OBS Studio is free and open source software for video recording and live streaming, featuring real time video/audio capturing and mixing. Users can create scenes made up of multiple sources including window captures, images, text, browser windows, webcams, and capture cards.
$0
Riverside.fm
Score 5.9 out of 10
N/A
Riverside.fm headquartered in Tel Aviv offers a remote recording solution for enterprise teams. It is presented as an easy way for teams to record professional-grade video content and podcasts, from anywhere.
From simple streaming to bigger events, OBS has been able to handle all of it with full confidence from us. Have never questioned if it was going to be unreliable in a specific situation, even with minimal training. Software identified the external input source easily and had no issues setting that up (Blackmagic Mini Recorder), and great for pulling in separate audio from the computer input.
Riverside.fm is well suited for video content that you are recording ahead of time in order to edit and release where you are inviting people to participate that are not part of your organization. You can send them a link and they just have to go to the website and be in the conversation. There is no software to download and they do not have to worry about handling their video files after they are done.
I have had some times where there are video glitches, and I have been told that it could be because of other software running. It would be good if the software were more robust and able to more consistently get smooth video.
I have had a couple instances of people being kicked off and their video files were not recoverable.
Very usable because it is free and has had a lot of people helping to suggest improvements and sponsors have allowed the product to grow in sophistication and suitability across a variety of situations and use needs. It is very logical to use once you get started, although the dashboard can seem intimidating at first.
There are a couple of small technical issues that can effect the quality of the videos produced that is keeping me from giving it a 10. It is far superior to any other tool to get a high quality video recording with multiple people over the internet, so it is hands down the best tool I have found for this use case, but I know it can be better.
For a free product, a range of support is available. There are plenty of ways to find out answers to questions, because there are probably thousands of people using the product who are willing to share what they have learned. It usually works as designed, so needs for support are limited.
I have not needed to use the Riverside.fm support that much, which in itself is a good sign of how good their product is, but when I have had to use their support it was prompt, and helpful, and the people were very kind. I am glad to know there is someone there to help quickly if I am having a problem.
I have also used TinyTake by Mango Apps and I prefer OBS studio because the video quality results are better and OBS allows you to record an unlimited length of the video. OBS also lets you record an entire screen instead of manually having to draw your parameters, which can create oddly sizes videos if you miss by a few pixels.
Riverside is far better than trying to record on Zoom or Skype because on both of those platforms you are recording others' videos from over the internet, so you get any glitches that come from inconsistent connections that either you or your guest has. Riverside records locally and then uploads separately, so everyone's video quality is much greater.
