🎥 Linux Screen Recorder (Industrial TUI)

A powerful, interactive terminal-based screen recorder for Linux (X11), built in C++17 + ncurses, powered by FFmpeg.

⚡ Industrial-grade TUI • Keyboard + Mouse support • Safe & robust

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✨ Features

🎬 Recording Engine

• FFmpeg-powered recording (libx264 + AAC)
• Real-time screen capture via X11 (x11grab)
• Automatic scaling (capture native → downscale if needed)
• Clean shutdown via q (prevents corruption)

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🖥️ Advanced TUI (ncurses)

• Fully interactive multi-step UI
• Keyboard + mouse support
• Highlighted menus, dialogs, sliders, and input boxes
• Help screen with full keybindings
• Live status + structured workflow

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⚙️ Recording Configuration

📺 Resolution Options

• 720p / 1080p / 1440p / 4K
• Native screen resolution (auto-detected)

🎞️ Frame Rate Control

• 24 FPS (cinematic)
• 30 FPS (balanced)
• 60 FPS (smooth gameplay)

🔊 Audio System

• No audio mode
• Default system audio (PulseAudio monitor)
• Custom audio device selection (auto-detected sinks)

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🎚️ Encoder & Quality Control

• Presets:

  • Ultrafast / Fast / Medium / Slow

• CRF slider (0–51) for fine quality control

• Toggle mouse cursor visibility

• Pixel format optimized for compatibility (yuv420p)

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📁 Output Management

• Interactive filename input

• Auto .mp4 handling

• Path validation:

  • Prevents invalid characters
  • Checks directory existence
  • Verifies write permissions

• Overwrite confirmation dialog

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🔍 Smart System Detection

• Auto-detects:

  • Screen resolution (xdpyinfo / xrandr)
  • DISPLAY environment
  • PulseAudio monitor device

• Lists available audio sinks dynamically

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🧪 Built-in Safety Checks

• Dependency checker (ffmpeg, pactl, xdpyinfo)
• Disk space validation (warns < 500MB)
• Terminal size validation
• Input sanitization (prevents unsafe filenames)

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🧾 Logging System

• Persistent logs:

  ~/.screen_recorder.log
  

• Includes:

  • Command execution
  • Errors & warnings
  • Runtime events

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🧵 Performance & Architecture

• Multi-threaded design
• Atomic state management
• Safe subprocess handling
• Efficient FFmpeg pipeline

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📦 Requirements

• Linux (X11 required — ❌ Wayland not supported)
• FFmpeg (libx264 + aac)
• PulseAudio (pactl)
• ncurses
• xdpyinfo or xrandr

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🔧 Install Dependencies

🟢 Arch / Manjaro

sudo pacman -S ffmpeg ncurses libpulse

🔵 Ubuntu / Debian

sudo apt install ffmpeg libncurses-dev pulseaudio-utils x11-utils

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⚙️ Build

g++ -std=c++17 -O2 -o screen_recorder screen_recorder.cpp \
-lncurses -lpanel -lmenu -lform -lpthread

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▶️ Usage

./screen_recorder

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🧭 Workflow

1. Dependency check
2. Select resolution
3. Select frame rate
4. Choose audio source
5. Configure encoder (preset + CRF + cursor)
6. Enter output filename
7. Review summary + FFmpeg command preview
8. Start recording

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🎮 Controls

General Navigation

• ↑ / ↓ / j / k → Navigate
• Enter / Click → Select
• b / Backspace → Go back
• q / Esc → Quit
• ? / h → Help screen

Encoder Screen

• - / + → Adjust CRF
• ← / → → Adjust slider
• C → Toggle cursor

Recording

• q → Stop recording safely
• ⚠️ Avoid Ctrl+C (may corrupt file)

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📤 Output

• Default: recording.mp4

• Supports full paths:

  ~/Videos/output.mp4
  

After recording:

• Shows file size
• Provides playback commands (mpv / vlc / ffplay)

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🚫 Limitations

• Wayland not supported
• No microphone input (system audio only)
• No region/window capture (full screen only)

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🚀 Future Improvements

• Wayland support
• Microphone input
• Region/window recording
• Hardware acceleration (VAAPI / NVENC)

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📜 License

MIT License

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👨‍💻 Author

Built with 💻 + ☕ by Dip