This post is a backup of a wiki page I’ve made about screencasting for a LET session on Friday 18th August 2008.
It’s about 90% done, but needs more examples. If you are reading this via RSS, check back with the page in a couple of days, as it will have grown.
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- Jing
- SnagIt
- Slideshare.net
- Camtasia
- Captivate
- Other Options
Definitions
Not hard and fast, but generally
Screencapture -
a still shot of what is on your PC screen.
Slidecast -
an embeddable copy of Powerpoint slides uploaded to the site slideshare.net and synchronised to change with an audio track on a different site
Screencast -
a mini movie showing in real time what is happening on a PC screen. May also include screencaptures, uploaded PowerPoint slides, captions explaining the action and an audio track.
Output format
When deciding the size of a capture you need to think about who will be viewing it on which device.
Some products output into formats that not everyone can play, or take up a lot of bandwidth. If want to convert formats, it is possible and often can be done using free tools, but not always.
If you ever want to convert from one format to another, the screen size should be a standard 3:4 ratio. The common size for a PowerPoint slide is 1024 x 768 pixels.
For YouTube, everything gets resized to 320 x 200 .
Lectopia is OK to stream everything except .wmv format.
Streaming
Lectopia works as a streaming server. They are happy to host and stream our content and would appreciate a few test files.
Screencasting etc. laptop
Kathryn’s current laptop will have all the screencasting etc. software loaded on it and will be available from her office for library staff to use. When she is not using her office, it can double as a workspace for recording audio away from other people.
This will happen when Kathryn’s replacement laptop is fixed and her current laptop has been rebuilt
Examples
Software for this
1. Jing
2. SnagIt
3. Slideshare.net
4. Camtasia Studio
5. Captivate 3
6. Other
Jing
Where does it come from ?
Made by Techsmith who also make SnagIt and Camtasia
What does it cost ?
Free for now
What does it do?
Fast and dirty screencaptures with basic editing
Fast and dirty screencasts with audio and no editing
How do you get it ?
Download client software to PC
Register fee membership at screencast.com
How do you use it?
- Small yellow button displays at top of every screen at all times - is always available
- When want to start screencast/capture, click on button
- Set screen size by moving grid
- Capture - including live audio if applicable
- Edit screencapture
- Nominate type of output
What type of output?
Screencaptures:
Format: .png
Options:
- Straight to screencast.com where it has its own unique URL for linking. Also provides embed code to embed it elsewhere.
- Straight to Flickr
- Straight to a server via FTP
- Straight to file wherever you specify
Screencasts:
Format: .swf
Options:
- Straight to screencast.com where it has its own unique URL for linking. Also provides embed code to embed it elsewhere.
- Straight to a server via FTP
- Straight to file wherever you specify
When would you use it?
To create a quick on-line link to something with little archival value that you won’t want to refine or build on.
SnagIT
Where does it come from ?
Made by Techsmith who also make Jing and Camtasia
What does it cost ?
Free 30 day trial at: http://www.techsmith.com/screen-capture.asp
$164 for 5 licenses
So far we have licensed copies installed on:
- Kathryn’s current laptop
- Kathryn’s borrowed laptop
- Ian’s PC
- Anne G’s PC
What does it do?
Screencaptures - Good quality, easily captured. Very easy to mark up the image with balloons and text and arrows and work with a batch of images.
Screencasts - Exact recording of what you
How do you get it ?
Download a trial copy and test it.
Ask Mike for a copy
Download and install on your PC
How do you use it?
- Open the program
- Select whether to capture image or video
- Many options to set screen size - grid, whole desktop, just one application etc
- If using audio, then talk as you capture
- For screenshots - lots of very useful, quick editing options
- For screencasts - very minimal editing
What type of output?
Screencaptures:
Format: .png
Options:
Can output to separate file or save straight to MS Office applications like PowerPoint
Screencasts:
Format: .avi
Options:
- Straight to file wherever you specify
When would you use it?
Screen capture: To quickly create annotated screenshots with very clear captioning suitable for “how to” guides and PowerPoint presentations
Screencasting: Does the same as Jing which is quicker. Would only use if you wanted the .avi format eg. to upload to YouTube, which doesn’t take .swf
Slideshare.net
Where does it come from ?
Is a web based presentation slide sharing site
What does it cost ?
Free
What does it do?
A social network for slide presentations with features like tagging, favouriting, RSS feeds of new uploads, friending.
