Valu-Rec

Why Valu-Rec instead of OBS?

OBS is excellent, free software, and many videographers use it. But it was built for streaming and gaming. To use it for a deposition you build scenes, add plugins for separate files, route audio with a second app, and hope nobody forgets a step. Valu-Rec does one job: record a remote deposition the way agencies and courts expect, with nothing to set up the morning of.

OBS still wins for live streaming, complex scenes and plugins. Valu-Rec is for recording a meeting cleanly and safely, every time.

Install

Quick start: your first deposition

1. Type the master nameTop left. It names the job folder and every file, for example JS110926_1_WIT.mp4.
2. Choose Source 1, the witnessClick the first preview and pick the Zoom, Teams or Webex meeting window. Source 1 is always the picture that goes in the corner.
3. Choose Source 2, the exhibitsClick the second preview and pick the shared screen or the monitor you present from. If the share stops, Valu-Rec holds the last picture instead of going black.
4. Check the soundIn the Audio box, set Meeting Audio to Zoom only (or Teams, Webex) and pick your mic. Both bars should move. Valu-Rec picks the meeting app for you when you choose its window.
5. Pick a layoutFull witness, picture-in-picture in any corner, or side by side.
6. Press to RecordThe big green button, or Ctrl+Alt+R (Control+Option+R on Mac). Press again to go off the record.

What you get

A folder for the job with one MP4 per source you ticked Record on: the witness, the exhibits, and the Stage (the finished picture-in-picture). Each break starts a new numbered set of files, and a Times.txt lists every on and off the record time.

Layouts and hotkeys

• Click a layout or press its hotkey, Ctrl+Alt+1 to 8. Hotkeys work while Zoom is in front, so a Stream Deck can drive everything.
• Resize the corner picture with the PIP Size slider, or double-click it on the Stage and drag its corner.
• Crop any source to cut off Zoom's toolbars or a second person's tile.
• Up to four sources. Add a camera, a capture card or another window with + Add Video Source. Source 1 is always the corner picture; pick which other source is the background.

Audio

• Meeting Audio: choose Zoom only (or Teams, Webex, your browser for Google Meet) so only the meeting is recorded. All computer sound records everything you hear.
• My Mic: your own voice, for when you go on the record.
• Mute My Mic when I mute in the meeting: Valu-Rec watches Zoom, Teams and Webex and mutes your mic in the recording the moment you mute in the meeting. No second button to remember.
• Add Source: mix in another device, like an audio interface or Loopback.
• Meeting left, Mic right: puts each on its own channel for editing later.

Wear headphones, or record "Zoom only". If your speakers play the meeting while your mic is live, the meeting gets recorded twice. Valu-Rec warns you when it sees that.

The date and time stamp

• Burned in to the Stage file (and any file you choose), so it can't be removed or drift.
• Internet time. The stamp and the session log use the internet's clock, so a wrong computer clock never reaches the record.
• Time zones in one click: Eastern, Central, Mountain, Arizona, Pacific, Alaska, Hawaii, London, UTC, or type any zone.
• Place it anywhere: top or bottom, left, center or right, or tick Free placement and drag it. Press Done, Esc or click outside to finish.
• On Screen: also shows the stamp on your monitor, in the same spot and size, for an HDMI recorder. It never doubles up in Valu-Rec's own files.
• Stamp On / Off: Ctrl+Alt+T.

Feed your HDMI backup recorders

Many videographers run an HDMI recorder as a backup. Valu-Rec can send the exact sound it is recording to those recorders, so you no longer need Loopback or VoiceMeeter.

1. Choose the monitor as the source under a preview.
2. Tick Send audio. Valu-Rec picks that monitor's HDMI or DisplayPort sound output.
3. Watch the level bar under it. If it moves, the recorder is getting sound.

Leave that HDMI device unmuted at full volume in Windows or macOS, and turn the monitor's own speakers down instead. If the device is muted in the computer, the recorder gets silence, and Valu-Rec tells you.

Video settings agencies ask for

Open Settings and press Use Recommended Settings for what nearly every agency wants:

Resolution	1080p (4K available)
Format	H.264 MP4 (H.265 available)
Rate control	CBR, constant bitrate (VBR and Quality available)
Bitrate	5 Mbps per file, 3 to 30 Mbps
Encoder	GPU (NVIDIA, AMD, Intel, Apple), or CPU
Key frames	Every second, for smooth scrubbing in sync software
Frame rate	29.97 (also 24, 30, 59.94, 60)

Click the 1080p · 5 Mbps tag on any source card to jump straight to the bitrate. Run the Stress Test in Settings once to see whether your computer can handle 4K.

A view for every screen

The View button at the top arranges the same controls for your screen. Auto picks one from the window's shape. Wide Screen suits ultrawide monitors, Sources Below suits tall or portrait screens, Compact suits laptops, and Record Only shows just the Stage, the sound and the record button. The whole window scales when you resize it, and the previews always stay in full view.

Jobs, presets and session times

• Session Times lists every on and off the record, with the total. They save next to the recordings after every break, so closing the app never loses them.
• New Job clears the times and the name for the next deposition.
• Save Preset keeps your whole setup: sources, layout, audio, stamp, video settings and HDMI sends. Make one per agency, then Open Preset or double-click the preset file.
• Updates: Valu-Rec checks for a new version when it opens and offers a one-click download. Your settings and presets stay.

Not just depositions

Anything that happens over Zoom, Teams, Webex or Google Meet and needs a clean, time-stamped record:

Always follow the law and the meeting's rules on recording, and tell everyone they are being recorded.

Questions