Camtasia Studio

Camtasia Studio is a commercial software for screen recording ( screencasting ) on the computer. Developer is the company TechSmith. The contents of the screen can be completely or partially received and processed. The program is offered in English, German, French, Japanese and Korean.

  • 6.1 Training materials
  • 6.2 private
  • 8.1 Camtasia Studio
  • Camtasia for Mac 8.2
  • 8.3 Differences to the Mac version
  • 8.4 demo versions

Functions

The program offers four basic functionalities that are offered on request at startup. With the first function, it is possible to record a video on the screen. With the second option, you can record an audio track of the microphone. The third choice allows the filming of a PowerPoint presentation. The fourth feature provides the ability to import existing media in Camtasia Studio. When doing this the in-house CAMREC format that the video formats AVI, MPEG, and WMV, as well as audio formats WAV, MP3 and WMA.

An essential feature is the so-called " Picture-in -Picture function". With this it is possible to include in the main video another video in a reduced form.

Recording process

The screen recording can be started directly from the menu. When recording the video file is temporarily created and can be saved in CAMREC or in AVI format and then edit it. It can be created multiple imaging sequences and assembled on the timeline to a movie. This recorded video with additional elements, for example, images or blocks can be combined for and closing credits from the library. The video, transition effects, soundtracks, highlighting ( " callouts " ) and subtitles are added.

Production

The production of the film is create using the Production Wizard. This can be done either make yourself custom settings or choose from several predefined profiles. Depending on the purpose, different profiles. Examples are production profiles for use on a CD / DVD, iPod, or iPhone or directly on Youtube. These profiles differ substantially in the resolution. For a DVD, a resolution of 800 x 600 is proposed for iPhone 480 x 320 After specifying the file name and storage location gives a brief summary of the file to be created and must be confirmed starts the yield approximation process. Depending on the length of the video or the performance of your computer, this process can take different lengths.

Camtasia file formats

Camtasia uses its own, partly proprietary file formats for recording and editing. These also differ in the Windows and Mac version. A major advantage of these differentiated project files is possible separate file storage respectively of the information.

The recording is done in the Camtasia Studio recording file with the extension CAMREC. This is the default recording format for Camtasia Studio and contains the raw footage of the screen and possibly the camera. To apply effects such as smart focus and cursor effects, or add a webcam recording, this format is necessary. The file format is a container format that contains an AVI file and additional information. The recording can also be done as an AVI file, for example when editing in another program to take place. Then no smart focus effects are included and the cursor is not editable.

For further processing the recording file and optionally other media such as images or sound files will be imported into Camtasia Studio Editor and saved as a Camtasia Studio project file with the file extension CAMPROJ. This file contains information about the project settings, the media used and the changes the timeline will be saved. The file consists mainly of XML text and contains a log of the changes of all files. For further processing of the project camrec and any additional imported media is also required.

For Camtasia for Mac, there are two corresponding formats. The Camtasia recording file is here the suffix CMREC. This file is the default recording format for Camtasia for Mac and is comparable to the camrec Camtasia Studio. The edited project is stored in the Camtasia project file that ends in CMPROJ. This format is the equivalent of the Camtasia Studio project file. There is also the possibility to create a stand-alone file which combines all the information about the media and the changes in one file. This file can be shared with other Camtasia for Mac users.

The file formats for recording and project files from the Windows and Mac version are not currently compatible. An exchange between the platforms can be done using MOV or AVI files.

After recording and editing in proprietary formats, the production takes place. This is what a number of file formats to choose from, which are usable on many computers and mobile devices, such as AVI, WMV, MOV, MP4, SWF, FLV.

System Requirements

Camtasia Studio

For Camtasia Studio either the operating system Microsoft Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7 is recommended. To install 115 MB of hard disk space is required. It is assumed also Microsoft DirectX 9 or later version. As a processor, at least one single-core CPU is required at 1.0 GHz, for PowerPoint and camera recordings are 3.0 GHz recommended. RAM memory 500 MB required, the recommended 2 GB.

Camtasia for Mac

The first condition requires a Mac computer with an Intel processor. The operating system Mac OS X v10.5.6 or later is recommended. Another requirement is the Quartz Extreme support, and at least 1 GB of RAM. Software side, QuickTime 7.5.5 or later is required. Next 4GB of available disk space are needed, as well as a CD-ROM drive for installation. Alternatively, the software can be downloaded from the web server of the manufacturer, then no CD drive is required.

Use

Training materials

With the increasing popularity of e -learning Camtasia Studio is now used by many training providers in the commercial and non- commercial sector for the creation of video tutorials.

