Icecream Screen Recorder Review
Detailed Reviews
What if you are late for a presentation in the office? Or if you misplace the pendrive in which you stored the presentation? Wondering about something which could help you out in such circumstances? A screen recorder is the thing you need. It allows you to record your screen, capture video and to play them anytime at your computer. It naturally comes with features like screenshots, audio recording. There are many options available when it comes to screen recorders, and each one of them is different from the other in one way or the other.
Icecream Screen Recorder is a new addition into the screen recording technology by icecream apps limited. The software allows you to record the current screen, record audio, take a screenshot and capture screen while playing computer games.
Pros
- Various customizations for capturing video and screenshot.
- It provides mix player to edit audio.
- Numerous drawing options.
- Several shortcut keys.
- It allows capturing game the gameplay.
Cons
- Pop-ups become irksome.
- Sometimes, it does not allow to record the gameplay in full screen mode.
Introduction
Is this the screen recording software you have been looking for? Does this quell the features that can contend you?
In this review, we shall go through all this. We shall look at this product closely to reach to a conclusion. Beginning with pros and cons, we shall move forward with the basic features of the product, followed by some new additions to it. One by one, we shall try to understand all the features, their utilities, requirement, and their modus operandi.
Comparison is the best way to make a choice. We shall compare the product with those of the same kind to know the shortcomings and the advantages. Finally, we shall conclude to make a verdict.
Features
A Screen recorder primitively must have been designed to record the current screen or to take a screenshot. What are the features, be it old or new that a screen recorder possesses? Does it fit into the definition of an ideal screen recorder? There are several features that this screen recorder possesses. Some of them may interest you.
For our convenience, let’s classify the features into fundamental features and advanced features. Former are the features that are available in any typical screen recorder or say, they are the basic building blocks of software that it requires to be called a screen recorder. Later are the features that a screen recorder may or may not possess. They are not necessarily a part of every screen recorder but can make it more utilitarian.
The fundamental features that Icecream Screen Recorder possesses are to capture screen, a screenshot, and record audio. There are several sub-options under each principle option that can be called as advanced features.
The video capture
The first feature of the category of fundamental features is video capture. Naturally, capturing a video is something that a screen recorder is intended to perform. The capturing of a video begins with the selection of the area of your screen that you want to show to your audience. Like any other screen recorder, this also allows you to select an area of the screen. You can choose full screen as your capture area or a tiny portion of your screen. Unlike numerous screen recorders, you have various customizations in area selection. The image below shows the various ways this screen recorder offers to select an area of the computer screen. Let’s have a look at them.
Fullscreen
Fullscreen, as the name suggests, allows you to choose the entire screen as your capture area, which means that the entire screen shows up while your video plays.
Custom area
Custom area is a way of choosing an area of your own choice. Custom area introduces a frame which you drag to adjust the area. You can also choose the area manually from the various options available.
Last area
It is an all-new feature to reduce the user’s effort. It is a boon to them who are bad at remembering numbers.
If you want your capture area to be of the exact resolution as the previous one but do not remember the exact resolution, you can blindly rely on this option. It takes the area of the last recorded video as the current capture area.
It is an increment to the fundamental feature. It is one of the secondary features.
Auto detection area
Auto detection is again a new feature added to the software. You can select the highlighted area as your capture area merely by using F1 key. ‘Custom area’ also serves the same purpose.
If the highlighted area is not the resolution you wanted, you drag manually or choose from the already available options for resolution, that is what we naturally do. Thus, the presence of this option in the software remains unjustified.
Pre-scheduling
If you want to record some content that has not appeared at the screen till now, you can schedule your recording by adding the name of the task and the corresponding time. That is the same feature we see in almost all screen recorders.
The area around the cursor
It is another new feature, or in our vocabulary, it is a secondary feature which many of the screen recorders do not have.
You can select the capture area around the mouse pointer. However, you cannot select it on your own. You have the only alternative to choose from the options which are available by default.
Draw while you record
If you teach a scientific process to your students through a video, you might need some arrows to carry forward the process. You might need different colors to show different entities of the process.
If you show your employees something about your business, you might need some colors to highlight some areas; you get these options in this software.
While you record the video, it allows you to draw on the screen, which shows up when your video plays.
The image above shows the editing options, or more correctly, the drawing options while you record the video. You can choose various colors in the color palette. There is an option right next to the color palette that allows you to choose the thickness of the line you draw.
