1. Overview System Requirements OS Icecream Screen Recorder is compatible with the following versions of Windows: Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 10. CPU Intel, AMD or any other compatible processor with at least 2.66 GHz CPU speed will help to successfully work with Icecream Screen Recorder. RAM We recommend to have at least 2GB RAM for successful work. Video Card Although the program is compatible with 1024x768 resolution displays, we strongly recommend using at least 1280x1024 display. Free Disk Space Make sure there is at least 150MB of free disk space to install Icecream Screen Recorder. Recommended free disk space for recordings is 5GB. Program’s Features Video Capturing Icecream Screen Recorder allows users to capture streaming video, desktop, gaming sessions, and any other on-screen activities and save the output files in WebM, MP4 and MKV formats. The program lets to pause, resume and stop the process at any time, draw on screen, select the desired resolution of the videos. It also offers a number of useful configuration options. Screenshot taking The application lets taking screenshots of a full screen or a certain section of it. Users can either save the files as JPG or PNG images, copy them to clipboard or share screenshots as URLs. Drawing Icecream Screen Recorder supports editing and commenting on the videos and screenshots by using the drawing and text tools. Users can type or draw over the captured video or image to highlight, mark out or add some information. Icecream Screen Recorder also provides users with such tools as step tool, brush, rectangle, circle, arrow and text. Active Desktop Users can activate the desktop during screen capturing or screenshot taking using 'Switch' button and use it in a habitual way. Thus, users can easily switch between windows, tabs and folders, open new programs, etc. Sound Recording The program successfully records both system and microphone sounds. To record system sounds, tweak the balance and volume settings and allow Icecream Screen Recorder to capture video and audio simultaneously. It’s also possible to use a mic to comment on a video that’s being captured. Pause and resume screen recording It’s possible to pause video capturing at any moment to add extra elements, do the editing, change the background, etc. After that, users can resume the process and it will be continued from the exact point it was stopped at. Full Screen Game Recording Those who record videogaming sessions will appreciate program’s ability to capture the video in a full screen mode. Thus, users can record the games without cropping any panels, which is very important for creating high quality gaming podcasts. Besides, the program lets recording the games with a sound and even comment on them while playing. Hotkeys Icecream Screen Recorder offers a number of hotkey combinations for a higher convenience in use. There are default hotkeys that help to stop, pause, and resume a video, take a screenshot, copy it or save it as a URL, and many more. It’s possible to enter the desired key combinations manually if the default ones are not convenient enough or disable them completely. Fast access from the icon in tray Program’s icon will be added to the tray while being in use, and users can right click on it to get a quick access to basic options like video or screenshot modes, settings, etc. Thus, the process is controlled directly from the desktop. File size and disk space limitations The program lets setting file size and disk space limitations to prevent recording files that are too large in size and control the computer'sr resources. By setting these limitations, the program stops recording once the size of the file or the amount of free disk space exceeds the configured limit. Hide mouse and highlight it In certain cases, users may want to hide mouse cursor from the screen (for example while recording the games) or show and even highlight it (for various tutorials and reviews). Icecream Screen Recorder supports hiding or showing mouse cursor depending on the specific situation and also highlight it if needed. Hide desktop icons In case a user doesn’t want the desktop icons to be visible in the video, it's possible to choose a special option to hide them. After that, the program will capture everything except all the desktop icons. Convenient sharing The program offers two ways of sharing screenshots – saving them to buffer for posterior use or sharing images as URLs. Scheduled recording Icecream Screen Recorder supports scheduled screen capture. To initiate a scheduled recording simply enter the start and stop date and time in Tasks mode. The task will be initiated and finished automatically according to the entered time. Zoom in/Zoom out During the recording process users can use Zoom in and Zoom out tools to enlarge the captured area. The program supports x16 zooming of the initially selected area to record. Current zoom ratio is shown on the control panel. Custom watermark This screen recorder lets users add custom watermarks to the captured videos. Users can upload an image from their computers, select its opacity and position on the screen . Step tool Step tool is a great feature for those, who create instructions using this screen recording software. Select this tool and click the screen to add numbered markers to the captured video. Resetting the current stepping to start a new listing is available as well. Display hotkeys used in the video Thanks to this feature all the hotkey combinations with Ctrl or Ctrl+Shift pressed during the process of screen capture will be displayed in the output video. Around mouse recording This screen capture software offers around mouse recording mode: select the size of the recording area and it will remain the same while you move the mouse around the screen. Fast selection of last recording area In case there is a need to record a video of the same area as was used during the previous recording simply select the Last area recording mode to restore it. Area auto detection To select a certain element to be recorded easily there's an area auto detection recording mode. Hover the cursor within working in this mode over a window or other element located on your screen to select the area to be captured. Webcam recording Icecream Screen Recorder lets adding webcam image during the video capture process. The size of the webcam window can be customized and opened in full size of the recording area. The position of the webcam image can also be relocated within the selected area to be captured. Area selection zoomer Area selection zoomer is a magnifying glass enlarger that helps to closely preview the positions of the selected recording area borders. Hover the mouse cursor over the frames of the recording area to zoom in and check if it is really what is needed. Output Formats Video All recordings are saved in MP4, MKV and WebM formats. Format used can be changed in Video tab of the program's Settings. Screenshots Screenshots are saved as images in PNG and JPG formats. Format used can be changed in the System tab of the program's Settings. 