Because of the relative ease of use of the program and the designed primarily for use in e-learning areas of software, the program comes at various universities for use or at least recommended. For example, recommends that the Central Information Service of the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, the software and provides the opportunity to purchase them conveniently. The E -Competence Agency at the University of Duisburg -Essen provides students with the software Camtasia also conveniently available.

Camtasia Studio is used at universities by students for first experiences with the use of a video software under various project work. Also increasingly individual courses with the help of this program shall be used for lecture recording. Benefit both students and teachers of such a lecture recordings. Students can watch again and again the lecture and teachers could quickly make the students for a longer period of time. The production of such a course is associated with relatively low cost and depending on the topic, the produced material can be used again next semester. Partial specific tutorials for the software are offered at universities.

At the University of Trier Camtasia is used for video sequences in the context of foreign language learning.

At the University of Bielefeld Camtasia is used on the one hand, subsequently to enrich existing scripts with multimedia content and make it to the other side of interactive self-learning modules. The scripts will be added to hyperlinks or visualizations to enable a better illustration of the subject.

Private

Privacy software can be used, for example, friends or acquaintances specific installation steps ( as a tutorial ) to explain audio- visually. For this purpose, a video is created once and can then be distributed to any other person. It is also possible to work on a self-made video with Camtasia Studio and then upload them to sites like Youtube.

Criticism

  • The program is designed with more emphasis on ease of use and rapid creation of videos. Professional video editing as it is possible, for example, Adobe Premiere, therefore, is with the program rather not feasible.
  • The program can not be used any platform. There is a version incompatibility, that is, that projects that were created in Camtasia Studio, can not be transferred 1:1 to Camtasia for Mac.
  • In Camtasia for Mac lacks essential features that are available in Camtasia Studio.
  • It supports a few file formats.

Development and versioning

Camtasia Studio

The program was first launched in autumn 1999 at Comdex under the name Camtasia. Since then, the program has been expanded continuously.

On 28 October 2002, the software Camtasia is renamed Camtasia Studio and released in version 1.0 under the new name for the first time. Among the major changes to support SWF heard as output format. In addition to improvements in Launchpad, ScreenPad, player and producer of the Camtasia MenuMaker was integrated, can be created using the menus for CD -ROMs.

Version 2.0 will be released on 3 November 2003, in the launchpad, the Camtasia Camtasia Producer and the effects are combined to form a surface. With Camtasia Theater you can now create Web presentations from SWF movies. There MP3, MPEG, WMA, WMV, FLV is now supported. Since this version of a real-time preview of the entire project is possible. Zoom Effect -Pan effect have been added.

In version 3.0.2 of 31 October 2005, the PIP function and the ability to integrate images of a webcam is added. Since this version of the program has a toolbar for audio editing. Added a function for flash quiz, a multiple- choice quiz can be installed into a video about the user.

In Version 4.0 of 5 December 2006, the production option Screencast.com is completed and updated the user interface of the Camtasia Recorder. Since this version it is possible to produce content for the Apple Ipod.

Since version 5.0 of 20 November 2007 Windows XP or Windows Vista is required to run the program. It will be integrated new transition effects and production profiles. Documents can be uploaded to FTP servers or Screencast.com. Support for the Snagit output additional application is integrated. The Smart Focus feature, automatically zooms to the Camtasia Studio to key points in the video is added.

In Version 6.0 of 31 March 2009, the production function has been added for IPod-Touch/iPhone and created the support for MOV and MP4 files. Furthermore, new callout effects were inserted and operated increased bugfixing.

In version 7.0 of 4 May 2010, the user interface has been redesigned. Added a library in which video and audio sequences, callouts, images, and other building blocks for later use can be stored. In addition, the selection has been expanded to callouts to highlight, among other things, animated variants and key images. In addition, problems, for example in the sound recording, corrected and improved support for Windows 7.

The latest version 8 was released on June 19, 2012 in English. The German version was released on September 18, 2012, but directly in version 8.0.2.

Camtasia for Mac

Since August 25, 2009 Techsmith provides the version of Camtasia for Mac for Mac users. As yet, no German -language version history published.

Differences to the Mac version

Camtasia Studio has more features compared to Camtasia Mac. This applies both to the recording, editing and production of the material. For example, lacking in Camtasia Mac the opportunity to take in a recording or pause the current recording only a selected area of the screen.

Demo versions

Both Camtasia Studio and Camtasia for Mac, there are free trials. The demos can be used without any restrictions for 30 days. After entering a license key is required to use the program further.

Distribution

Camtasia is sold by various dealers as well as through the online store.

Alternatives

There are a number of free and paid competitors tools. An overview can be found here. Range of functions the tool can best be compared with Adobe Captivate or Hypercam, where Adobe Captivate is more expensive.

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