Also allows you to create slidecasts.
How do you get it ?
Create a profile and upload your slides. Most slidesets on slideshare.net do not include audio.
Slides can be uploaded from PowerPoint, or Open Office. (or google docs)
To create a slidecast, you will need to have created an MP3 file and uploaded it to another site. You could use Audacity upload to a site like podomatic. You could use a site like PodcastPeople where you can record and lan MP3 and get the link all online.
How do you use it?
- Login to slidecast.net
- Upload your slides
- When the slideshow is uploaded, select edit.
- Enter the link to the MP3 file.
- Use the editing tool (similar to Windows Movie Maker) to synchronise the audio and slides
- Publish the slidecast
What type of output?
A permalink online and embed code to embed into web pages
When would you use it?
To match up your presentation slides from an event where audio files were made.
As a resource for external students who couldn’t come to an on-campus training session
To record your run-through the night before a presentation and then match it to your slides afterward.
Example
Slidecast by Polly Farrington Slidecasting: an alternative to screencasting
Camtasia Studio
Where does it come from ?
Made by Techsmith who also make Jing and SnagIT
What does it cost ?
Free 30 day trial at: http://www.techsmith.com/download/camtasiatrial.asp
According to Techsmith’s educational pricing site, Camtasia by itself is USD179 each, and bundled with SnagIt, USD199
We do not have any copies at South Street, but Karen MacKenzie at Peel made a screencast using Camtasia - http://community.challengertafe.wa.edu.au/moodle/mod/resource/view.php?id=4349 .
What does it do?
Made for interactive simulations as well as screencasting.
Screencasts - records action of screen.
Lets you drop in music, audio, images, videos during editing
Allows you to add transitions
Can add many callouts (like captions and movement)
Can embed flash objects - including quizzes.
Can add tables of contents
How do you get it ?
Download a trial copy and test it.
If we are considering buying it, we should compare it to Captivate and SnagIt to ensure it offers more features.
How do you use it?
It works by turning your screen action into a video, so you edit it in real time like a video. If you wait five minutes to click on a link, the screencast produced will show a five minute wait.
What type of output?
Can output to:
- MP3
- iPod video
- Flash (SWF and FLV)
- AVI
- Silverlight compatible WMV
- QuickTime (MOV)
- RealMedia (RM)
- Animated GIF
- Executable (EXE)
When would you use it?
Archivable presentations that you want to have decent production values
Captivate 3
Where does it come from ?
Produced by Adobe
What does it cost ?
We currently have five copies of the old version installed. It is evil and runs like a dog.
I have tested the new version and it does what it should do when it should do it.
New copies are around AUD130 under the campus purchasing agreement, rather than USD1245 retail.
What does it do?
Made for interactive simulations as well as screencasting.
Screencasts - records action of screen.
Lets you drop in music, audio, images, videos during editing
Allows you to add transitions
Can add many callouts (like captions and movement)
Has its own quiz/ interactive content tools
Can add tables of contents
Can create “branches” - different endings according to the user response to a question
How do you get it ?
Download a trial copy and test it. http://www.adobe.com/products/captivate/.
Or when the screencasting etc. laptop is available, use the copy on that.
How do you use it?
It works by capturing each change to your screen as a separate slide, with some video capture too. This means that if you wait five minutes to click on a link, only th ecnage is recorded, so the click looks like it is immediate.
It also inserts “click here” callout boxes to match the action you do during the capture.
You can record audio for each slide.
It is very easy to drop slides in and rearrange them.
What type of output?
Product features seem to indicate multi format output, but formats are not specified and I suspect it is only in flash format. I think you would probably need to buy conversion software to output to .avi, like the movavi.com video converter.
When would you use it?
Archivable presentations that you want to have decent production values
Other Options
Screencapture
- Screengrab!
- Firefox extension. Free and downloadable here: http://www.screengrab.org
Screencasting
- Windows Movie Maker see notes Making mini movies with Windows Movies Maker
- Camstudio
- Screencast-O-Matic
- screencast-O-Matic http://www.screencast-o-matic.com/
Where to put the file
If you used slideshare.net or Jing, you just need to add the embed code to your web page or add a link to the page on the net.
For a SnagIt screencapture, you need to embed the image in a web page or Slideshow.
For screencasts created by SnagIt, Camtasia Studio or Captivate 3, you need to to upload and store the file somewhere and point to that file. Lectopia is available for this.