2. Interface Main Window After launching the program, there will be the Loading window and then the main window of Icecream Screen Recorder. Before skipping to the actual screen capturing in the working area, there is the program’s logo and two controls in the middle of the window: “Capture video” and “Screenshot”. Choosing one of them will bring a user to a desired mode, and after that a user can start working. Main Controls Please, familiarize yourself with the main controls prior to using the program: Capture video button - lets selecting an area of the screen and capture a video in the capture video mode. Hover mouse cursor over the triangle control right to the button to be able to select one of 5 area selection modes of screen recording. Read more about it in Select recording area section of this manual. Screenshot button - lets taking a screenshot of a selected area in the screenshot mode. Hover mouse cursor over the triangle control right to the button to be able to select one of 4 area selection modes of screenshot taking. Read more about it in Select screenshot section of this manual. Icecream.me button - opens IcecreamApps.com website in the default browser. Help button - opens the latest version of Icecream Screen Recorder manual on IcecreamApps.com website. Settings button - opens the Settings panel. Clear history button - clears saved media log in History panel. Tasks button — opens the Tasks panel for scheduled recordings. 3. Capture Video Mode Select recording area Icecream Screen Recorder offers 5 modes of the recording – custom area, fullscreen, last area, area auto detection and around mouse. When hovering the mouse over the “Capture video” button, the drop down list with available modes of area selection appears. When clicking the button – the custom area selection mode is selected by default. Select custom area After clicking the “Capture video” button in the main window, a user can select an area of the screen to be captured. To do that, toggle the frame over the screen and release it once it frames the desired zone. The resolution of the area will be seen as a little tag in the upper left corner of the frame, where “H” stands for height and “W” stands for width. After releasing the cursor, the frame will be fixed, but its size can still be changed in case it appeared to be too large or too small – it can be either stretched manually by pressing and holding the markers on the frame or by choosing one of the preset profiles that will be available on the control panel displayed near the frame. Particularly, such profiles as “Custom”, “Full screen”, “720p”, “1024x768p”, “640x480p”, “320x240p”, or “160x140p” can be selected. By choosing the “Custom” profile, a user can enter the desired values for width and height manually. It is also possible to customize the size of the selected area with Up and Down keys of the keyboard. The selected frame can be moved around the desktop – just click it, hold and drag the mouse to relocate the frame, and release once it's in the right place. Select Fullscreen mode Select this mode to capture the whole screen area. If there are multiple monitors available then it will be possible to choose among the list of available screens. Select Last area mode This mode helps to select the same area for the screen capture that was last used by the user. Select Area auto detection mode This mode helps automatically detect the recording area. Select this mode and hover the mouse over a window to select the whole window or detached blocks (frames, banners, widgets, etc.). To apply the selection of the area click the F1 button or the orange logo of the program that is displayed next to the borders in the upper left corner of the recording area. Press ESC to cancel auto detection and return to the program's main screen. Select Around mouse mode This recording mode lets choosing a region of a certain size that will be recorded around the mouse cursor being moved by user over the desktop. You can choose one of the default size presets. This mode of area selection can be only applied during the screen capture. Please note that no control panel is available in this mode. Recording can be stopped with hotkey (Ctrl+Shift+S by default) or through program's icon in Windows tray. Control panel Control panel will show up near the selected area. If the panel doesn't fit outside the recording area (for example in a full screen mode), the program will suggest to hide it. After that, the desktop will become inactive. Use hotkeys to manage the process while the panel is inactive. Control panel elements for video capturing Control panel offers an access to several features: Record/Pause/Resume The “Rec” button in the left side immediately initiates screen capturing. After clicking this button, it will be changed to the “Pause” icon which can be pressed to stop recording for a while. The “Pause” icon, in its turn, will be changed to the “Resume” icon – click it to proceed with the recording. Switch Clicking this button will make the desktop active so all the icons, panels and tabs could be used in a regular mode. Area This button lets adjusting the size of the frame. Read more about adjusting the frames in Select recording area section of this manual. Draw “Draw” panel offers the needed functionality to add certain graphical elements to edit the video according to the needs of a user. Particularly, there are the drawing or text tools similar to those featured by the standard graphic editors. This can be done both during the recording or while the video is paused. All tools of 'Draw' panel are described in Draw Panel section of this manual. Alternatively hotkey (Ctrl+Shift+D by default) can be used to activate the drawing panel. Stop This button helps to complete the recording and save the video. After pressing it, there will be a “Video saved!” informer with the output file’s path, duration, resolution, and size information. Clicking the folder icon will bring a user to the containing folder with a focus on this exact video file. A folder to which all the recorded videos will be saved by default can be selected through the “Program Settings” panel. Alternatively hotkey (Ctrl+Shift+S by default) can be used to stop the video recording. Zoom in / Zoom out User can change the zooming ratio (up to x16) by pressing these buttons. The current zoom ratio is shown to the right of 'Zoom in' and 'Zoom out' buttons on the control panel. Alternatively hotkeys (F10 and F9 by default) can be used to zoom in and out the recording area. Webcam button This button adds the webcam image to the recorded video. The webcam will be opened in the separate window. Its size can be customized by toggling the markers in the corners, and it can be relocated inside of the the frames of the recording area. Double click the webcam window to fit it into the selected area, double click it once again to restore it back to the previous size. The button will be disabled if no webcams are connected to the current PC. Alternatively hotkey (Ctrl+Shift+W by default) can be used to enable webcamera. Audio button Click the audio button to open audio controls on the control panel. In its left side there's an equalizer showing the live audio volume. In the middle there's a button to disable/enable audio, press it to stop/continue recording audio. To the right there's a current volume level slider, swipe the marker on it to increase/decrease the volume. The set level's value is shown to the right of the slider in percents.
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