The Visual Lounge lets you find out about TechSmith behind-the-scenes. Watch screencasts and videos from other customers, meet up with your fellow TechSmith users and staff, and get more tips and tricks!

TechSmith is extremely saddened by the loss of life and destruction of property in the Gulf Coast region following Hurricane Katrina. To provide assistance to the ongoing relief and recovery efforts, TechSmith is matching employee contributions made to the relief funds.

For more information on how you can help, call 1-800-HELP-NOW(1-800-435-7669) or visit the American Red Cross Web page at www.redcross.org.

Raise your hands...How many of you have ever seen a speaker show a video in a presentation only to have the projector display a black box on the screen while the audio and video plays just fine on the laptop?

I'm here to admit that I have been this presenter. In a crowded room, I went to show off one of my Camtasia Studio videos and you guessed it...black screen of embarrassment. After fumbling around for what seemed like forever, I remembered to go into the Control Panel and the Display Properties to disable my hardware acceleration. Problem solved.

Obviously, this isn't a Camtasia Studio issue. It's a video issue. It doesn't matter what you use to create the video...it's your default computer settings.

So, in order to save you from the pain and humiliation I've experienced, I thought I'd share this article from a friend, Steve Rindsberg, who is a PowerPoint MVP: Videos play correctly on computer but not on projector (black box)

Thankfully this did not happen during my presentation at HTCIA with Duane Hopkins on Wednesday!

If you're like me, you probably have either a drawer or a shoebox where you shove all your important paper receipts. This is not the best system to say the least. I'm never able to find any receipts after they enter my 'shoebox of shame.'

Thankfully, SnagIt works well with Quicken. Intuit has just released a new version of Quicken that lets you store digital images with your transactions. If you're already a SnagIt user - I'm sure the wheels are already spinning thinking about how much more organized your personal finances can be if you usethe two products together.

We worked together with the makers of Quicken 2006 to develop special capture profiles and stamps for Quicken 2006 users which you can download from our website. SnagIt captures and stores all of your receipts, bills, statements, warranties, and checks.

Tony Dunckel, the SnagIt Product Manager, made a screencast while I was at the HTCIA conference last week. He'll show how to use SnagIt and Quicken together in the screencast.

Watch the screencast

Time: 7:58 minutes

If you've used SnagIt together with Quicken, I'd love to hear your story! Please email Betsy Weber or reply in the comments.

Who's throwing out their shoebox with me?

If you're interested in meeting up with TechSmith staff at the upcoming Microsoft Professional Developers Conference 2005, held from September 13-16 in Los Angeles, please e-mail Betsy Weber or post in the comments

We'd love to talk to you one-on-one to get your feedback, hear how you're using SnagIt, Camtasia Studio and Morae, and learn how we can improve our products to meet your needs.

Want to wear your SnagIt pride on your sleeve? Get a SnagIt button!

Developers from TechSmith are attending the Microsoft Professional Developers Conference next week. If you wear your SnagIt button at PDC, and we happen to spot you, we'll give you a gift card.

If you don't have a button, (we passed some out at TechEd), I'm happy to send you one. E-mail me your name, mailing address and phone number and we'll get a button out to you.

And, although we won't have a booth at the show, we'd still love to meet-up with you at PDC.

Even if you're not going to PDC, I'd be happy to send you a SnagIt button. And, if I run into you while I'm on the road and you're wearing a SnagIt button, I'll give you a gift card!

How do you use SnagIt screen capture in the classroom? I'd love to know!

Please be sure to tell me which captureprofiles you use the most, if you've created any special captureprofiles, and when you use them. Don't forget to include whatgrade and class you teach.

Please email Betsy Weber aboutyour experience using SnagIt in the classroom. The first 10 SnagIt users to share their story with me will receive a TechSmith t-shirt. I'll also have a drawing for a copy of SnagIt that anyone who submits their story will be eligible to win.

We will share some of the responses at a variety of places including this blog, The Visual Lounge, as well as at our Education website and newsletter.

As a thank you to you, our loyal users, we're offering our SnagIt buttons in electronic form.

Add a graphic to your blog or Web siteabout how long you've been a SnagIt user! Veteran? Newbie? It doesn't matter - let others know you're in theSnagIt club...download the graphic here.

