This guides demonstrates the differences between a full screen capture and a partial (region only) capture - both are technically doable using most screen capture software. They are used in different use cases and you might switch back and forth depending on the task at hand.
Questions to ask yourself:
- Is the application important to this task? If you are demonstrating how to solve a solution using Excel, or how to create a CAD drawing, you'll likely want to include the full screen so that you can capture every step of the process (especially if you are teaching students how to accomplish this on their own).
- Does the screen include information that students do not need to see? If you are creating a lecture video, you might have your notes on the screen to read while recording your audio. These notes would not be part of the final video, so you might use the region record option to only record the content region.
Example: Full Screen Capture
In the final video, using full screen capture, you would see the menu, slide deck, notes, and operating system program bar. You can see from this example all the pieces of the screen that you don't really want visible in your video. While this can be edited out, it is easier to use the custom size tool to set the correct recording size.
Example: Partial Screen Capture (1280 x 720p)
You can see the custom frame that is selected from one of the preset options (1280 x 720p). If one were to proceed with this capture, only the area in the highlighted box would be recorded. This has the added benefit of allowing the recorder to leave their notes outside of the box for reference, without having them recorded.
Before you begin, change the default size of your Powerpoint presentation, or your canvas/screen size in whatever application you are using, to a 16:9 ratio (which is the standard ratio for widescreen). This will ensure that your content is ready for capture.