Crop-record Screen Instantly (2 macros), Keyboard Maestro 10.2
The idea for this macro originated from the need to conceal sensitive parts of information when sharing screen recordings with the world in a mundane fashion, contacting support, or posting to online discussion boards. These parts may include the user name in the system menu bar and opened documents (projecting from the Dock stacks beyond the lower third), the contents and titles of which aren't meant for anybody other than the owner. These are the most frequent scenarios.
Typically, you'd have to perform the following set to achieve this:
- Locate QuickTime Player or its equivalent.
- Launch it.
- Enter the screen recording mode.
- Drag handles to select the recording area.
- Start the recording session.
- To end the session, if your menu bar is cluttered with application icons, you're left to endure the annoyingly boring routine of closing every application to uncover the "stop" menu icon or showing the Dock, ploughing the row of app icons with the cursor until it reaches QuickTime Player, right-clicking it and choosing "Stop recording".
- Save or export.
Another solution involves blurring the sensitive areas in a video editor, which adds overheads to a workflow complex enough as it is for such a simple goal. It's unacceptable.
With Keyboard Maestro these seven actions narrow down to two: press a hotkey and select an export format (or cancel without exporting).
I designed this macro with the highest simplicity in mind. I didn't conceive it to replace or complement specialized editing drills. It's fire-and-forget.
It offers no options to select cropping dimensions. It uses just one preset as the only purpose is on-the-spot performance. The resulting rectangle is a pseudo-letterbox.
The macro is versatile enough to find many uses, not the least of those being the ability to overlay action displayed in multimedia online and offline players to size up the pan-and-scan finish (a post-production use case). Possibilities are inexhaustible, so enjoy the high aspect ratio of 1:2,07!
The macro consists of 2 macros and a zipped script file. The macros are:
1. The master macro "Record Main Area of Screen".
2. The auxiliary macro "Make Screen Area Selection".
The script file is the AppleScript script Record Screen.scptd. I enclosed the two macros in a macro group named "Crop-Record Screen Instantly" for convenience.
Installation:
-
Import the macros as a macro group
-
Unzip the archive and put the "Record Screen.scptd" script file in ~/Documents.
How To Use?
By pressing the hotkey ⇧⌥⌘L
Since it crops to the percentage of the original resolution I felt would be suitable based on the resolution of my Mac (1440 x 900) and the velocity of GUI operations allowed by Intel HD4000, nVidia 750M, and macOS "Mojave", I'd be interested in feedback about how that translates adjusted for the dimensions of your screen, your hardware and more up-to-date macOS 11+ graphics drivers.
I recommend you to read the notes I added as comments to the macros and the description of the script bundle you access by opening it with "Script Editor".