Screenflick 2 Support

Screenflick 2 Support

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Screenflick 2 This page applies to Screenflick 2 only.

Troubleshooting System Audio Recording

When a movie has no sound, or one application's audio is missing.

Recording system audio involves several components that all have to be configured and working: the audio extension, the system's output device, and the application playing the sound. When one isn't right, it can be hard to tell why the audio in a saved movie is silent, or why one program's audio isn't recorded while others are.

Why is one application's audio missing from my recording?

Some programs choose their audio output device when they launch and don't notice when Screenflick changes it. Launch the program after you start recording, or set the system output to "Screenflick Loopback" before launching it. Keep reading.

Why is my Mac silent after I stop recording?

Screenflick Loopback may still be selected as the system output device. Choose your speakers in System Preferences → Sound → Output. Keep reading.

An application's audio is not being recorded #

When you start a recording with system audio, Screenflick switches the system audio output device to "Screenflick Loopback", which Screenflick then records from. Some programs play over a specific output device instead of always following the current system setting, and that causes this.

Typically the program looks at the current output device when it launches, sees your speakers, and plays to them from then on. When the recording starts and Screenflick changes the system output to Screenflick Loopback, the program doesn't notice, and keeps playing straight to the speakers.

The result is that you hear everything normally while recording, but Screenflick Loopback is never given that program's audio, so the movie has none. It can look like Screenflick is failing to record audio, when really it's the program playing the audio.

How to solve it #

The program has to start playing audio after the system output device has been changed to Screenflick Loopback. There are two ways to do that:

  1. Launch the program that plays the audio after you start a Screenflick recording.
  2. Before starting the program, open System Preferences and change the system output device to "Screenflick Loopback". Start the program, and then start the recording when you're ready. (When you're done, change the output device back to your speakers.)

The key is that the system output must already be Screenflick Loopback before the program starts and plays audio.

A third possibility exists for programs that have a preference for which audio device to play to, such as Skype and others that focus on audio. If the program has one, set it to "Screenflick Loopback" while you make recordings. See Recording Skype Audio for an example.

My system audio is silent after stopping a recording or quitting Screenflick #

This shouldn't happen, but the most likely cause is that Screenflick Loopback is still selected as the system output device. Open the Sound pane in System Preferences, and select your speakers in the list of devices on the Output tab.