Capture Web Based Video Easily in Win 10

Win 10 makes it very each to capture video streaming on the web with its nifty Game Bar. Activate the Game Bar by pressing the Windows Key + G.

You'll be prompted to open the utility by confirming that you're playing a game.

The controls include options for grabbing a screen shot, and more impressively to record anything happening on screen.

If you click the 'Record from now', the video will begin recording. Be sure to turn off the microphone, and shut down any open windows which may cause extraneous sound.

Game Bar will save the video to a folder located at: C:\Users\[your name]\Videos\Captures

I tested it out today, and Game Bar recorded a 30 minute long webcast posted online without any issues.

Fix for when Windows Media Player Plays Audio but not Video

As noted in the Tip of the Night for June 26, 2018, Windows 10 doesn't have all of the codecs necessary to play video MPEG files. If you get a mpeg that plays audio but does not display the video in Windows Media Player, try opening the file in the free media player VLC. VLC will not only play both the video and the audio together, but you can use it to convert the file to a format which will play in Windows Media Player.

In the Media menu go to Convert, and select the file you need to convert. Click on the Convert/Save button at the bottom. As the profile, select, 'Video for MPEG4 720p TV/device' and then choose the name and location of the destination file.

A new video file will be generated that Windows Media Player can play normally.

MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 Video Files May Not Play on Windows 10

Here's a tip that comes by way of IPro's tech support team for Trial Director. IPro is recommending that video files used with Trial Director be in the MPEG-4 format. I'm sure there are an awfully large number of litigation support professionals out there we have deposition video files in the MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 formats needed for upcoming trials whose firms will upgrading to Windows 10 soon. Windows 10 doesn't support these codecs. A separate codec pack can be purchased but it will only help with playing DVDs. Its function is not extended to the Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) which developers use for building desktop Windows applications.

As per IPro, "This is critical because WPF is the component that houses Trial Director Presentation so none of the MPEG-2 or MPEG-1 videos can be guaranteed to start and end properly. MP4's were not affected by Microsoft's decision so they are a valid alternative."

I don't believe very many deposition reporters are aware of this problem, and from what I can tell they are likely still providing firms with videos in the MPEG-1 format.

In any event, a lot of firms and their trial techs are going to be faced with a difficult choice: Either retain a 'legacy' laptop running Window 7, or have a vendor convert all video files to the MPEG-4 format.