TechSmith is the company that created the screen capture software that is used in my current InterWrite software. It worked alright and it was simple but I was having two major problems (and one minor problem) with it....
(1) Major - It would only record at 15 frames-per-second.... which was just too slow for source videos. I want to record at 30 fps and maybe save the FINAL at 15 fps.
(2) Major - I could not get it to effectively record in a video format that would go directly into Adobe Premiere. For whatever reason I would find that (a) either it encoded in a form that was HORRIBLE for editing in Premiere.... or (b) I had to feed it through Windows MovieMaker to get it into a format that might work.... which required an extra step and extra time... (also, if you read my post a month ago, this method stopped working anyhow)
(3) Minor - When you set up the recording window it was TOO simple.... The user basically draws a box around what they wish to record...... And whenever you record you had to draw a new box.... It was not very precise (my recording windows are exactly 900 x 600 pixels.... Click-and-drag a box sometimes ends up 887 x 602 which adds distortion in the source video files.... ack!)
After searching for options... (and, almost QUITTING my project all-together!) I went back to the company (TechSmith) and tried out one of their newer, somewhat costly, products...
Camtasia Studio
In short:
This software DOES MORE THAN I NEED IT TO DO and I ended up paying $$$ for it... (although, with an 40% educator's discount)
However, the EXTRA may be useful in its own right. ESPECIALLY FOR OTHER TEACHERS WHO MAY WISH TO HAVE AN EASIER METHOD OF POSTING THEIR LESSONS ONLINE.
First: What it DOES do for ME:
It RECORDS (in an .avi video format) THE SCREEN FOR ME.
Here is a first ever, complete snapshot, OF MY ENTIRE COMPUTER SCREEN.
What you see here is mainly the InterWrite software (the blue controls down the middle and along the bottom of the screen). I use InterWrite to do most of my live DRAWING and ANIMATION images. The BLACK RECTANGLE on the screen is my video recording backdrop. That is my "stage" upon which I diagram all of my notes to be recorded. For those of you who are familiar with InterWrite (I could write an entire BLOG on that itself!) I basically have ten frames that look like you see here, with blank, black, pre-drawn rectangles....
Camastia runs OVER InterWrite (and any other software I might be running.) In the image above I have it set to a 900 x 600 pixel "frame" which is indicated by a green dashed-line border with eight gray little boxes/handes. You can move your video recording window by grabing one of those handles and dragging it. (There is also a "center point" in the middle of the recording window but that is NOT a handle.) Right below this you see a set of Camastia recording controls. There are other options, such as recording sound or simultaneous recording of YOURE FACE using your computer's web cam.
I like this recording window because it lets me set it to EXACTLY whatever window size I wish AND it REMEMBERS it for next time. Whenever I start recording it is RIGHT where I need it, precisely centered on my 900 x 600 stage.
EXTRAS: But Camastia is so much more. SOME day I may get into those other options which I, for better or worse, paid for. Basically it is designed as an ALL-IN-ONE ONLINE presenter. Once you record your screen demos, you can use Camastia to EDIT VIDEO, add text, markers, and, yes, EVEN ADD AN ONLINE QUIZ that can EMAIL you the individual results from your students! <-- I plan on using some of this in the years to come as supplemental material for my online lectures. MORE ON THESE OTHER FEATURES SOME OTHER MONTH!
Cost: $185.95
Time: 30 minutes
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