How to Record Videos on Ubuntu with Cheese

Cheese is a free webcam app for Ubuntu. It records videos and takes photos with a laptop camera or a USB webcam. Fresh installations of Ubuntu often leave it off, but adding it takes a minute. There are two ways to do it:

1. Open the Ubuntu Software Center (called App Center on newer Ubuntu releases), search for Cheese, and click Install.
2. Or open the terminal, the Ubuntu command-line interface, and type sudo apt install cheese. Enter your password when asked. Nothing shows on screen while you type it, which is normal. Then press Enter.

Either way, Cheese then appears in your app menu. Installing it needs an administrator account, and no restart is required.

The program saves all your recordings as .webm video files by default, inside the Videos/Webcam folder of your Home directory. You can record short clips or fun photo booth shots without working through complicated settings or editing menus. If you ever want to remove Cheese, you can uninstall it from the same software center. Your saved videos stay in their folder.

How to record video with Cheese in Ubuntu Linux

Launching the application brings up the main Cheese window. To open it:

1. Click the Show Applications icon at the bottom of the screen.
2. Type Cheese into the search🔍 field.
3. Click the Cheese icon in the results.

The window opens and shows a live view from your camera. If the picture is black or you see a “no device found” message, check that the webcam is plugged in, and that no other program is holding the camera. Then reopen Cheese.

1. Look at the side of the window for the mode buttons.
2. Click Video if it is not already highlighted.
3. Check that the main capture button now reads Record a video.

You only need this step if you do not want clips going to Videos/Webcam. To change the save location:

1. Click the three-line menu button in the top right corner of the window.
2. Select Preferences. The Preferences window opens.
3. Type or paste your new folder path into the folder box.
4. Close the window. New recordings go to that folder from now on.

Make sure the folder exists and your user account can write to it. If it does not, saving can fail. To undo the change, enter the original Videos/Webcam folder again. Clips you already recorded stay where they were saved.

1. Click the large Record a video button at the bottom of the screen. You can also press the Space key.
2. Check that the button changes, which tells you recording has started, and a timer appears.

If your clip has no sound, open Settings › Sound, look at the input device, and make sure the right microphone is selected and not muted. Then try again.

To stop recording, do one of the following:

• Click the capture button a second time.
• Press the Space key.
• Press the Esc key.

The timer stops and the clip is saved straight away. There is no separate save step.

Finished recordings appear in the thumbnail bar at the bottom of the window. From there you can:

• Double-click a thumbnail to play the clip.
• Right-click a thumbnail to delete footage you do not want.

The clips are ordinary .webm files, so you can also open the Videos/Webcam folder in the Files app to copy, rename or share them. Most players handle .webm, including VLC. If a clip will not play in another program, try VLC first.

That covers the entire capture workflow: open Cheese, switch to Video, record, stop, and check the thumbnail bar. Once you have done it a couple of times, it takes only a few seconds.

Summary

• Record Fun MomentsUse your webcam to capture quick clips easily.
• Automatic SavingYour videos save automatically to your chosen folder, with no extra save step needed.
• Special EffectsUse the Effects menu in Cheese to add filters to your video. Pick an effect before you start recording, so it appears in the clip.