Optimised for streaming and supports streaming on youtube, twitch, facebook live and more
  6. Customisable images and titles
  7. Huge array of video effects
  8. Supports animated emojis
  9. Has face login and face logout features

CONS:

  1. Available on Windows only
  2. The free plan is very limiting
  3. Does not have an audio mixer

8. Veed.io

webcam recording software

The products we’ve talked about so far need to be installed on your computer but Veed approaches this problem in another way, it is an online webcam and screen recording software that can be used without any installation all you need is a webcam and the internet.

PROS:

  1. It has zero setup allowing you to record on the fly
  2. Easy to use since it takes care of the complex setting up process
  3. Accessible to anyone who can access the internet
  4. Multiple default presets to choose from that help you minimise set up time even further
  5. Has a chrome extension for those who use the service often
  6. You can edit the recording before exporting it hence reducing space taken by uncut recordings

CONS:

  1. Can record 2 sources at max (your screen and webcam)
  2. It does have a free tier but that is very limiting.
  3. Lacks some crucial features such as resizing windows and filters

SIDE BY SIDE COMPARISON

OBS studioBandicamWondershare DemoCreatorLogitech CaptureCameraQuick timeYouCam 9Veed.io
Pricefreefree/$27.79free/$19.99freefreefreefree/Rs.2799free/$12
Supports windowsyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes
Supports macyesnoyesnonoyesnoyes
Supports Linuxyesnonononononoyes
Video call enhancementyesnonoyesNoNoyesno
Streaming supportYesNoNoYesNoNoYesno
Number of sources that can be used simultaneouslyMore than 22More than 2211More than 22
Audio mixerYesNoNoNoNoNoNono

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