Recording System Audio with Jing--Windows Edition
Posted on Friday May 16, 2008 by Matt Dyer
"How do I record my system's audio when I make a video?" We hear that question a lot, and if there was a simple answer I'd be shouting it from the rooftops (which I'm sure no one in the TechSmith office park would appreciate). There's actually more to this question than meets the eye (cue robot transformation noises).
By default, Jing for Windows uses your system's specified recording device. (Mac users, I haven't forgotten you. I wrote a post for the Mac that uses Soundflower.) The default recording device is usually the input microphone, whether you have a microphone or not. We designed Jing with quick and simple communication in mind, so it made perfect sense to us to record voice narration with our videos.
If you decide you'd rather have system audio, here are a couple of options. I want to be clear here: Jing can only record from one input source at a time. This means if you want to record system audio, you can't record voice narration on that video. Also, not all sound cards have an internal sound mixer to record (in fact, the laptop I'm working on right now doesn't have one). With those caveats in place, here's how to change your system's default recording input.
Changing your system's default recording input
On Windows XP, go to your Control Panel and open Sounds and Audio Devices. On the Audio tab, click Volume in the Sound recording section. This brings up the Recording Control. This is where things can get tricky.
If you're lucky, there's a input here labeled something like "Stereo Mix", "Mono Mix", "Mixer", or "Wave In". It could be called something else too; unfortunately there isn't much of a standard among different sound cards when it comes to what to call this. If you don't see one of these (or something vaguely similar), go to Options > Properties and if it is there, make sure it is checked. If it's not there, your sound card probably doesn't have an internal audio output that it can record from.
Use a patch cable with your line in and line out jacks
All hope isn't lost though. If you're serious about recording your system audio, I've got one more idea you can try, courtesy of Mike Curtis, my cube neighbor and fellow Jing Project blog contributor. This one might require a little investment though. If you happen to have a short cable around with two male "mini" stereo ends you can plug one end into your computer's "line out" jack and the other into it's "line in" jack. I happen to have one I use to plug my iPod into my car's auxillary stereo input that I bought for five dollars or so at a local Radio Shack. Not all computers have line in and line out jacks, but yours might. This creates a loop from your line out signal (which should be your system audio) to your line in (which you can set to be the recording source by using the method I described above).
A word of caution--be careful to use your line in jack and not your microphone jack. Your microphone jack is designed to take a much weaker signal than your line in jack. Not only are many microphone inputs mono only, but the difference in signal level creates distortion as the audio signal clips. It doesn't sound pretty, and I think it's safe to say your viewers probably won't want to hear it. :)
Hopefully one of these solutions helps you record system audio with your Jing videos. Remember, if you change your recording input in the Recording Control, you'll need to turn it back to your microphone to get voice narration with your videos.
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Comments (13)
Has anyone managed to get Jing to work alongside Photoshop CS3? It works fine with other software however prevents CS3 opening.
Posted by Jaynie341 | May 23, 2008 10:11 AM
Posted on May 23, 2008 10:11
Matt,
you got to "Stereo Mix", I found it and then you went to something els.
What do I do after I found the "Stereo Mix"?
Do you have a video that shows how you record Video and Oudio?
>>> after all you are that company right?
do you have any video tutorials?
Posted by Racheli | May 24, 2008 6:48 AM
Posted on May 24, 2008 06:48
I just started using Jing to record a tutorial. On my first take, the audio was recorded fine from my microphone. I tried a second tutorial, but no audio was recorded and the message was Mic is Mute prior to the recordinng. I did nothing to the program.
I checked and the mic is on and functioning.
Why is Jing muting the mic and how do I change it back? I'm using Vista. I tried closing Jing and then restarted it, but there was no change. Mute is still displayed.
Can anyone help? This is a fun and great simple tool if I can get the audio to record consistently.
TIA
Don S.
