Camtasia Studio 8
Camtasia Studio is a recording tool developed by Techsmith which will help you to create elaborated videos. With this software you will be able to record your screen activity, use its picture-in-picture functions and then edit the content or include some elements such as animated backgrounds, graphics or transitions. This is a good way to create your own videos if you don’t have time to waste learning to use much more complex applications such as Adobe Premiere or Final Cut. You can capture webpages, software demos, video tutorials, PowerPoint slides and more.
This version offers some new tools and improvements, such as Quizzing. This tool allows the user to add interactive quizzes to the clip. You just have to select the questions and the possible answers and then pick the correct one. You can also configure it to show the score or let the viewers see the answers after submitting.
Minimal System Requirements
- Operating System: Windows XP or higher
- Processor: Dual-core processor or better
- RAM Memory: 2 GB or higher
- Display Dimensions: 1024x768 or higher
- Sound Card: Windows-compatible card
- Hard-Disk: 2GB free space
How to use
This software works in a pretty simple way. Once you download and install it, you just have to follow some simple steps in order to get your clip done. First, you will see the main interface: a timeline, a content browser and the preview zone, all of them are standard for this kind of programs. If you need to record your screen firstly, you can click the button at the top of the content browser or choose tools and then “record”. There are some settings for recording; you are free to capture the whole frame or you can choose a specific area to be shown. For instance, you can cut out the taskbar if it is irrelevant for your video. Besides, you can enable some inputs to be recorded, such as your webcam or your microphone, so you can narrate the video.
When you are happy with your recording, you have some options: you can produce it immediately and convert the clip into a shareable format or you can save and edit it with the video editor. This option will turn your video into a camrec. file and the video editor will show the imported clip added to the timeline. Now you can enhance your video in several ways. You will be able to add a title before it starts or a callout over the scene you desire. You will find loads of them in the Library, which contains some callouts and titles ordered by theme. Moreover, you can customize your callouts by selecting the interior text and some properties such as fade in / out or the font for your text. You can also apply zoom or pan through your videos selecting the scale.
Besides, you can enable the SmartFocus, a tool that automatically applies zoom to areas in which there is high activity. It may sound a bit messy, but the tool works accurately. If you imported a video which you haven’t recorded, you can now add voice narration. This tool has few options, but works fine; you can disable your speakers during the process to avoid unwanted sounds and regulate the volume of the microphone. Once you have finished experimenting, you can save and export you creation by converting it to MP4, WMV, MOV, etc. or you can share it uploading the video directly to YouTube or Screencast.com, depending on your needs.
