Thread

Hello All,

I always develop basic “how-to” guides for client websites.  Since moving to Expression Engine I have found that my backend workflow for certain tasks such as publishing content are the same over the majority of sites I create. 

I have been wanting to create “how-to” screencasts as another option for client support.  I have never made a screencast and was hoping any of you could suggest software/hardware that you use for screencasting.

I use a mac but also work on a pc laptop occasionally.  I would prefer software/hardware that is cross platform but am open to mac only solutions. 

Thanks,
BJ

Hiya,

For Mac you can’t really get any better than ScreenFlow it’s simply amazing.

For a Mac / PC sort of thing then there is the Jing Project or GoView although with the last one I don’t seem to be able to get their signup process to work for some reason.

Hope that helps a bit.

Best wishes,

Mark

I’ve been working with Jing lately to do some quick and dirty screencasts on Train-ee.

If you expect to produce short screencasts (~4 minutes or so) and can whip them off with no editing required then Jing is great.  The capture/upload/post process is very streamlined.  I did note that the sound quality seemed better once I upgraded to Pro - and then their branding goes away as well.

I also have the Camtasia product from TechSmith (the people behind Jing) and used it when I had to edit a Jing capture to obscure email addresses, etc.  In that case it wasn’t more efficient to use Jing.

iShowU is a very good application.

I used to do video training for clients but found that I kept having to make essentially the same video over and over because of slight differences in the Control Panel (e.g., site name or different blogs and fields). So, now I use ScreenSteps Pro (Mac/Win), which uses screen shots that are easy to replace without having to completely redo the rest of the training manual.

I love Screenflow. I love it so much, it hurts.

Thank you all for your responses.  I will be looking at each one of your recommendations carefully. 

Thanks Eric for the comment on how slight changes in each screencast made it difficult.  I actually worried about that.  Currently I use screen captures and create “how-to’s” in a similar way but find some people need a video to help them along.  ScreenSteps Pro may speed up my tutorial creation process. 

I was actually thinking of using screencasts and my normal tutorials to enhance my support options for clients.

Boyink!  Thanks for the Jing recommendation.  I have learned a lot from your screencasts on how to develop a site using EE.  Were all your screencasts done with Jing?  The three longer ones seem to be in a different format.

Thanks,
BJ

Boyink!  Thanks for the Jing recommendation.  I have learned a lot from your screencasts on how to develop a site using EE.  Were all your screencasts done with Jing?  The three longer ones seem to be in a different format.
Thanks,
BJ

No, the longer ones were done with Camtasia - actually I think I had done those before Jing was available.  Since they are longer, more complex, and needed editing Jing wouldn’t be a good choice.  I can’t speak for that long without needing to be edited…;)

I just asked this very question on Twitter! Screenflow was the best recommendation I got on there, will check out these others though.

I have used Camtasia as well and it worked like a charm…jing is free I believe.

edited - sorry

Camtasia Studio is the best product available on Windows for screencasting. It takes a bit of time to learn its workflow. However, it provides all the software tools to make high quality screencasts. However, it is also one of the most expensive packages at $300.

Beyond the software, I highly recommend getting a USB microphone as it bypasses your system sound card and provides a much better quality audio recording.

I use the Samson CO1U and have had good success with it. I also recommend NOT installing the SoftPre software that comes with the mic. It’s not fully cooked. The mic doesn’t need it and in my opinion actually ruins the experience to some degree.

In addition to the mic, I recommend using a decent microphone stand with a shock mount and a pop filter.

That’s about all you need as far as tools go. The rest will require a bit of work and a splash of talent.

Screenflick is nice as well, and in the same price category as iShowU.

I’d also put in a vote for Camtasia studio on PC - I seem to remember they had a promotion a few months ago where they gave away the previous version… Might be worth watching out for another like that when the next version comes out.

I’d also put in a vote for Camtasia studio on PC - I seem to remember they had a promotion a few months ago where they gave away the previous version…

Yes, they gave away version 3 from an offer inside one of the UK web design mags. They didn’t mean for everyone to find it… but the web being what it is…

Techsmith has a brief mention of it here on an outdated page of their website.