ByteScout Screen Capturing SDK – C# – Record Screen from Command Line Console

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ByteScout Screen Capturing SDK – C# – Record Screen from Command Line Console

printable version:
ByteScout-Screen-Capturing-SDK-C-sharp-Record-Screen-from-Command-Line-Console.pdf

How to record screen from command line console in C# using ByteScout Screen Capturing SDK

Write code in C# to record screen from command line console with this step-by-step tutorial

Sample source code below will show you how to cope with a difficult task like record screen from command line console in C#. ByteScout Screen Capturing SDK: the SDK for developers for quick implementation of screen video recording. The SDK records screen into video or into a series of screenshots. Can also record audio. Saves video into AVI,WMV and Google’s WebM. Output video quality, size, resolution or framerate can be adjusted easily. Provides additional tools for privacy features like blacking out on scren areas with sensitive information on screen right during recording. Supports web camera as input and can add instant text and images into video output. It can record screen from command line console in C#.

You will save a lot of time on writing and testing code as you may just take the C# code from ByteScout Screen Capturing SDK for record screen from command line console below and use it in your application. This C# sample code is all you need for your app. Just copy and paste the code, add references (if needs to) and you are all set! Enjoy writing a code with ready-to-use sample C# codes.

ByteScout Screen Capturing SDK free trial version is available on our website. C# and other programming languages are supported.

On-demand (REST Web API) version:
Web API (on-demand version)

On-premise offline SDK for Windows:
60 Day Free Trial (on-premise)

Program.cs

      using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Text;
using System.Globalization;
using System.Threading;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
using System.Drawing;
using BytescoutScreenCapturingLib;


// NOTE: if you are getting error like "invalid image" related to loading the SDK's dll then 
// try to do the following:
// 1) remove the reference to the SDK by View - Solution Explorer
// then click on References, select Bytescout... reference name and right-click it and select Remove
// 2) To re-add click on the menu: Project - Add Reference
// 3) In "Add Reference" dialog switch to "COM" tab and find Bytescout...
// 4) Select it and click "Add" 
// 5) Recompile the application 
// Note: if you need to run on both x64 and x86 then please make sure you have set "Embed Interop Types" to True for this reference

namespace CaptureScreenCSharp
{
    public class Win32Interop
    {
        [DllImport("crtdll.dll")]
        public static extern int _kbhit();
    }

    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            Capturer capturer = new Capturer(); // create new screen capturer object


            if (args.Length < 1)
            {
                usage(capturer);
                return;
            }

            capturer.OutputFileName = args[0];
            capturer.CapturingType = CaptureAreaType.catRegion;
            setParams(args, capturer);

            // set border around captured area if we are not capturing entire screen
            if (
                capturer.CapturingType != CaptureAreaType.catScreen &&
                capturer.CapturingType != CaptureAreaType.catWebcamFullScreen
                )
            {
                // set border style
                capturer.CaptureAreaBorderType = CaptureAreaBorderType.cabtDashed;
                capturer.CaptureAreaBorderColor = (uint)ColorTranslator.ToOle(Color.Red);
            }

	    // uncomment to enable recording of semitransparent or layered windows (Warning: may cause mouse cursor flickering)
	    // capturer.CaptureTransparentControls = true;

	    // WMV and WEBM output use WMVVideoBitrate property to control output video bitrate
   	    // so try to increase it by x2 or x3 times if you think the output video are you are getting is laggy
	    // capturer.WMVVideoBitrate = capturer.WMVVideoBitrate * 2;


            try
            {
                capturer.Run();

	// IMPORTANT: if you want to check for some code if need to stop the recording then make sure you are 
	// using Thread.Sleep(1) inside the checking loop, so you have the loop like
	// Do {
	// Thread.Sleep(1) 
	// }
	// While(StopButtonNotClicked);

                Console.WriteLine("Starting capture - Hit a key to stop ...");

                string s = capturer.CurrentVideoCodecName;
                Console.WriteLine(string.Format("Using video compressor - {0}", s));

                s = capturer.CurrentAudioCodecName;
                Console.WriteLine(string.Format("Using audio compressor - {0}", s));

                s = capturer.CurrentAudioDeviceLineName;
                Console.WriteLine(string.Format("Using audio input line - {0}", s));

                int i = 0;
                string spin = "|/-\\";
                while (Win32Interop._kbhit() == 0)
                {
                    Console.Write(string.Format("\rEncoding {0}", spin[i++]));
                    i %= 4;
                    Thread.Sleep(50);
                }

                capturer.Stop();

            // Release resources
            System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal.ReleaseComObject(capturer);
            capturer = null;

                Console.Write("\nDone");
                Console.Read();
            }
            catch (Exception)
            {
                Console.WriteLine(capturer.LastError);
            }
        }

        static void usage(Capturer capturer)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Usage : CaptureScreenCSharp.exe <outfilename> [left] [top] [width] [height] [fps] [v-codec] [a-codec] [audioline]\n");
            Console.WriteLine("[left, top, width, height] is the rectangle to be captured");
            Console.WriteLine("[v-codec] is the index of the video codec in the list to use.");
            Console.WriteLine("[a-codec] is the index of the audio codec in the list to use.");
            Console.WriteLine("[audioline] is the index of the audio line in the list to capture from");
            Console.WriteLine("If either codec is unspecified, it defaults to 'Microsoft Video 1' and 'GSM 6.10'");
            Console.WriteLine("If audioline is unspecified, it uses the microphone");
            Console.WriteLine("To capture the currently playing output, select the stereo, mono or wave mix");
            
            Console.WriteLine("Installed Video Codecs (Note : Not all of them may work)");

            for (int i = 0; i < capturer.VideoCodecsCount; i++)
            {
                string name = capturer.GetVideoCodecName(i);
                Console.WriteLine(string.Format("    {0}. {1}", i, name));
            }

            Console.WriteLine("\nInstalled Audio Codecs (Note : Not all of them may work)");
            for (int i = 0; i < capturer.AudioCodecsCount; i++)
            {
                string name = capturer.GetAudioCodecName(i);
                Console.WriteLine(string.Format("    {0}. {1}", i, name));
            }

            Console.WriteLine("\nAudio input lines");
            for (int i = 0; i < capturer.CurrentAudioDeviceLineCount; i++)
            {
                string name = capturer.GetCurrentAudioDeviceLineName(i);
                Console.WriteLine(string.Format("    {0}. {1}", i, name));
            }
        }

        static void setParams(string[] args, Capturer capturer)
        {
            if (args.Length > 1)
            {
                int left = int.Parse(args[1]);
                capturer.CaptureRectLeft = left;
            }

            if (args.Length > 2)
            {
                int top = int.Parse(args[2]);
                capturer.CaptureRectTop = top;
            }

            if (args.Length > 3)
            {
                int width = int.Parse(args[3]);
                capturer.CaptureRectWidth = width;
            }

            if (args.Length > 5)
            {
                int height = int.Parse(args[5]);
                capturer.CaptureRectHeight = height;
            }

            if (args.Length > 6)
            {
                float fps = float.Parse(args[6], CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);
                capturer.FPS = fps;
            }

            if (args.Length > 7)
            {
                int vCodec = int.Parse(args[7]);
                capturer.CurrentVideoCodec = vCodec;
            }

            if (args.Length > 8)
            {
                int aCodec = int.Parse(args[8]);
                capturer.CurrentAudioCodec = aCodec;
            }

            if (args.Length > 9)
            {
                int aLine = int.Parse(args[9]);
                capturer.CurrentAudioDeviceLine = aLine;
            }
        }
    }
}