Friday, January 23, 2009

What Why & How to Screen Cast/Capture

Screen Casting 101

What is Screen Casting?Screen cast also called screen capture is video recording of your computer screen with commentary.
Example:
Watch a What is a Screencast Screencast
See also:
Check out Wikipedia's definition
Check out Google's definition

Why Screencast?
Think about how long it takes to explain something, wouldn't be easier to just show them. Screencasts give you a shoulder to shoulder private tutor experience. In the past few years I have ditched the instruction manuals. Now I search for a how to screencast on Youtube if I want to get oriented or learn a new software application.
Genres:
*Software/Webware Tips, Tricks, and Tutorials
*Product/Service Demo
*How to's: see Mathcasts (coming soon)
*Concept: see In Plain English Series & Web 2.0 Us/using Us(coming soon)
*Usability Testing: see Remote Beta Testing via Screencasts

How to Screen Cast? (For Free)
Step 1: Pick the tool

Screentoaster Webware (Free)
*Webapp no download, easy upload to Youtube, can export and save as .mov file so you can edit

CamStudio Freeware-For Windows and Linux
Resources: How To Use Camstudio Tutorial and Review - Excellent how to on youtube

Step 2: Record/edit the video


Techniques:
*Turn your powerpoints into multimedia movies with narration
*Use an animated whiteboard like paint or draw
*Open up a text editor and type to add subtitles
*Open up a webcam drag the window in the region to have video of you accompanying the screencast
*Use google earth/maps to zoom in and give a virtual fieldtrip experience

Step 3: Upload/publish the video on a video host like Youtube


Other Screencasting Resources:
15 Places to Find Great Screencasts: Or just type in "How to..." or "... Screencast" into Youtube
Screencasting Primer Wiki: A collection of good resources
What Is Screencasting: A classic article by Jon Udel who coined the term "screencast"
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