Avoid audio/video lag in your Loom recordings

Summary

Some simple ways to avoid that pesky audio/visual delay.

If you find your audio and video are falling out of sync, there could be a few reasons behind this. Below are some of our most common causes and fixes to help avoid this and improve your recording quality.

Solution

Optimizing and updating your system

• Close any unused tabs or apps running in the background. Before starting a recording, close any applications and browser tabs that are not essential. This frees up system resources like CPU and RAM

• Check your computer's memory. Ensure you have ample free disk space. Video files can be large, and insufficient space might cause performance issues.

• Update your Operating System (Windows & Mac). Updates often include performance improvements that could benefit recording.

• Update Loom. Ensure you're using the latest version of Loom. Developers continuously improve their apps, fixing bugs and optimizing performance.

• Monitor System Resources. Use Task Manager (Windows) or Activity Monitor (Mac) to check if anything running is particularly resource-intensive. If Loom is consuming excessive resources, it might be worth further investigating with their support team here.

Hardware considerations 

• RAM Upgrade: If your computer frequently runs out of memory during tasks, upgrading your RAM can provide a noticeable performance boost.

• Switch to SSD: If you're still using a traditional hard drive, upgrading to an SSD can dramatically improve read/write speeds, benefiting video recording and overall system responsiveness.

• Check cables: If the camera is external, make sure the cable used to connect, respects the specifications. USB-2 ports have a significantly lower bandwidth compared with USB-3 or USB-C. Recording high resolution with low bandwidth cables might result in lag.

Loom Specific Recommendations

• Disable Webcam or Screen Annotations: If not necessary, disabling the webcam feed or screen annotations during recording can lessen the load on your computer.

• Check for Background Activities: Check Loom isn't uploading other videos while you're recording. This can be resource-intensive and cause lag.

• Record in Smaller Segments:If possible, breaking your recordings into smaller segments can help minimize lag, as this puts less strain on your system at any given time.

• Check for Interfering Software: Some software, especially security or optimization tools, can interfere with Loom. Try disabling these (temporarily) to see if performance improves.

• Adjust Loom's Video Quality Settings. If your computer struggles to record high-quality video, consider reducing the video quality in Loom's settings. Lowering the resolution or frame rate can significantly reduce lag.

Please Note: High-powered microphones and cameras use more of your device's resources while recording, which can overload or slow down your GPU. As a result of this, video processing issues like audio/visual lag and glitching may occur. Listed below are some commonly reported cameras that cause audio/visual lag. If you do see lag or glitches while using the camera, we suggest recording with another camera.