Select area on the screen and record it as a GIF

record-gif

#!/bin/sh
# Select area on the screen and record it as a GIF.
# Running for the second time stops recording, so it's suitable for
# assigning to a key.

set -e

getbin ()
{
    BIN="$( which "$1" || which "$( dirname "$0" )/$1" )"

    if [ -z "${BIN}" ]
    then
        "$( which xmessage || echo echo )" "ERROR No $1 binary found."
        exit 70
    fi

    echo "${BIN}"
}

SCRIPT_DIR="$( dirname "$0" )"
# https://github.com/GNOME/byzanz
# https://launchpad.net/~fossfreedom/+archive/ubuntu/byzanz
BYZANZ_BIN="$( getbin byzanz-record )"
# Get source from
# https://web.archive.org/web/20140914024847/https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=85378#p660547
# compile with and place in the same directory as this script:
# gcc -Wall xrectsel.c -o …/xrectsel -lX11
XRECTSEL_BIN="$( getbin xrectsel )"

OUT_DIR="$( xdg-user-dir VIDEOS || echo "$HOME" )"
OUT_FN="recording$( date +%FT%T ).gif"

rec_stop ()
{
    killall "$( basename "${BYZANZ_BIN}" )"
}

rec_start ()
{
    # When assigned to a key in GNONE, displays
    # "couldn't grab keyboard:" before geometry
    GEO="$( "${XRECTSEL_BIN}" | sed 's/^.*://' )"
    WIDTH="$( echo "${GEO}" | cut -dx -f1 )"
    HEIGHT="$( echo "${GEO}" | cut -dx -f2 | cut -d+ -f1 )"
    X="$( echo "${GEO}" | cut -d+ -f2 )"
    Y="$( echo "${GEO}" | cut -d+ -f3 )"

    "${BYZANZ_BIN}" \
        --delay=0 \
        --duration=99999999 \
        --cursor \
        --x=$X \
        --y=$Y \
        --width=$WIDTH \
        --height=$HEIGHT \
        "${OUT_DIR}"/"${OUT_FN}"
}


if pidof byzanz-record >/dev/null
then
    rec_stop
else
    rec_start
fi