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I'm trying to make some Xara tutorials on digital scrapbooking for a friend of mine who lives a couple states away. I know that quite a few of you have made some wonderful screenshot videos with real time voice, and I'm wondering what program you used?
How much did it cost? I'm looking for something relatively inexpensive, as I'm only using it for this bit of fun.
Thanks,
Jen
Xara themselves and some people in the forums use Camtasia Studio to do this. Recently it was revealed in the forums that you can get a free version of it if you would like. See this: http://www.talkgraphics.com/showthread.php?t=30332
Hi Jen,
There was a thread here at the beginning of the month with a link to an offer for Camtasia 3 for free.
Don't know if it's still valid though. Camtasia seems to be the program you would be looking for.
Saludos,
Bob.
You beat me to it, Odat!
The Free offer for Camtasia version 3 is no longer available according to the link provided in the thread that Odat mentioned.
Microsoft has a Windows Media Encoder 9 Series that can create videos with sound that are very similar to those created by Camtasia.
It is free.
Download WME9
System Requirements
Windows Media Encoder 9 is the program that was used to create training videos for one of the companies I worked for.
Jen if you decide to try the Windows Media Encoder the following link has information and links to resources to help you configure the program. How to Use Windows Media Encoder 9
Bummer on missing the free deal, but I guess that's what you get for being an inactive poster for a couple months. :D
I'll check out the Microsoft program. As long as I can talk along with the screenshot video it should work fine.
Thanks for your input.
Jennie
I am actually trialing CCS5 at the moment, aside from transitions not doing what I want (sound disppears during the transition plus the transition between clip 1 and 2 only works when clip 2 starts, iow - clip 1 just ends abruptly) the software is quite amazing.. Mostly I'm using it for creating streaming .flv videos from my stock of digital camera vids, so far much better quality than Rivas FLV encoder.
I'll play while the trial is active and then decide if it's worth having.
Thanks for the tip! :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Odat
Another Camtasia-like option is the free, open source CamStudio, http://sourceforge.net/projects/camstudio/ and/or http://camstudio.org/ )
Like Camtasia, CamStudio is meant to be for software demos and tutorials, so to my mind, the Cam[tasia/Studio] products are easier to use than the general-purpose Microsoft video tools.
CamStudio does not have some of the Camtasia features, is a touch more geeky, and has fewer online tutorials.
It looks like you may still be able to get a free copy of Snag-it (Screen Grab software), here from TechSmith. It includes a simplified version of the Camtasia video producer, which should work for your needs. Download it and Register it at http://www.techsmith.com/snagit/ukdn.asp Cannot Guarantee that it is still registerable, but you can at least try.
It also looks like you may still be able to get the Free Camtasio Studio here follow the onscreen instructions. Again ..... Cannot Guarantee that it is still registerable, but you can at least try.
These say free in the UK. But previously they have sent the Registration Key to Canada without a problem.
Bottom Line ............... Give it a try. you can't lose anything. Don't waste any time, Do it now!
I don't know . . . I went to the thread Odat provided downloaded Camtasia, then registered with TechSmith and had a key emailed to me not 15 minutes ago.
It seems to work for me.
The original site says OFFER NO LONGER AVAILABLE, but the links are still there and still active. I would recommend hurrying .........
That's funny, I didn't even pay attention to or see the notice. I must be color blind since it's in large red letters. :)
I just downloaded it, requested the serial number and it worked!
Hope I'm not the only fortunate one here.
I just downloaded the program also. It states on the site that the program will be available for free until January 7th.
Thanks so much for all the help. Hopefully I'll be able to figure it out with out too much trouble. I'm not a computer guru, so I'm hoping it's pretty straight forward.
Thanks again,
Jennie
I just dl'd the prg and then went and registered and they sent me the unlock code right away. While the first link says the offer is no longer available, the second link, where you register, says the offer will be good till Jan. 7.
Thanks to everyone for the heads up on this!!!
