[Contest] Mirillis Action [Forum Exclusive]

Version reviewed 1.3.0.0

On Windows-7 Professional 64-bit OS

Requires Microsoft Visual C++ runtime library

Requires Administrative rights to install/work

 

It shocked me when Action.exe will not open without offering a permission to allow an outbound connection. Not sure why developer had such an unusual requirement.

Good part is that activation does not require an internet connection!

Coming to the software:

Action allows recording and/or capture of real-time Windows Aero desktop in a HD video quality. For HD you would require a minimum of Full Direct3D 10.0 compatible with Pixel Shader 4.0 support Graphics card, a 2.0GHz or equivalent processor, and 1GB of RAM.

The installation is fast and requires only 2-clicks.

Action is used for video, audio, video+audio, and capturing of real-time audio, video, games – for active as well as selected region.

The main interface is very simple and easy to use.

See below a screenshot of interface from the user-manual of Action:

Let us now dive into various features one by one.

A.  Video-recording

The video recording is available for any of the following modes:

1. Games & applications – This option makes use of either F6 (no HUD) or F9 hotkey.
2. Active desktop – This option requires Windows Aero desktop to be enabled. It makes use of either F6 (no HUD) or F9 hotkey.
3. Active desktop region – This option requires Windows Aero desktop to be enabled. It makes use of either F6 (no HUD) or F9 hotkey.

You could select various video size options such as 1080p, 720p and 480p. In addition, you could select one of the various available frame rates varying from 15 through 60.

It also allows limiting a recoding by duration, which could be specified in hh/mm/sec.

You may opt out of recording audio while doing a video recording.

A screenshot below for video recording:

I had recorded two sample of video. The recorded video could be played directly from the left pane.

B.  Audio-recording

Using the audio recording feature, you could record music/ audio sounds from games, applications or videos. In addition, you may record microphone for creating tutorials.

It also allows limiting a recoding by duration, which could be specified in hh/mm/sec.

The output for audio could be either WAV or MP4.

A screenshot below for audio recording:

I had recorded two sample of audio, one for each WAV and MP4 formats. The recorded audio could be played directly from the left pane.

C.  Screenshot capturing

Similar to video recording, Screenshot capturing is also available for all three modes:  Games & applications, Active desktop and Active desktop region. Though it saves recorded snapshots in BMP/PNG/JPG formats, it provides only BMP format for screenshots for Games and applications mode.

This feature makes use of F12 hotkey.

D.  Other features worth mention:

The export function allows exporting your recorded videos to MP4 format. You could specify the video quality and bitrate of the export.

Below is the screenshot of export for one of the recorded video. You could select the video quality and bitrate of the output. Based on your selection it will show the estimated file size for the output file.

In addition, you may choose to upload the exported video to your facebook or youtube account.

 

The installation folder contains a well-documented and very easy to use manual (Action!_User_Manual.pdf). It has pictorials steps for each feature/function available in Action.

Additionally you may head over online to their forum, link below:

http://www.mirillis.com/forum

Before I end my review, let me point some limitation in Action:

The videos recorded are in FIC format and they could be played by Action’s internal player, or by their own developed products- Splash. Here I feel a limitation. Firstly, FIC format is very rare, secondly, it allows exporting only to few formats – that too by Action only. Therefore, we are rather stuck with FIC format here.

 

In summary, I found Action a very useful and feature packed software, yet easy to use even for a novice. Though Action is mostly advertised as a HD recording, it could be used for everyday recording and capturing use.

A 30-day trial version is available for download using the link below:

http://mirillis.com/en/downloads/downloads_action.html

Reviewed by Grr

 

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