MacLearning - Screen Capture Programs

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Screen Capture Programs

Peter Cisek
- 1 posts
January 20, 2010 4:16:11 AM PST

I recently converted to MAC and LOVE IT. I used to use a program called camtasia for recording specific windows etc. then create videos for content delivery. It work great. I am tryying the MAC version and it is a little tough getting my head around the workflow...

Does anyone have ideas as to other progams that work better? I recently bought final cut express but there is a bit of a learning curve there... should I stick with it?

Thanks
Scott Morris
- 3 posts
January 20, 2010 4:41:08 AM PST

A great program for recording screen activities and also editing video down to a presentation is ScreenFlow. You can check it out here http://www.telestream.net/screen-flow/overview.htm

Also, MacLearning did a webcast about ScreenFlow (almost two years ago) that will show you the incredible power of that program. They used a faceless instance of their screen cap codec to capture their demo of the ScreenFlow application capturing the screen at full screen and 30fps (or there abouts)! Yep, two screen cap codecs running simultaneously (one capturing the other's capturing of the screen) and it worked flawlessly.
Check it out here http://deimos3.apple.com/WebObjects/Core.woa/Browse/new.duke.edu.1302914143.03020081767.3001398263?i=1344168550
Nicolas Truchaud
- 1 posts
February 19, 2010 8:57:37 PM PST

Hi WineProfessor,
I do agree with Scott concerning rich clients : ScreenFlow is a great tool.
Another alternative that I recommend for teachers in my university are web 2.0 solutions wich doesn't need to install any software and are a great way to do "on the fly screencasting". I've tried Screenr (http://screenr.com/) wich is very simple and ready to use as far as you have a tweeter account, but there is also ScreenJelly (http://www.screenjelly.com/). There are some limitations (5 minuts max for ScreenR) but for many uses it is far enough. What is really great is that it works exactly the same on Mac and PC, wich is great in the education field.
Hope this helps,
Nick
Chris Brewer
- 32 posts
March 18, 2010 1:07:34 AM PDT

I'm a user of ScreenFlow. I've tried others which are also very good (though I'm currently 100% satisfied with ScreenFlow as it offers a very Apple-like editing interface that currently is unmatched amongst competing products). Others I've tried are iShowU, Screen Mimi, Screenium, and Screenflick.

I've also used a couple of other utilities to provide added functionality (which may have been added to the above programs):

KeyCastr: a utility for displaying keystrokes on screen in a small floating window

Backdrop: a handy utility for blacking (or whiting) out the screen, hiding your background and open windows so that they're not included during a screen capture.

Here's a quick review I did.

This post was edited by Chris Brewer at March 18, 2010 12:53:45 PM PDT
Brian Jean
- 3 posts
May 15, 2010 3:34:14 AM PDT

I would avoid Screenium. There is a serious issue with the audio getting out of sync if you pause your screen capture then continue. I emailed the developer and took months to get a reply and still no fix. I switched to iShowU and have had little issues with audio sync. It still pops up every now and then, but I quickly realized I can prevent it reliably my making sure my wireless is disabled and I eject TimeMachine so it is not try to do a backup in the middle of my capture. These fixes didn't seem to work with Screenium.
Jane Moore
- 1 posts
July 22, 2011 6:55:55 PM PDT

I love Screenflow as well. I tried ProfCast for a while (was even a beta tester) and ran into problems regularly. With Screenflow, I have had no difficulties at all---and have good quality videos as a result. There is an education discount, but you need to ask for it.