Does Xara Photo and Graphic Designer fit to make videos like khan academy style?

[MGadAllah]

Hello,
I am making educational videos but in Arabic.
I've goggled for a way to make things more easier for me and found your product more then one being recommended but not a lot much details about it.
So I thought to join the forum and try it first before I buy it.
My main question is this:-
Does Xara Photo and Graphic Designer fit to make videos like khan academy style?
Thanks
Mohamed
EGYPT- cairo

[richinri]

Xara can make graphics, websites and basic GIF or Flash animations. It is not a video program. While the graphics I have seen at Khan are very simple (usually just voice and chalkboard anims), I would not say Xara is the program for it.

[MGadAllah]

Xara can make graphics, websites and basic GIF or Flash animations. It is not a video program. While the graphics I have seen at Khan are very simple (usually just voice and chalkboard anims), I would not say Xara is the program for it.

Thanks a lot for your fast reply.
Please, what could be a suitable one for this particular purpose?
Actually I've never know or heard about this Xara product except from goggle reviews and recommendations.
Thanks

[angelize]

I use a combination of Xara's presentation features and a screen recording program and a video editing program to do my tutorial videos. My work flow goes like this:

I create a presentation for an introduction this part is completely done in xara. I use presentation steps to introduce the basic things I'm covering in the tutorial. I then run a full screen preview of the presentation using the keyboard arrow keys to move through the presentation steps as I record both my screen and the audio with my screen recording program. For the screen recording I use FastStone Capture.

Once I've recorded the intro then I open a Xara window/and or the necessary windows for my tutorial and I record the tutorial it's self.

Once all parts of the tutorial have been recorded I bring them into a video editor. For this I use Video Pad. in the editor I put all the different pieces together remove un wanted bits ( like long pauses,the dog barking, phone ringing etc and add in transitions. The video editor then stitches all the parts into a single video which I then upload to youtube.

[MGadAllah]

I use a combination of Xara's presentation features and a screen recording program and a video editing program to do my tutorial videos.

But how do you write during the tutorials itself? I mean like this one:
http://youtu.be/t2L3JFOqTEk

My work flow goes like this:

I create a presentation for an introduction this part is completely done in xara. I use presentation steps to introduce the basic things I'm covering in the tutorial. I then run a full screen preview of the presentation using the keyboard arrow keys to move through the presentation steps as I record both my screen and the audio with my screen recording program. For the screen recording I use FastStone Capture.

Once I've recorded the intro then I open a Xara window/and or the necessary windows for my tutorial and I record the tutorial it's self.

Once all parts of the tutorial have been recorded I bring them into a video editor. For this I use Video Pad. in the editor I put all the different pieces together remove un wanted bits ( like long pauses,the dog barking, phone ringing etc and add in transitions. The video editor then stitches all the parts into a single video which I then upload to youtube.

Please I do not mean to be noisy or curious but you are really seem and look professional in what you are doing.
Is it possible that you may share or post examples of the work flow you did?
I mean you mentioned 3 or steps for the whole workflow till the final ending resulted video you uploaded to youtube.
Is it possible that you may post these steps materials here or in any other place so I can get a better idea?

One last thing:- The most important thing is the way to write on screen during recording the tutorials, and ofcourse I do not prefer the mouse to write and prefer to use a pen instead.
I thought Xara support using Pen.


Thanks a lot,
Mohamed

[angelize]

yes you can certainly set up a Xara document and give the page a black or I'd use 90% black to give a chalkboard look and then set the screen recording software to record a rectangular area. Then just draw inside that rectangular area with either the free hand tool or the shape painter tool. If you use the freehand tool you will want to be sure to enable sketch mode so that closed shapes in letters and numbers don't fill in. And yes Xara does support Pen sensitivity you can change colours and by holding down the space bar you can pan the page and move it up just like the guy in the Khan video.

You would still want a video editor though to tidy up the video afterwards. So yes Xara can be used for this but it can't do it on it's own.

If you want to see some of my videos there is a link to my youtube channel in my signature and you can see how the presentations work for introductions.

[EuropaViewer]

Angelize summarized it perfectly!

I created a small tutorial for fun a year or two ago, using Xara and Camtasia Studio.

A tutorial similar to the ones at Khan Academy needs about two things:

1. A drawing/blackboard application
2. A screen capturing application
and
optionally,
3. A video editing application. I say this is optional because, a screen capturing application such as Camtasia Studio is also a good video editor for tutorial videos.

A tablet, such as a Wacom, or even an inexpensive one from Monoprice are essential if you want to "write on the blackboard".

A freeware app such as SmoothDraw can be used for #1.

But, Xara, will be an amazing tool for #1, because it is so powerful and versatile. Drawing complex Geometric shapes, or manipulating them, is super easy with Xara.

Checkout the video I made, at the link below.

Used Xara for the Blackboard/drawing/chalk. A Monoprice tablet for writing using Xara's pen tool. Camtasia Studio for screen/video capture.

http://youtu.be/AzqFvdlIdCY

[angelize]

Thanks for the demo video

I was going to do that last night but my graphics tablet has started acting up (I think it's a driver issue) and I just haven't had time to look into it.

Using Designer Pro as your chalkboard has an added advantage in that you can set custom keyboard shortcuts for example I have the x key set to the eraser tool.