Last updated: 2026-01-10

For most teachers in the U.S., the quickest way to record clear, presenter-led online classes is to use StreamYard’s browser studio to capture your screen, camera, and audio in one place and save both cloud and local files. If you need heavy, hardware‑tuned local recording or ultra‑simple async clips, OBS and Loom can play supporting roles alongside StreamYard rather than replacing it.

Summary

• Use StreamYard’s browser studio to record your slides, webcam, and class audio without installing software.
• Enable local multi‑track recording so each participant has separate audio/video for clean edits later. (StreamYard Help Center)
• Keep long lectures organized by watching plan‑level storage hours and per‑stream limits if you record frequently. (StreamYard Support)
• Consider OBS for advanced local configuration and Loom for short, shareable lecture clips or micro‑lessons.

How should you choose your tool for recording online classes?

Start with your actual teaching scenario:

• Teaching live on Zoom/Meet and just need a clean recording? StreamYard works well as your recording studio running alongside the call.
• Delivering a pre‑recorded course or flipped‑classroom videos? Use StreamYard’s recording‑only mode and export files.
• Running a tech‑heavy setup (multiple monitors, capture cards, custom overlays)? Add OBS as a specialized recorder. (OBS Project)
• Sending quick 3–5 minute clarifications or assignment walkthroughs? Loom is effective for short, link‑based clips, but its free plan caps you at 5‑minute recordings and 25 stored videos. (Loom Help)

For most educators, StreamYard is a strong default because it balances ease of use, layout control, and multi‑participant recording without complex installation.

How do you record an online class in StreamYard step by step?

Here’s a simple workflow you can reuse for every lecture:

1. Open StreamYard in your browser (no install needed) and create a new recording studio.
2. Select your mic and camera, then do a quick test—say a few words, check levels, and frame your shot.
3. Share your screen: choose your entire display, a specific window (like PowerPoint or Keynote), or a browser tab.
4. Arrange the layout so your slides are primary and your webcam is picture‑in‑picture. Presenter‑visible screen sharing with controllable layouts is supported, so you can adjust while teaching.
5. Turn on local recordings so each participant gets an individual audio and video file recorded on their own device. (StreamYard Help Center)
6. Hit Record (you can stay off‑air and just capture the lesson without going live).
7. Teach as usual, using presenter notes that only you can see and switching layouts if you jump between slides, demos, or a whiteboard.
8. Stop the recording when you’re done; your files will save to StreamYard’s cloud and, when enabled, as local tracks for each person.
9. Download or export the files and upload them to your LMS, YouTube, or classroom portal.

Because this all runs in the browser, it works on typical school and university laptops that may block desktop installs.

How do you get clear audio and video for class recordings?

Your students will forgive an imperfect slide, but they won’t forgive muddy audio. A few practical tweaks go a long way:

• Use a dedicated mic when possible (even a basic USB mic is a big step up from a laptop mic).
• Control screen and mic audio independently in StreamYard so you can, for example, lower a video’s system audio while keeping your voice loud and clear.
• Close heavy background apps (cloud backups, extra browser tabs) to keep your computer focused on the recording.
• Aim for 1080p with a reasonable bitrate if your connection and device allow it; StreamYard documents recommended settings for local recordings like 1080p at around 4500 kbps. (StreamYard Help Center)

On paid plans, local recording on each participant’s device gives you higher‑quality source files even if someone’s internet glitches during class, because the local file doesn’t inherit all the network issues. (StreamYard Help Center)

How do you capture slides and webcam simultaneously for online lectures?

A classic “talking‑over‑slides” lecture should look polished but be easy to produce. StreamYard is built for exactly this kind of presenter‑led recording:

• Share your slide window (PowerPoint, Keynote, Google Slides) rather than your full desktop so accidental pop‑ups never appear.
• Use a layout that prioritizes content: slides large, webcam smaller but still visible so learners see your expressions.
• Switch layouts live: zoom your camera full‑screen when you want to emphasize a point or explain something without slides, then go back to slides‑plus‑camera.
• Apply logos and overlays live so your course recordings are already on‑brand without extra editing.
• Record both landscape and portrait outputs from the same session so you can reuse a long lecture for YouTube, your LMS, and vertical course promos.