It provides an ’eraser’ with the drawing options to erase the incorrect insertions.
Adding text and other available customizations
It allows you to add a text or quote to your video by using the text icon. This feature is noteworthy because you won’t encounter many screen recorders with this feature.
Moreover, you can also change the size of the text within the available range. It is a significant addition because sometimes the text appearing in the video is too small to read. The video may become tedious for the audience if the text or the quote is not visible.
Icecream Screen Recorder allows you to write a text with apparent font size.
You can also select the color of the text from the color palette. Some users may seem uncontended with the limited number of choices in color.
You see a rectangle and a circle in the image above. These are available to draw those shapes at the screen. An undo option to undo the last changes made and ‘all clear’ to clear all the drawing assignments of the current video. The image below shows a screenshot of a video while it plays.
Unlike many screen recorders, it has various drawing options, but that does not vanish the fact of the existence of other screen recording software with more and better drawing options.
Capture the game and grab the cheat code!
We now arrived at one of the most zestful portions of the software that would certainly interest the gamers over there.
You install a game, keep playing it, and win it. Victory does not always come to you on the chariot of hard work; sometimes, it rides on the plane of smart work.
You begin to doubt your computer gaming skills if a beginner raises his level in the game you thought you were the master.
What if you begin playing the same game again, you played last month but forgot some of the tricks? Won’t it be fantastic if you could watch them all over again. You can do this if you record your game while you play.
The other option next to the ‘capture video’ is ‘game capture.’ The image below depicts the customizations you get to capture the game.
You can change the frame rate according to your need within a range of 25 FPS to 60 FPS. You can change the quality of the gameplay you recorded.
You also get the customization in codec with two options; AVI(MPEG) and MP4 (H264). If you are using a trial version, you remain confined only to AVI(MPEG), you cannot have MP4 codec. You can record the gameplay in full screen mode if that doesn’t support, the following message pops up.
The screenshot
Screen recorders always come with a package that consists of recording and capturing a screenshot. Saving an entire file in the system just for those few words may keep the memory and efficiency on stake.
If you have a screenshot of those few lines you require, then you can delete the file that too without the loss of useful data. In Icecream app screen recorder, like video capture, you have different customizations to capture the screenshot, like those in video capture.
Keep the “screen” screenshot
The first sub-option we encounter while navigating through capture screenshot option is the full screen screenshot. You can capture the current screen as the screenshot.
A full screen screenshot is required if you want to show the content of the current screen but want to hide the content which appears after the screen is scrolled down.
If you want to show the different options of the computer you used while creating the content of the screen, then full screen screenshot capture is the thing that you require.
To capture the screenshot, you merely need to select the full screen mode and begin the capture. You can also select the location at your PC to save the image. We shall discuss this function in a while.
Don’t want the full screen?
Taking a screenshot of the full screen sometimes may expose the content you don’t want to be; this would require you something which allows you to choose the capture area.
The full screenshot allows to capture only the entire screen like the screenshot, but what if one does not want the screenshot of the entire screen instead there is need of a screenshot of a specific portion of the screen, there are other customizations available.
You can choose the area of your own choice; you do not need to worry if you do not remember the last resolution of the area you chose. The function of auto detection of the capture is something that seems unusual. Let’s analyze these.
Select your area
The ‘custom area’ allows you to choose the area on the screen you want to capture a screenshot. It allows selecting the area by dragging the mouse as well as manually. You can enter the resolution of the area you want a screenshot which ranges between 320 x 240 to the full screen.
Choosing an area reduces the efforts of further cropping or another editing to reduce the size.
Do not remember the last resolution?
Alike the video capture, in screenshot also you can select the current screenshot to be of the same resolution as the previous image.
The ‘last area’ automatically takes the last selected capture area as the current area to capture the screenshot.
One thing to keep in mind while using this feature is that it only takes the resolution, which was used immediately before the current capture, it does not entertain any previous resolutions.
Automatic Detection
‘Auto detection’ automatically selects the area and allows you to decide if the highlighted area is the required area. If it is not so, you drag and select the required capture area.
That is what we are expected to do naturally. Thus, just like the auto detection of the video capture, the screenshot auto detection also fails to prove its utility.
Recording an audio
You are expected to narrate while the video plays, but you cannot be present at the place.
Won’t it be relaxing if you could narrate for your business presentations sitting back on your sofa in your shorts and slippers.
