# Screen capturer

**URL:** <https://discourse.processing.org/t/screen-capturer/12059>\
**Category:** Coding Questions\
**Created:** [June 14, 2019, 8:30am UTC](https://discourse.processing.org/t/screen-capturer/12059 "2019-06-14T08:30:49Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![samolet4e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@samolet4e](https://discourse.processing.org/u/samolet4e)\
**Post date:** [June 14, 2019, 8:30am UTC](https://discourse.processing.org/t/screen-capturer/12059/1 "2019-06-14T08:30:49Z")

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Hello. I would like to discuss an issue related to a screen capturing program. The following code is capable of screen recording and overlaying the mouse cursor:

```auto
import java.awt.Robot;
import java.awt.image.BufferedImage;
import java.awt.Rectangle;
import java.awt.MouseInfo;
import java.awt.Point;
import java.awt.Toolkit;

Robot robot;
Point mouse;
Rectangle r;
BufferedImage img1;
PImage img2;

void setup() {

     size(1024, 768); // simulator resolution

     try { robot = new Robot(); }
     catch (Exception e) { println(e.getMessage()); }
     r = new Rectangle(Toolkit.getDefaultToolkit().getScreenSize());
     img1 = new BufferedImage(1024, 768, BufferedImage.TYPE_INT_RGB);

     stroke(255, 0, 0, 75);
     strokeWeight(6);
     fill(255, 255, 255, 100);
     frameRate(30);

}//setup

void draw() {

     background(0);

     img1 = robot.createScreenCapture(r);
     img2 = new PImage(img1);
     image(img2, 0, 0);

     mouse = MouseInfo.getPointerInfo().getLocation();
     ellipse(mouse.x, mouse.y, 50, 50);

     saveFrame("data/screen-######.tif");

}//draw

```

The program sends about 30 screenshots per second to the data folder. After recording, I use the Movie Maker tool to put all frames together as a video clip.  
I have successfully tested the code by MS Flight Simulator X running in full screen mode. I also tried to get screenshots from Laminar Research X-Plane 9. In this case however, the program stored black frames only.  
I presume the issue has something to do with the renderer. The MSFS X uses DirectX whilst the X-Plane uses OpenGL.  
I would like to ask if it is possible to develop a workaround code in Processing which is capable of capturing screenshots in OpenGL rendering mode. Frankly, I don’t know where I should start from. Every advise is appreciated. Thank you in advance!

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**Author:** ![jeremydouglass](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discourse.processing.org/jeremydouglass/32/20_2.png) [@jeremydouglass](https://discourse.processing.org/u/jeremydouglass)\
**Post date:** [June 15, 2019, 6:24pm UTC](https://discourse.processing.org/t/screen-capturer/12059/2 "2019-06-15T18:24:01Z")

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What operating system and computer hardware are you running this on?

You might find that using custom screen recording software is better suited to your purposes – screen recording is possible in Java / Processing, but if screen recording is your only goal then there are cheap and powerful options that will create the video clips for you directly in a number of formats – along with audio, if you wish.

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**Author:** ![samolet4e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@samolet4e](https://discourse.processing.org/u/samolet4e)\
**Post date:** [June 21, 2019, 4:28pm UTC](https://discourse.processing.org/t/screen-capturer/12059/3 "2019-06-21T16:28:49Z")

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Hello. I use Windows 10 x64 running on Core i7, 8 Gb RAM.  
This is not a trivial project. I’d like to lay mouse and an eye-tracker gaze data over the captured video. This includes creating a heat map. I know, it sounds like a torture but any available software capable of doing that is VERY expensive. I thought Processing might offer a workaround.  
Thanks for reply anyway.

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**Author:** ![jeremydouglass](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discourse.processing.org/jeremydouglass/32/20_2.png) [@jeremydouglass](https://discourse.processing.org/u/jeremydouglass)\
**Post date:** [June 22, 2019, 1:18pm UTC](https://discourse.processing.org/t/screen-capturer/12059/4 "2019-06-22T13:18:24Z")

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possibly relevant old post mentions other screencap options in Java than Robot – although it is old:

- [https://stackoverflow.com/questions/6675693/screen-capture-of-directx-programs-with-java](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/6675693/screen-capture-of-directx-programs-with-java)

Are you drawing mouse and eye-tracking indicators directly onto the frames before saving them, or are you saving the time/coordinates series as data and then altering the frames later?

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**Author:** ![neilcsmith](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discourse.processing.org/neilcsmith/32/144_2.png) [@neilcsmith](https://discourse.processing.org/u/neilcsmith)\
**Post date:** [June 22, 2019, 2:57pm UTC](https://discourse.processing.org/t/screen-capturer/12059/5 "2019-06-22T14:57:16Z")

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Theoretically this is achievable with GStreamer, so would be good if the Video library supported the screen as a capture source. Unfortunately it makes it very difficult to change sources, and the relevant plugin might not be included and it’s also difficult to switch to a system installed GStreamer. To be honest, I’ve not tried screen capture with GStreamer on Windows as yet - works great on Linux though!