Due to the coronavirus, many companies and educational centers have been forced to change the way they work, many of them adapting to study / work at a distance. Although initially it sounds very good, if you do not have the adequate resources, the modality of work or study at a distance, it can be a nightmare.
If your needs go through record the screen of your device at the same time as your image, one of the best applications available on the market, due to its simplicity is Loom, a service that works through an extension for Google Chrome, so you really do not have to install anything on your computer, although we can do it if you don't like the web interface.
What is Loom
Loom is a fantastic tool designed for educational centers and companies that allows easily create screen video messages / application of our team where both our image and our voice are included, so it avoids having to attach videos of long explanations about each of the points that are discussed.
All videos are stored on the platform, so it is not necessary to share them via email or upload it to platforms such as YouTube, Vimeo or Facebook. We just have to share the link of the video that we have created so that anyone, without being a user of the platform, can access the content.
If it is private content, Loom allows us set a password that prevents access to it, like many video calling platforms, which establish a password without which it cannot be accessed.
What can we do with Loom
The first thing we must do once we have registered on the platform, is configure both microphone and webcam correctly, especially if we are going to use a computer, since in smartphones there are no more options than those physically offered by the device.
In this way, we will ensure that we do not have any operating problems the first time we start using this service. Through the configuration options, we can use any microphone or webcam other than those that the team offers us natively (if it does).
During the recording of the videos, we can add comments and highlight parts of content more important in order to focus attention on what is really important.
Loom allows us record the screen or application that we are running on our computer, an ideal function to record videos of explanations for educational centers, to report the economic results of the company for the last quarter, to present a budget to a client ... the limit of the use of this application is only in the possibilities that we want to give it .
This application offers us three options:
Screen + Camera
By selecting this option, the application it will record both the screen / application that we select as the picture via webcam of the user who is making the presentation.
ScreenOnly
If you only want share screen / app image, including voice where the appropriate explanations are shown, we must select Screen Only. This option will not use the device's webcam at any time. There are times when the image can be distracting rather than helpful.
CamOnly
Finally, we find the Cam Only option, an option that allows us to record only our image. This option is ideal for sending video messages where we want to offer information without it being supported by additional content that we may have in a document.
What is Loom for?
This application not used to broadcast live a video with other people as if it were a meeting. For these cases, in the market we have other solutions such as Skype, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet or Zoom without going any further. The only one of all these options that has no time limit is Skype.
All these applications allow us to share the screen live, so if what we want is to hold a meeting about a document, a proposal, a class ... the option offered by Loom It is not what we are looking for.
Share the created videos
Once we have created the video (s) we need, it is time to share them. As I mentioned above, all the videos are hosted on the Loom platform, so it is not necessary to upload them to other platforms to be able to share them.
The video created, will generate a link automatically that we can share with everyone who will have access to the video, a video that we can protect with a password. If any of the people for whom the video is intended is not among our contacts, we can add them before sharing the video.
Loom Compatible Platforms
At the beginning of this article, I mentioned that it is only necessary to use the available Chrome extension. However, if you don't use a Chromium-based browser (Chrome, Opera, Microsoft Edge ...) you don't need to start using it, since Loom makes it available to us applications for both Windows and macOS.
But in addition, also offers us a version for mobile devices, a function that allows us to create our videos wherever we are, regardless of whether we have a computer at hand, although, obviously, it is much more comfortable.
All the applications that Loom makes available to us are available for your download completely freeThey do not include ads, although it is necessary to know the limitations of each of the three versions that it offers us and that we detail below.
How much does Loom cost
Loom is available in three price modes:
Free
The free version of Loom allows us create videos up to 5 minutes long. Up to 50 collaborators can create their own videos with a limit of 25 videos per user.
Business
The Business version eliminates the limit of videos and in addition to the limit of videos that users can create, with the same limit as the free version of 50 creators. Its price is $ 8 per month per creator and billed annually.
Enterprise
The Enterprise version is designed for large companies and eliminates all the limitations of the free and business mode as well as offering us the possibility of recording videos in 4K, integration with Saleforce, Slack GitHub, Gmail, Dropbox ..., SSO, SCIM
Alternatives to Loom to record videos with screen
OBS (Windows / macOS) - Free
OBS is the platform most used by streamers to record your games / screen while your image is displayed. This application stores the file created on the hard drive, a file that we can later upload to YouTube, Facebook, share by email, upload to a cloud storage unit to share with other people ...
Camtasia (Windows / macOS) - Paid
This is another of the most popular applications when it comes to record the screen of our equipment together with our image. Like OBS, the videos created are stored on our computer, so we must later upload it to a cloud storage platform, YouTube or Facebook to share it with other people.
Active Presenter (Windows) - Free
ActivePresenter is a free alternative software to OBS for screen recording it has numerous very useful recording and editing functions. With it, you can record the entire screen, a specific region, the microphone, the sound of the computer and the webcam, and then upload the videos directly to YouTube and other video sharing sites.
Lightstream (Windows / macOS) - Free
Lightstream is a free cloud-based program that you can use instead of OBS. It has numerous useful features, including integration with other popular tools such as Streamlabs. Too allows the use of scenes and overlays, similar to what you would find in OBS. But it is considerably easier to use, with a very navigable user interface.
Shadowplay (Windows) - Free
Shadowplay comes with Nvidia GeForce graphics cards. It is primarily aimed at gamers, making it the most similar software to OBS studio. Since it is essentially a mixture of hardware and software, it is the only option you should choose if you want a solution that does not significantly affect the performance of the game.
DemoCreator (Windows / macOS) - Paid
Wondershare DemoCreator is perhaps the best OBS alternative on this list. You can use it not only to record screen and audio (both system and microphone), but it also comes with a built-in editor to make all the changes you want to the video. DemoCreator allows us to record the entire screen, a specific section of the screen and the webcam.
Movavi Screen Recorder (Windows / macOS) - Paid
Movavi Screen recorder is an easy-to-use program that is designed to capture both images and videos from the screen. You can use it to capture your screen, audio, and webcam all at the same time, and then upload your videos directly to YouTube and other sites.
Action (Windows) - Free
Action is a game recorder that works with almost any type of graphics card, including Nvidia, DirectX, and OpenGL. This software, similar to OBS, also has numerous other features that you cannot find in OBS, such as slow motion recording and mobile support. It also supports the recording of screenshots.
IceCream Screen Recorder (Windows / macOS) - Paid
It is a feature-rich tool that can used to capture both screens and videos. You can record screen, webcam, and sound. Its drawing and cursor tools make it a great solution when you want to record a tutorial.