This is a sponsored article and was made possible by Mirillis, the makers of Action! Screen Recorder. The actual contents and opinions are the sole views of the author who maintains editorial independence, even when a post is sponsored.

Whether you want to create screencasts for tutorials, show off a project you’re working on, or stream gameplay live, you’re going to need a decent screen recorder for the job. While there are many programs available for Windows, not all of them deliver on quality or features. Plus, the better ones are usually expensive.

However, Action! Screen Recorder is a program that delivers on all fronts. From the user-friendly and stylish interface to the integrated “Live” feature to the exceptional quality of video recording, you won’t be disappointed. It even comes at an affordable price for a lifetime license. What’s even better is that all Make Tech Easier readers can save an additional 15% by entering the coupon code “MakeTechEasier” (no quotes) at checkout!

Installing and Setting Up Action! Screen Recorder

If you would like to test Action! out before buying, they offer a 30-day free trial. Unfortunately, it is only available for Windows. For this review, I tested it out on a Windows 10 computer.

The download and installation process is quite simple. You can download the trial directly from the Mirillis website. Installing took under a minute. There aren’t any advance settings or options to go through; everything is straightforward.

Upon completion, you’re greeted with an organized, easy-to-follow tutorial that includes fourteen slides. It shows you all the basics such as important hotkeys that will make controlling the program even easier, recording modes, exporting to YouTube, adding and using bookmarks, enabling the “Greenscreen Mode,” and more.

After going through that, you’re ready to use Action! Screen Recorder. There are a ton of options and settings that you can enable and tweak, so the setup process won’t be the same for everyone.

For someone like me who will only use this for screen recording, there wasn’t much for me to do besides choose the file format (AVI or MP4), set the video size, and choose a video framerate. Depending on your graphics card, the video size may go all the way up to 8k. However, mine only goes up to 1080p.

Recording Your Screen with Action! Screen Recorder

I love that there are two types of screen recording modes: entire window and region. Recording just a region of the screen allows you to choose a specific area (small or large) to be included in the recording (or live stream). You’ll get a green box that you can move around and resize as necessary.

There’s also a control bar below the box that allows you to start/stop recording, go Live, take screenshots, and more. When you do start to record, the box will turn red.

If you record the entire window, you’ll have to control everything from the Action! program window (which disappears when recording just a region). Additionally, you can also use the Android app to start and stop the recording as well as go Live.

I found screen recording to be extremely easy. It’s literally as simple as clicking the record button or using a hotkey. The only small issue I did find is that it really got the computer’s CPU working overtime! I found that decreasing the video size (from 1080p to 720p) along with the framerate (60 to 30) really helped with this.

Naturally, this is also dependent on your computer’s RAM and graphics card. Sadly, a less powerful computer is just not going go be able to handle a powerful program like Action! without compromising video quality.

Live Streaming with Action! Screen Recorder

I also tried the Live streaming feature with my husband. We decided to try Facebook and YouTube to see how well it worked. You can easily set up those two as well as a few other services, like Twitch.tv and Ustream. You’ll be prompted to log into the account to link it, just like on the Web with sites that support social logins.

What’s also really nice is that you can choose the privacy of the live stream and add a title before going live. We were able to make the stream private for testing purposes.

While I was going live on the computer, my husband was watching on his mobile device. We did notice that there was a bit of delay on the live stream; it seemed to be twenty to thirty seconds of a delay. Honestly, we were fine with that considering most similar programs have a slight delay, and it doesn’t affect the live stream experience since no one is going to know.

Live streaming seems to work up the computer even more, so much so that it was very sluggish and lagging while moving around. Luckily, decreasing the quality of the video helps with that. Plus, on a mobile device you can’t really see a huge difference between 720p and 480p. I’m sure that a more powerful computer is sure to do the higher quality with ease, though.

Other Notable Features

While I couldn’t possibly try out all of the features or go over them in detail in this review, I do want to point out some other cool things that Action! can do.

  • There is a built-in file manager that allows you to access any recordings and screenshots taken with the app; you can also delete them right from the app.
  • With “Greenscreen Mode” the background will automatically be cut out while recording with your webcam – no editing required.
  • You can capture video from gaming consoles, other computers, TV broadcasts, webcams, and camcorders.
  • You can add your own logo to your recording for branding purposes.
  • The “Time-Shift” feature allows you to save your best gameplay actions instantly to a file with a single hotkey.
  • Hardware acceleration is supported for smoother recording and gameplay.
  • You can use slow motion effects for your recordings and gameplay with the 120 fps recording option.
  • By adding your microphone, you can add live audio commentary to your recordings and gameplay; settings give you full control of the input volume and mixing levels.
  • You can also record what you hear on your PC (sounds, music, game audio) with the audio recording function; audio is encoded in real-time M4A format.
  • Action! HUD is a small window that displays in the top corner of the screen and displays important information like the current framerate, average framerate, status icon, 3D engine detected, progress bar, and even how many people are viewing your live stream.

Final Thoughts

Needless to say, when it comes to screen and gameplay recording, Action! Screen Recorder is pretty impressive. It has all the features needed to create superb tutorials, podcasts, commentaries, and more. The added bonus of being able to go Live is invaluable in this day and age when every major social network seems to have its own live stream feature!

If you’re looking for an advanced screen recording program that doesn’t break the bank, Action! just may be the one you’re looking for. Don’t forget, you can also save 15% with the coupon code “MakeTechEasier” (no quotes). Be sure to check the “I have a discount coupon” box so that you can enter it at checkout.

Action! Screen Recorder

Charnita has been a Freelance Writer & Professional Blogger since 2008. As an early adopter she loves trying out new apps and services. As a Windows, Mac, Linux and iOS user, she has a great love for bleeding edge technology. You can connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and LinkedIn.

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