How to record an 8 hour video on my macbook pro

Posted on:October 14, 2024 at 07:50 AM

I wanted to record a 8 hour video on my macbook pro but I have 6 gig of space on my machine while my external drive has 200 gig of space.

I can also switch it out for a bigger 1TB drive

Here’s instructions for changing where QuickTime saves screen recordings on macOS using symbolic links:

While there may not be a direct macOS setting to change where QuickTime (QT) saves screen recordings, you can use a symbolic link (symlink) to redirect the save location to an external drive. Here’s how:

Step 1: Create a New Folder on External Drive

Create a folder on your external drive for screen recordings:

mkdir /Volumes/ext_drive_name/QT_screen_recs

Step 2: Move Existing Files (Optional)

If you want to keep existing recordings, move them to the new folder:

mv ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.QuickTimePlayerX/Data/Library/Autosave\ Information/* /Volumes/ext_drive_name/QT_screen_recs

Step 3: Rename or Delete Original Folder

You must remove the original folder before creating the symlink. Use one of these commands:

To rename (backup):

sudo mv ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.QuickTimePlayerX/Data/Library/Autosave\ Information ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.QuickTimePlayerX/Data/Library/Autosave\ Information.backup

To delete:

sudo rm -rf ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.QuickTimePlayerX/Data/Library/Autosave\ Information

Create a symlink pointing to the new folder:

ln -s /Volumes/ext_drive_name/QT_screen_recs ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.QuickTimePlayerX/Data/Library/Autosave\ Information

Step 5: Verify Setup

Verify the symlink was created correctly:

ls -alF ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.QuickTimePlayerX/Data/

You should see something like:

Autosave Information -> /Volumes/ext_drive_name/QT_screen_recs

You can also check in Finder. The “Autosave Information” folder should have a small arrow in the lower-left corner, indicating it’s a link.

Now, new QuickTime screen recordings should be saved to your external drive.

Note: This method assumes you’ve correctly identified the QuickTime save directory. If it doesn’t work, you may need to locate the correct directory first.

Citations: [1] https://discussions.apple.com/thread/252624321 [2] https://www.reddit.com/r/mac/comments/14lg2m2/how_do_i_change_quicktime_screen_recording/ [3] https://iboysoft.com/wiki/symlink-mac.html [4] https://www.howtogeek.com/297721/how-to-create-and-use-symbolic-links-aka-symlinks-on-a-mac/ [5] https://www.cisdem.com/resource/recover-quicktime-recording.html [6] https://recorder.itopvpn.com/answer/where-are-screen-recordings-saved-on-mac-33 [7] https://stackoverflow.com/questions/2642147/how-to-remove-files-and-directories-quickly-via-terminal-bash-shell [8] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFGQaAgACwg [9] https://fjolt.com/article/how-to-rename-files-in-linux