When it comes to capturing screens, recording game sessions, or preparing interactive tutorials, all arrows seem to point to OBS, but it's not alone in the market. We previously discussed solutions like Flashback Express, and today we arrive at NCH Software, which offers a free version for personal use of its Debut application. With it, you can capture screens or devices like webcams, add basic effects and text, inject watermarks, and rotate and mirror at will.
Capturing the content of your screens or creating videos using a webcam has more utility than it appears. For example, if you need to explain something with a more advanced technical profile (say, instructions for configuring Windows), there's nothing better than a video showing the step-by-step of the cursor and the opening of each menu.
The problem is that many users don't know where to start, don't trust the tools that Microsoft enables (like the Game Bar), or feel that the mega-popular OBS Studio is too complicated. With that in mind, we enter the territory of Debut, a free application for personal use developed by NCH Software that helps us take screen captures, apply basic effects, and if necessary, add text or watermarks.
How to capture screens with effects and text using Debut
The interface is quite intuitive. The first step is to define the screen to record, and we have three methods available: full desktop, window under cursor, or custom rectangle. The "Record screen as" menu has dozens of presets based on known devices and popular formats. "Encoder options" helps us adjust the quality of the recording in both video and audio and restrict the number of channels, while "Video options" has parameters to resize the video, change frames per second, and enable time-lapse captures.
When you click the big red button, NCH Debut offers two capture modes: Standard and Quick, the latter recommended for games. If you want to inject effects, you'll need to set all values before starting the recording. There are three video filters (black and white, negative, and sepia), and you can rotate, flip, or mirror the frame, adjust brightness-contrast-gamma-hue, and add the text or watermark you prefer.
In the "Recordings" tab, you'll see all the videos you've created, but if you click the icons to edit or convert, Debut will try to install the rest of the NCH suite, and that's when the premium software appears (only the VideoPad editor costs $50). To finish, I must highlight that in my tests Debut created recordings with an off-center frame around them, which makes me suspect a bug or conflict with my video driver. This has already been reported, and I invite you to check how it works on your computer. Download a copy!
Official site and download: Click here
