Easy way to record Linux desktop movie as gif animation

The Byzanz application lets you record your desktop, a window, or a selected area of the screen as a movie. The resulting file is an animated .gif, so is viewable in almost any web browser ever made. You could attach it to a forum posting if you’re asking for help, for example. The only downside is that the resulting movie file can be large, depending on the area you’ve selected and the length of the movie. Full desktop recordings can easily run in at double-digit megabytes, in fact.

In Ubuntu Hardy, the package can be installed using Synaptic—search for byzanz. Or type the following command in terminal to install Byzanz.

sudo aptitude install byzanz

Once installed, right-click a blank spot on the top panel and select Add to panel. Then select Desktop Recorder from the list. Note that Byzanz won’t work correctly if desktop visual effects are enabled—to disable them, click System —> Preferences —> Appearance, and then click the Visual Effects tab. Then click the None radio button. When you’ve finished recording using Byzanz, repeat, and click the Normal or Extra.

Once the application’s icon appears on the panel, click the small down arrow to select to record the desktop, an area of it, or a particular window. When selecting to record an area of the desktop, the screen will turn black and you should click and drag to de?ne where you want to record (the screen turning black is an unfortunate bug, and you’ll have to try and remember where on the desktop it is you want to record). If you select to record a program window, the mouse will turn to a crosshairs—just click on the window you want to record.

Following this, recording will start. The Byzanz icon will turn to a red circle to indicate this. When you’ve finished, click the red circle to stop recording. You’ll then be prompted to save the movie file.

Bear in mind that resulting movie .gif won’t play in Ubuntu and Linux mint's default image viewer (Eye of GNOME), which will open when you double-click the image. You’ll see nothing but the first frame. Instead, you must play them in Firefox to see the full animation. To do this, right-click the ?le, and select Open With —> Open with “Firefox Web Browser”.

Source ubuntugeek.com