QuickTime X Adds Screen-Recording Features

Alongside the introduction of Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) last year, Apple confirmed the existence of a new version of QuickTime – QuickTime X. Reportedly, the software will include the currently paid Pro-level features free of charge, with screen-capture capabilities also being added, according to more recent reports.

AppleInsider has kept in touch with its Apple sources to learn that the latest Snow Leopard build seeded to developers contains a new version of the QuickTime X media player. The updated player reportedly adds screen-capture / “Screen-recording” features, accessible through the program's File menu.

While good news for software developers and educators, “as it will simplify the process of creating video tutorials, software demonstrations, and anything else best captured in live motion as opposed to still shots,” the report outlines, third-party developers are likely to see a decrease in sales of their video-capture software applications for Mac. Such developers include Ambrosia Software, which develops Snapz Pro X, a highly efficient recording app that allows users to record virtually anything on their screen, saving it as a QuickTime movie or screenshots.

Apple has described QuickTime X as a new version of the media player included with Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, mentioning optimized support for modern audio and video formats as high points of the software.

Back to the AppleInsider report, the site cites people familiar with the latest Snow Leopard development build as saying that a recording interface in QuickTime X now prompts the user to begin a video capture and then disappears, when the screen-recording option is used. Then, a small footprint controller can be found in the menubar for ending the video capture, those same individuals allegedly share. Mac OS X 10.6 Build 10A335 (released Thursday) is the first to add the new feature.