Tracy is the first person I've found with the SnagIt Button on his blog. Anyone else out there with one?

The first 10 people to post in the comments with the URL of where they post the SnagIt Button will get a t-shirt.

We're thankful to have loyal customers like you.

An open invite: If you are from Michiganor just visiting our lovely state, I'd like to invite you to visitTechSmith! Come see what happens behind the scenes at TechSmith.

I'll gladly give you a tour of where we work and introduce you to our staff.

And, if you happen to stop by on aFriday, you are welcome to eat lunch with the whole staff ofTechSmith! One of the great things about working atTechSmith is that we have lunch catered every Friday so we can eattogether as a group. Eating lunch together is nice because youget to know everyone better and catch-up with people you might nothave seen earlier in the week.

We had a visitor yesterday for a tour - Charlie Arehart, from New Atlanta, stopped by on his way to talk to a local user group about Blue Dragon.

I hope to see you soon...in Okemos, Michigan!

Email Betsy Weber if you're interested in a tour.

The product manager for Camtasia Studio,Troy Stein, was asked by a customer this week, how to present twovideos in a side-by-side layout: powerpoint on one side andcamera video on the other.

It takes some doing (this is not for the faint of heart) but the results can look quite nice.

Watch the screencast

Time: 8:40 minutes

If you've made Camtasia Studio videos like this, I'd love to show them off to our blog and newsletter readers! Send me an email or please leave comments.

You can make great presentations using PowerPoint, a Tablet PC and Camtasia Studio. I saw an interesting video made with Camtasia Studio on a Tablet PC with PowerPoint that I wanted to share.

Troy Stein, the Camtasia Studio Product Manager, coaches two soccer teams.

The 8 year old boys team he coaches decided to play indoors. Its really fun and very popular in the winter time especially here inMichigan. It is so popular here that you don't get practice timeindoors...unless you want to pay dearly for it.

Troy felt that they needed to go over a few things before theirfirst game, so he created PowerPoint presentation and fired upCamtasia Studio on the tablet PC. As you'll see in thescreencast, he also used PowerPoint's inkingcapabilities. The parents and kids thought it was neat...

Watch the Screencast

Time: 7:28

TechSmith will be at PowerPoint Live 2005 next week in San Diego. I'll be in San Diego September 25 - 28 to participate in the PowerPoint Live Expo.

If you're attending the show or are in the area, I'd love to meet-up with you! E-mail Betsy Weber or post in the comments if you'd like to get together!

The show is a lot of fun and I learn so much every year. Here are some snapshots of the fun last year:

Mary Waldera with one of the original Camtasia CDs.

PowerPoint MVP Glenna Shaw

PowerPoint MVP Echo Swinford with Bruce Jacobs, Computer Gladiator.

Hope to see you there!

Naming a new product is often one of the hardest things to do.I wouldn't wish this experience on anyone! If you've ever gonethrough the process of naming something, you know what I'm talkingabout ... whether it's your kid, your dog, or your pet rock.

We're often asked at TechSmith: what does the name Morae mean? So, I thought I'd give you a little background and the process we wentthrough to come up with the name Morae.

When naming Morae, (which is pronounced MOR-ay), we looked at namesto describe the product's functionality. We went round and roundto come up with a name connected to the product, but we were unable tofind a name that properly fit Morae in a way that explained itsfunctionality. So, we started looking for a unique name that hadnothing to do with the product.

So, we asked everyone in the company to submit ideas for names, and Alan Dennis from QA came up with Morae.

In Greek mythology, the Fates are the three goddesses that controlthe destinies of humans. In Roman mythology, the Fates were called Morae.

We liked the name Morae for a several reasons. One was that it wasunique and different. Then again, maybe it was just fate.

Some people have told me they don't think screen recordings can beentertaining. When I hear that, I know they've never watched a video byNew York Times technology columnist and author David Pogue.

David is anything but boring. In fact, he's one of my screencast idols. He's likely to be yours, too.

Take a look at his recent video. It's entertaining, but also a great example of how David uses Camtasia Studio.

Click the screenshot below to view.

Camtasia videos like David's are so cool, because they're funny andenlightening at the same time. Plus, they're just the rightlength. You get the information, you're amused, and you're done.

