3. Screencasting Software
Screencast production requires some kind of video-capture software and a microphone. The software, which can be a desktop client or web-based service, captures and synchronizes the video and audio files and compresses the completed movie into a format that can be shared.
- Jing (Windows or Mac) – (there is also a Pro version that can be purchased). Read about it and download here: http://www.techsmith.com/jing.html. Jing is one of the simplest screen-cast tools you can use; you launch, click to begin, and start recording. Everything is done in a single take, and when you click to stop the recording (5 minute limit — more on that later), your screen-cast video is ready in moments in .swf format. It can then be shared with friends, colleagues, classmates, students, etc. It’s great for street-level recording and is very approachable.
- SnapzProX (Mac only) – available from Ambrosia software (retail $69 at the time of this writing). SnapzProX, like Jing, records everything in a single take; the difference is that there is no time limit, you have multiple options of how video is recorded, and files can be saved in numerous formats with numerous codecs. It’s great for those needing to quickly do screen-casts but who require multiple compression/file-type options.
- Camtasia Studio (Windows or Mac – $299 at the time of this writing — but RU has a limited site license for both platforms) – Read about it here: http://www.techsmith.com/camtasia.html. Camtasia studio is a screen-cast production environment, similar to a traditional time-based video editing application. Users can combine video, still images, audio, and other text/graphics into their screen-casts, and can combine multiple takes into a single timeline. Faculty interested in trying it should contact Academic Technologies.
- Camstudio (Windows only) – a freeware, open-source program very similar to Camtasia Studio. Download it here: http://camstudio.downloadasaurus.com.
- QuickTime – anyone user with a Mac computer running a recent version of QuickTime has the ability to record their screen. Files are saved in QuickTime (.mov) format, and if necessary can be edited with either QuickTime or iMovie.
- Screencast-o-matic – this is a web-based app that does the screen-casting on the user’s computer. The software is invoked from the website, and is very easy to use (10-minute limit). This is good for quick-and-easy screen-casts when there are no other applications available. Files can be saved to an online repository, or downloaded as QuickTime files to a user’s computer.
Reference: https://php.radford.edu/~knowledge/lore/article.php?id=406