I can't get the prg to work at all. I keep getting a msg, Unable to initialize camera, even though I dl'd/installed the codec they provided. I looked at their help section and even a forum they have and cannot figure this out. Any ideas?
Are you recording from a web cam or something like that. You don't need a camera to capture the screen.Quote:
Unable to initialize camera,
No, I'm not. Am I supposed to? (I don't have a camera.) I dl'd/installed the latest video card upgrades and my tv capture card upgrades/codecs (Hauppauge) and nothing has worked. I searched the Camtasia forums and can find nothing. Don't know how to go about getting this thing to work. Do I have to have Snagit?
No.Quote:
Do I have to have Snagit?
Does the program open? Do you see this screen?
Bob,
Did you put a check in the box "Enable Live Output Support" when you installed it? If so that may have caused the problem. I would suggest that uninstall and reinstall may fix the problem. I didn't install any codecs specifically. Just the single .exe file and it ran fine.
Welp, thanks for the suggestions guys, but while you were answering/helping me I figured out what I was doing wrong. I had the Record Camera box checked! Once I unchecked that, everything went great.
Now, however, I have a different problem. I have been playing around with the prg and recording stuff and then trying different formats to send myself an email with the "movie" and so far NONE of the choices have worked. Anyone had success with sending the files via email and actually having them play once received?
[I SHOULD be watching the Packers/Bears game, but instead am fascinated with this new program!]
I'm a Camtasia user but a couple of other alternatives that I use are:
Satish Kumar's excellent "Wink" application from:
www.debugmode.com.
It's free and was what we used in college prior to migrating to:
Blueberry Software's "BBFlashback" available from:
www.bbsoftware.co.uk
It's not cheap but is very easy to use.
I bought Camtasia as it provides a better all round solution, not in the least the ability to include surveys and quizzes but for the teaching staff in general, I opted for BBFlashback as it's so easy to use.
For what it costs, Snagit is an absolute must have, I couldn't do without it!
Some of the on this site: http://www.hhtc.org.uk/radio/index.html
is just put together in XXP with a few Snagit grabs. The template might look familiar to some Xara users! What is interesting is that the video linked on bottom left is a Camtasia screen grab, which it seems to handle better that BBFlashback. (The site isn't finished yet, Jack's a good lad on the way up and needed something quick!)
Well, after trying ALL of the formats available for email attachments and finding none of them working, I zipped one of the folders and send the whole package to myself as a test and when unzipped the "movie" DID play. Where there's a will there's a way.
Unless someone knows an easier way.....
I'm trialling Camtasia atm..
Seems very good for creating streaming video from my avi's, but screen capture is driving me insane!! :eek: :eek:
How do I stop the capture rectangle from flashing while screen recording?
It's bad enough during normal recording, but autopan mode is driving me up the wall?
Nothing can I find in the help file about this? Surely there must be a way, I'm definately not going to be the only person who would find this very uncomfortable.... :confused:
You wouldn't want to be an epileptic.. :mad:
It's all good... I had a senior moment.. Found the 'Hide Capture Rectangle' option..
Jing is another free app that's worth trying.
Thanks guys:)
I tried to get this a couple of months ago but the free offer expired!:mad:
Just downloaded it OK.
Great program you have till the 7th of Jan to get it - don't wait!
Here is a quick link:
Just scroll down half the page!
http://www.updatexp.com/free-camtasia-studio-3.html
Interestingly enough, I've been using Movie Edit Pro, that video editing software that always gets a discount from Xara. That's for wacky buttons tutorials. I just make a txt file script and move the mouse and kind of say what I'll be saying on the script, and then do some voice takes over each step. :)
Rpc9943 thanks I have the Movie Edit Pro from Magix from Xara page, but never thought that it is able to capture screens :-) But checking the help it is really able :-D
Yeah, I mean, feel free to see what I've done with it for my company > http://www.wackybuttons.com/videos.php