capture

Camtasia Studio

September 16, 2014 by Andy Voelker
Categories: Multimedia

camtasiaicontuaw-2

Availability: Contact CLAS IT
Comparable: Expression Encoder, Screencast-O-Matic, ScreenFlow, BB FlashBack Pro

Camtasia Studio and Camtasia for Mac are software suites, created and published by TechSmith, for creating video tutorials and presentations directly via screencast, or via a direct recording plug-in to Microsoft PowerPoint. The screen area to be recorded can be chosen freely, and microphone, audio, or other multimedia recordings may be recorded at the same time or added separately from any other source and integrated in the Camtasia Studio component of the product.

Camtasia Studio v8 for Microsoft Windows consists of two major components:

  • Camtasia Recorder – a separate tool for capturing screen audio and video.  This can be used to easily capture a screen or portion of a screen while capturing audio from a microphone.  Most people use this to show something on the screen, such as a document, website, video, or presentation, while describing it.
  • Camtasia Studio editor – this suite allows a user to edit the capture they just performed.  Users can add audio, insert video, cut and paste portions, and zoom in to more specific regions of the screen to produce a more professional video.
Tags: tutorial

Snipping Tool

September 04, 2014 by Andy Voelker
Categories: MultimediaProductivity & Utility

snipping tool icon

Availability: Labs  |  Built in to Windows
Comparable: Grab

Snipping Tool is a screenshooting utility included in Windows Vista, 7 and 8. It can take screenshots of an open window, rectangular areas, a free-form area, or the entire screen. Snips can then be annotated using a mouse or a tablet, stored as an image file (PNG, GIF, or JPEG file) or an MHTML file, or e-mailed. Snipping Tool allows for basic image editing of the snapshot, with different colored pens, an eraser, and a highlighter.

To access the Snipping Tool, click the start menu and type “snip.”  The search should find the utility and you can press enter to launch.  If it does not find anything you can launch a file browser and navigate to C:\windows\system32 and double click on the SnippingTool.exe file.

Quicktime

August 21, 2014 by Andy Voelker
Categories: Multimedia

new-quicktime-icon

Availability: Labs  |  Download (only needed for Windows)
Comparable: 

Quicktime Player is an extensible multimedia framework developed by Apple Inc., capable of handling various formats of digital video, picture, sound, panoramic images, and interactivity.  The basic player is built in to all versions of MacOS and is available for download for Windows.  The player can be used to play a wide variety of audio, graphic, and video files, including some proprietary formats.

Quicktime X for Mac has several additional features including screen recording, movie recording, and audio recording.  Audio and movie recording can be accomplished with a built-in microphone or webcam, or a compatible external microphone or webcam.  Screen recording will only record the entire screen and will not allow you to record a single window or segment.  Record microphone audio is an option when caturing.  These features can be used to produce quick and easy recordings, videos, messages, or tutorials, but it does lack editing capabilities.  Do do editing, try iMovie.

A basic version of Quicktime is integrated into the MacOS and is available on windows systems here.  Quicktime Pro can be purchased through the Apple App Store.

Tags: media player