diff --git a/lerobot/scripts/control_robot.py b/lerobot/scripts/control_robot.py
index f87e14d9..5398b999 100644
--- a/lerobot/scripts/control_robot.py
+++ b/lerobot/scripts/control_robot.py
@@ -232,13 +232,13 @@ def record_dataset(
 
         timestamp = time.perf_counter() - start_time
 
-    # Start recording all episodes
-    ep_dicts = []
-    for episode_index in range(num_episodes):
-        # Save images using threads to reach high fps (30 and more)
-        # Using `with` to exist smoothly if an execption is raised.
-        # Using only 4 worker threads to avoid blocking the main thread.
-        with concurrent.futures.ThreadPoolExecutor(max_workers=4) as executor:
+    # Save images using threads to reach high fps (30 and more)
+    # Using `with` to exist smoothly if an execption is raised.
+    # Using only 4 worker threads to avoid blocking the main thread.
+    with concurrent.futures.ThreadPoolExecutor(max_workers=4) as executor:
+        # Start recording all episodes
+        ep_dicts = []
+        for episode_index in range(num_episodes):
             ep_dict = {}
             frame_index = 0
             timestamp = 0
@@ -279,21 +279,12 @@ def record_dataset(
 
                 timestamp = time.perf_counter() - start_time
 
-        logging.info("Encoding images to videos")
-
         num_frames = frame_index
 
         for key in image_keys:
             tmp_imgs_dir = videos_dir / f"{key}_episode_{episode_index:06d}"
             fname = f"{key}_episode_{episode_index:06d}.mp4"
-            video_path = local_dir / "videos" / fname
-            # note: video encoding is not done asynchronously
-            encode_video_frames(tmp_imgs_dir, video_path, fps)
-
-            # clean temporary images directory
-            shutil.rmtree(tmp_imgs_dir)
-
-            # store the reference to the video frame
+            # store the reference to the video frame, even tho the videos are not yet encoded
             ep_dict[key] = []
             for i in range(num_frames):
                 ep_dict[key].append({"path": f"videos/{fname}", "timestamp": i / fps})
@@ -314,11 +305,29 @@ def record_dataset(
 
         ep_dicts.append(ep_dict)
 
-    data_dict = concatenate_episodes(ep_dicts)
+        # last episode
+        if episode_index == num_episodes - 1:
+            logging.info("Done recording")
+            os.system('say "Done recording" &')
 
+    data_dict = concatenate_episodes(ep_dicts)
     total_frames = data_dict["frame_index"].shape[0]
     data_dict["index"] = torch.arange(0, total_frames, 1)
 
+    logging.info("Encoding images to videos")
+    os.system('say "Encoding images to videos" &')
+
+    for episode_index in range(num_episodes):
+        for key in image_keys:
+            tmp_imgs_dir = videos_dir / f"{key}_episode_{episode_index:06d}"
+            fname = f"{key}_episode_{episode_index:06d}.mp4"
+            video_path = local_dir / "videos" / fname
+            # note: `encode_video_frames` is a blocking call. Making it asynchronous shouldn't speedup encoding,
+            # since video encoding with ffmpeg is already using multithreading.
+            encode_video_frames(tmp_imgs_dir, video_path, fps)
+            # Clean temporary images directory
+            shutil.rmtree(tmp_imgs_dir)
+
     hf_dataset = to_hf_dataset(data_dict, video)
     episode_data_index = calculate_episode_data_index(hf_dataset)
     info = {
@@ -326,13 +335,6 @@ def record_dataset(
         "video": video,
     }
 
-    meta_data_dir = local_dir / "meta_data"
-
-    for key in image_keys:
-        time.sleep(10)
-        tmp_imgs_dir = videos_dir / f"{key}_episode_{episode_index:06d}"
-        shutil.rmtree(tmp_imgs_dir)
-
     lerobot_dataset = LeRobotDataset.from_preloaded(
         repo_id=repo_id,
         hf_dataset=hf_dataset,
@@ -346,10 +348,14 @@ def record_dataset(
     hf_dataset = hf_dataset.with_format(None)  # to remove transforms that cant be saved
     hf_dataset.save_to_disk(str(local_dir / "train"))
 
+    meta_data_dir = local_dir / "meta_data"
     save_meta_data(info, stats, episode_data_index, meta_data_dir)
 
     # TODO(rcadene): push to hub
 
+    logging.info("Done, exiting")
+    os.system('say "Done, exiting" &')
+
     return lerobot_dataset