As a simple scenario: you walk students through a 45‑minute statistics lecture with slides, occasional on‑camera explanations, and a closing Q&A. With StreamYard, that’s one recording session, with layouts and branding handled in real time and ready‑to‑export files afterward.

How do you record separate audio tracks per participant for editing?

If you co‑teach or invite guest lecturers, separate audio tracks are incredibly valuable:

• In StreamYard, local recordings can produce individual audio and video files for each host and guest, giving you clean tracks for editing out crosstalk or balancing volumes later. (StreamYard Help Center)
• You can record with multiple guests in the studio on paid plans; StreamYard’s recording page notes that you can record with up to 9 other guests (10 people total). (StreamYard Recordings)
• After the class, you pull each person’s track into your editor (or hand them to a media team) and create a clean final mix.

Contrast that with a simple screen recorder that only outputs a single mixed stereo track—you have far less control when someone coughs over a key explanation or when you want to rebalance a quiet guest.

How do StreamYard, OBS, and Loom fit together for online classes?

You do not need to pick a single tool forever. Think of them as pieces in your teaching toolkit, with StreamYard as the main studio.

• StreamYard for the class itself
  Use it as your central browser studio for live or pre‑recorded lectures, multi‑participant sessions, controlled layouts, and branded overlays, with both cloud and local multi‑track recordings.

• OBS for advanced local capture
  OBS is free, open‑source software for video recording and live streaming, with detailed control over sources, scenes, and encoders. (OBS Project) It’s a good addition when you need highly customized layouts or want to push your hardware for very specific formats, but it requires installation and more setup time.

• Loom for micro‑lessons and clarifications
  Loom’s teaching‑focused recorder lets you quickly capture your screen with audio and camera for lectures, student tutorials, and online courses, then share a simple link. (Loom Teaching Screen Recorder) The trade‑off: the Starter plan restricts you to 5‑minute recordings and 25 stored videos, so long lessons tend to require a paid plan or another tool. (Loom Help)

In practice, many instructors treat StreamYard as the primary recording environment, use OBS occasionally when they want deep technical control, and keep Loom for quick one‑off explanations.

Which free screen recorders work for long university lectures?

If you’re specifically looking to avoid immediate paid upgrades, here’s how the free paths differ:

• StreamYard Free
  Lets you use the recording feature with caps on total hours, 2 hours per month of local recording, and a small storage allowance; live streams on the free plan are not auto‑recorded. (StreamYard Support) For occasional lectures, this can be enough, but heavy use pushes you toward paid plans or storage add‑ons. (StreamYard Storage)

• OBS Studio (no subscription)
  OBS does not impose software caps on recording duration; you’re constrained only by your hardware and disk space, which makes it viable for multi‑hour lecture capture once you configure it correctly. (OBS Project) The cost is time: you must configure sources, scenes, audio routing, and bitrates yourself.

• Loom Starter
  The free Starter plan is intentionally optimized for short recordings, with a 5‑minute per‑video limit and a 25‑video storage cap per workspace. (Loom Help) That makes it less suitable for full‑length university lectures unless you upgrade.

If your main goal is a sustainable, teacher‑friendly workflow and not just “free at all costs,” using StreamYard with sensible recording habits usually balances time saved against any subscription spend.

What we recommend

• Use StreamYard as your default studio for recording online classes: browser‑based, layout‑controlled, with local multi‑track recordings and straightforward exports.
• Turn on local recordings whenever audio quality matters or you’re co‑teaching, so you have separate tracks for post‑production.
• Layer in OBS only when you truly need intricate, hardware‑driven local capture, and keep Loom for short clarifications or student feedback.
• Start simple: perfect your mic, lighting, and slide‑plus‑camera layout in StreamYard before chasing more complex setups.