Recording
Arkestra can record its canvas output as a high-quality video file without any external screen capture software.
Starting a recording
Section titled “Starting a recording”Click the Screen Record button in the toolbar (the button shows a record.circle icon). Recording begins immediately.
Stopping a recording
Section titled “Stopping a recording”Click the button a second time. The button label changes to Recording while active. Click it again to stop and save the file.
Output settings
Section titled “Output settings”Open the Recording panel in the right browser sidebar (red record.circle icon) to configure:
| Setting | Options |
|---|---|
| Codec | H.264, HEVC¹, ProRes¹, ProRes HQ¹ |
| Quality | Low, Mid¹, High¹, IG¹ (H.264/HEVC only) |
| Frame rate | 24, 25, 30, 50¹, 60¹, 120¹ fps |
| Format | MP4, MOV |
¹ Requires a license. Free users record H.264 at Low quality, up to 30 fps.
Recordings are saved to the app’s Recordings folder (accessible from the home screen). Resolution always matches the canvas. The line under the pickers shows the resolution, frame rate, data rate and file type you’ll get.
Choosing a codec
Section titled “Choosing a codec”| Codec | Use it when |
|---|---|
| H.264 | You want to share the file as-is. Plays everywhere. |
| HEVC | You want cleaner footage at the same file size, and your player or platform supports H.265. |
| ProRes | You’re taking the recording into Final Cut, Premiere, Resolve or another app for more work. Near-lossless and quick to edit, but the files are large (~150 Mbps at 1080p30). |
| ProRes HQ | The footage goes through several apps or rounds of editing and you want the most headroom. Files are about 1.5× the size of ProRes. |
HDR (HLG) records 10-bit HDR video with HEVC or ProRes when the project’s HDR mode is on. See HDR.
Quality sets the bitrate for H.264 and HEVC. ProRes has fixed quality for each flavour, so the quality buttons are disabled while it’s selected. ProRes always records to MOV.
Choose MP4 for the widest compatibility (social, web, most players) or MOV for QuickTime-based editors and Apple tooling. The IG preset uses a fixed 13 Mbps H.264 bitrate, tuned to hold up after Instagram re-encodes it. Selecting IG switches the codec back to H.264.
ProRes and HEVC encoding is built into macOS, so there’s nothing extra to install or pay for. On Macs without a hardware ProRes encoder, high resolutions at 60–120 fps can drop frames. The toast at the end of a recording reports any dropped frames.
File naming
Section titled “File naming”Files are named Arkestra - <ISO8601 timestamp>.mp4 (or .mov) and saved to the app’s Recordings folder.
Audio recording
Section titled “Audio recording”If you have an audio file loaded in the media player, an Include audio toggle appears in the Recording panel. Enabling it mixes that audio track into the recording, starting from the current playhead position. The video is copied as-is, not re-encoded, so adding audio doesn’t lower picture quality. MOV files get uncompressed 24-bit audio and MP4 files get AAC. This feature requires a license.
For other audio sources (live instruments, DAW output), capture audio separately with a tool like BlackHole and sync in post.