After doing some tests I think I settled on a set-up that I like tonight!
I’ve given up on a few methods that didn’t allow me to export video as h.264 mp4
Mainly just because I want all of my stuff to go on Youtube, and if you use the h.264 codec you can upload without re-compressing your video.
I used VLC to capture and compress my video. (you can pick up the h.264 codec there too)
https://www.videolan.org/vlc/
Carnac for capturing keystrokes/shortcuts. It’s free, open source, and portable to boot!
https://appnee.com/carnac/
Pointer Focus for highlighting the cursor. It has some other neat features too. In my testing it didn’t play well with Carnac but it might be my system.
http://www.pointerfocus.com/
The trial version can’t be used for commercial purposes, and it opens a nag screen every 5 minutes. (if the nag screen is on a different monitor it won’t interrupt your recording) It only costs $12.50 though. Totally fair price IMO.
I’m uploading some videos to youtube to make sure the quality holds up, and so far I’m happy with the results.