Posted by Don S. | June 4, 2008 2:53 AM
Posted on June 4, 2008 02:53
If you record using the "stereo mix" you CAN still record voice over the top (at least, you can on my PC). If you make sure that the mic is also heard over the loudspeakers when you use it (i.e. unmute it in the playback mixer, although watch out for feedback if you're too near your speakers or they're set too loud) then you'll record everything coming out of the speakers...i.e. computer audio and mic.
BB Flashback has excellent setup for this, allowing you to control the amount of each 'audio input' for your video in it's own little mixer.
enjoy
Bruce
Posted by Bruce Wiggins | June 4, 2008 9:10 AM
Posted on June 4, 2008 09:10
Thanks Bruce. I think I need a little handholding, sorry. In Vista, I am not sure how to get to the playback mixer. I am still puzzled as to why it worked the first time, but never again.
What is "BB Flashback"?
I see where there is a 5 minute limit on the produced videos. I did exceed that on my second try and everything stopped. Could that be when Jing internally muted the mic? I know I'm reaching here.
Don S.
Posted by Don S. | June 4, 2008 11:20 AM
Posted on June 4, 2008 11:20
no sound with VISTA , camtasia works, sound good, no sound on playback.
Posted by David | June 10, 2008 5:34 PM
Posted on June 10, 2008 17:34
Any tips on getting the "humm" out of the audio recording? On both jing and camtasia the mic provides a hum unless I record while just the battery is on. That's good, but my battery doesn't last a long time... want to know if there is another solution before I buy a new battery?
Posted by Dan | June 11, 2008 9:58 AM
Posted on June 11, 2008 09:58
Hello I have an imac that is two years old my sound system is external that is bose speakers. The reason I'm writing this is because I don't have to go through all the trouble I have read here. I was trying jing out today and found it to record perfectly both video and sound I could hear my voice while recording and also in playback. It's a very good application that is really easy to use. What's the saying we have (works right out of the box?) thanks.
Posted by Donnie | June 19, 2008 9:30 PM
Posted on June 19, 2008 21:30
I followed Matt Dyer's instructions above to have Jing capture the audio on a webcast (Bloomberg TV) and it worked great. It captured all the audio but none of the video. Any idea about why the video was not captured? Thanks in advance.
Posted by Dan | June 20, 2008 12:49 PM
Posted on June 20, 2008 12:49
Hi Dan,
Does your video just look like a black square? It sounds like you tried to record live video, and I think this happens quite a bit.
Here's two articles from TechSmith Tech Support. Even though it's under Camtasia Studio, I -think- this the issue you're having.
1. http://tinyurl.com/64nqd4
2. http://tinyurl.com/6jebag
As a quick aside to folks that might be reading this, Jing outputs a SWF video flash format and it's not really designed for live video capture. Go ahead and do it, but get ready for some mega large file sizes. :)
Posted by Mike Curtis, TechSmith | June 20, 2008 3:12 PM
Posted on June 20, 2008 15:12
When I record a screencast, my clients cannot hear the recording well. They report that the audio sounds muddled or very soft. When I replay the screencasts on the computer in which I made them, I can hear the audio just fine. Is this a problem with the client's audio or my own?
I noticed on a colleague's computer (Vista), under sound settings, that there was a Jing sound setting. On my own computer (XP), I can't find this setting. Where would it be located?
Here is a sample screencast where the problems have been reported: http://www.screencast.com/t/jnReQlde
Thanks,
Nina
Posted by Nina Schwartz | July 22, 2008 9:46 AM
Posted on July 22, 2008 09:46
Nina,
The audio sounded fine to me...with the exception of the occasional "sssssssss" sound when you'd pronounce your "s's".
Posted by Bernard Soileau | August 8, 2008 8:10 PM
Posted on August 8, 2008 20:10
fge Een plaatje zegt alles, toch ? wig Het volledige rapport is hier te vinden. Lees natuurlijk h de blogposting. m i
Thanks for interesting post! bdg
паркетная доска 1t
Posted by ламинат | August 13, 2008 3:03 AM
Posted on August 13, 2008 03:03