If your voice is all, you need to be there during the presentation, recording audio is the thing you need.
The software allows you to capture the audio in different bitrates; however, one cannot determine the bitrate numerically, but it allows you to choose among high bitrate, medium bitrate, and low bitrate.
What’s new with Icecream Screen Recorder?
So far, we discussed the features, most of which are common in screen recorders.
Is there something new that makes this screen recorder different? Are there any features which can convince you to choose this software over others? Capturing a video, audio, capturing a screenshot are natural features which are to be there in any screen recorder.
There are some other features in this software, which may make you inquisitive to know and operate this.
The hotkeys are there in the software to perform some function instantly. The audio section adds a mixer in it which allows you to create a music of your choice.
You select various sounds you want your video to play.
You can select the location you want to save your files at the computer. Moreover, there are other new features you encounter while saving the file.
Features for editing the videos is another thing we shall discuss.
Well, this was an outline. Let’s have a brief analysis of these features.
System features
System features, as the name suggests, are the features which are present in this software by default, you cannot add or remove them, you can merely make some changes.
You can choose the format of your screenshot image. You choose whether it would be a PNG image file or a JPG file. Other than these two formats, there are no options available to choose your image file format.
You can choose the beginning of this software on your computer. You can select ‘load with windows’ if you want to start the software as soon as your windows loads in the system.
Some of us find it irksome when some software pops a window up and ask, “are you sure you want to close the program?” sometimes people want to answer, “no, we were merely checking what does the red cross does? You can get spurn of this pop up in this screen recorder by choosing whether to show or not to show such pop-ups.
The language feature is not so new except that it offers enough of the languages you want the software to read. It includes some languages which are not commonly present in other software.
Various Customizations to augment your audio and video
Merely creating and saving videos and audios would not be fun if you cannot edit or adore them.
To make the videos more presentable and audio with it, you require some newer features. Let’s see what this software can provide.
You can save your video in various formats with a high, medium, or low quality.
You can select the sounds your video plays, whether it be the sound of a mouse click or sound of a keystroke.
If you record some video at your system, but the screensaver appears during the recording, you may require recording the video all again, but with Icecream Screen Recorder you can enable and disable the screensaver that appears during the video plays.
You might like your company name to appear as a watermark while you present something to your clients.
Alternatively, a copyright issue may generate if you do not imprint a watermark and some other fellow justifies his right on the video.
The software allows you to use a watermark on the video as well as to customize its opacity.
You do not acquire this feature if you use a trial version.
For audios, you acquire a mixer to create your music. You can choose whether you want to record through a microphone or an inline cable connection.
Hotkeys are cool!
Hotkeys are something we call shortcut keys. These are the keys that prevent the user by moving, dragging, or clicking through mouse pointer.
There are enough hotkeys in this screen recorder.
The image above shows the hotkeys present in the software. There are enough hotkeys to reduce the user’s effort of clicking the mouse.
You have the option to change the hotkeys of a function, but you cannot add or remove any hotkey, no matter which version you use.
Save and share
Your files automatically save in the C drive of your computer after you finish the recording, but you have the option to select a location if this does not suit you. You are not required to save your files manually; the software does that even at the selected location.
Moreover, there is a new feature which allows you to select the maximum size of the file one can save. It is an essential addition in the eye of memory and efficiency of the system.
Sharing through this screen recorder may seem cumbersome to some users. While you capture the screenshot, it automatically shows you two option right at the top to copy or to upload the image.
The ‘copy’ copies the image into the clipboard that you can paste at any location into the system.
When you choose to upload the image through URL, it allows you to choose from the various links of social media platforms. You can choose the desired platform you want your image to be shared. These include platforms like Facebook or Instagram.
The software, by default, gives a name to your files. You can change the name and make it something that suits you.
Winding-up
The screen recorder was intended to give users a tremendous screen recording experience. The customizations in recording video and capturing a screenshot minimize the post-recording efforts of the user.
The presence of several drawing features makes it a perfect mate not for only personal use but also professional purposes. It seems it was designed to depreciate the user’s efforts. Features like hotkeys, auto-detection evident it.
The innovations added to the software let it stand in the progressive technological era.
The game capture mode is indeed a smart addition. It would certainly boost the number of installations.
The regular pop up windows are something that users do not want to encounter. An improvement to remove these popup windows is required.
Except for some limitations, there is nothing much to complain. Although it may not seem a perfect screen recorder, it can be something to give a thought.