Another one of my favorite videos by David is his one on being a 'One-Man Studio'.

Click the screenshot below to view.

I mean, really - am I the only one that didn't know a hotel room lamp could work as a tripod?

I never met a David Pogue video I didn't like...a perfect blend of humor, information and technology.

I can't wait for his next one. The cool kids always leave you wanting more.

Got a favorite screencast? E-mail Betsy Weber or reply in the comments to share!

PowerPoint...people love it, people hate it, but there's no denying its popularity - according to Presentations Magazine, 30 million are created every day!

e-Learning experts Brandon Hall Research recently issued a report titled PowerPoint to E-Learning Development Tools, where they stated:
"Foryears, Brandon Hall Research has been tracking the popularity ofbrand-name authoring tools (such as Flash, Authorware, Dreamweaver,ToolBook, Lectora Publisher, Trainersoft, etc.). However, there hasalways been an interesting anomaly in our results. Without fail, theuse of PowerPoint as a content authoring tool has eclipsed even themost popular authoring tools."

With Camtasia Studio, TechSmith hasbeen building on the popularity of PowerPoint as an authoring tool fore-Learning by allowing users to easily add multimedia elements such asaudio, video, quizzing and more in a straightforward, practical andeffective fashion.

If you're interested in learning more about how Camtasia Studio and PowerPoint work together, Geetesh Bajaj , Microsoft PPT MVP, has a great tutorial:

http://www.indezine.com/products/powerpoint/addin/camtasia.html

Besides being a MVP, Geetesh is also a freelance PowerPoint consultant, author and designer. He also runs the sites indezine.com and powerpointed.comand issues a bi-weekly PowerPoint ezine. Obviously, he knows alot about what's going on in the PowerPoint world, and so we've had afun week at the PowerPoint Live conference.

Are you using Camtasia Studio and PowerPoint together? I'dlove to hear about your experience - and see the results! If you'rewilling to share, please post a URL to your videos in the commentsfield.

Greetings from the show floor at PowerPoint Live! I'm having a great time in sunny San Diego.

I was able to get a few minutes with PowerPoint MVP and author Kathy Jacobs,and she sat down with me to do a screencast on the show floor. Wemanaged to find a quiet corner in the conference room, I hooked her upwith a microphone, set up my Logitech QuickCam Pro 4000 webcam, andlaunched Camtasia Studio for a quick video.

In this screencast, Kathy shares with me her top three tips forPowerPoint Users. See how much I don't know . . . yet! Click the screenshotto launch the video.

Watch the screencast

I'm learning a lot at the show, but I have severe PowerPoint shameafter seeing the PowerPoint presentations done by the MVPs. They trulyare works of art.

I've learned so much at PowerPoint Live this year and have attendedmany sessions. One session I would have liked to attend was conductedby PowerPoint MVP, Troy Chollar, but I missed it since I was working in our booth.

Thankfully, he recorded the whole presentation with Camtasia Studio,complete with PiP! If he had not done this, I would have never had theopportunity to 'attend' his session.

Click the screenshot below to watch a video clip from his presentation.

TechSmith also had the honor of hosting the Margarita Party atPowerPoint Live this year. We gave away fun prizes - a copy of CamtasiaStudio, a DVD burner, blank DVDs, a webcam and microphone . . . everything someone would need to make some great videos!

A fun time was had by all . . . I'm a little disappointed no one got into any trouble!

Here are some pictures from the Expo Floor and the Margarita Party.And, no, you will not see any pictures of me wearing a sombrero.

PowerPoint MVPs Steve Rindsberg and Tony Ramos having fun at the Expo.

Help Center Crew, PowerPoint MVPs Bill Dilworth and Geetesh Bajaj and Computer Gladiator, Bruce Jacobs.

The infamous PowerPoint MVP, Echo Swinford in the Help Center.

PowerPoint MVPs Tony Ramos, Kathy Jacobs, and Glen Millar.

Presentations Council members - Tom Bunzel, Todd Dunn and Julie Marie Irvin.

Presentations Council members Rob Lindstrom (I met him at Comdex several years ago) and Korie Pelka had a sword fight over margaritas. Thankfully no casualties occurred.