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!

Montreal, I will miss you! We had a great time at CHI last week.

Highlights include poutine, live demos, fire alarms and evacuations, meeting with customers and Old Montreal.

You'll have to watch my screencast with Mike Kujansuu to learn more. Click the screenshot below to watch our show update recorded live at the Detroit Airport. What better way to spend a layover? The video is just over 10 minutes long.

In the video, you'll hear Mike talk about the Astoria Project. There is still time to sign up for the Astoria Project beta. If you're interested, please visit here to sign up for the beta.

A Morae user, Joelle Stemp, from Yu Centrik, stopped by our booth to talk about Morae. We made a quick screencast. Click the screenshot below to view the video. The video is 3:30 minutes.

I've uploaded some pics to Flickr here.

And, as an added bonus, here are some pics about what to do when there is slow booth traffic.

Whoever said there's no such thing as a free lunch didn't know about us!

You're invited to lunch with the TechSmith gang in Las Vegas or New York City - or wherever else we can schedule.

I'll be at the STC conference (Society for Technical Communication) in Las Vegas May 6 - 11.

Then I'll be in New York City for the Syndicate conference May 15 - 19.

Drop me an e-mail if you can meet up for coffee, lunch, dinner, drinks, indoor skydiving, or Elvis impersonator hunting. (This would be harder in NYC than in Las Vegas, I bet...)

If you'd like to do a screencast with me, that'd be fun too, but certainly not required.

What shows are you going to? What shows should TechSmith attend? Why?

When I talked to Professor Ed Doering at Rose-Hulman about screencasting, I told him: Don't fear the webcam. And he didn't! Ed made a great video about how he uses Camtasia Studio and SnagIt for his students and in the classroom. For that reason, he's our screencast of the week!

I really like his use of the webcam - he even does a neat trick where he turns the webcam around to show his Wacom Cintiq 17SX interactive pen display. So, you can see him writing and then you can see what's going on the screen at the same time.

Also, I recently heard about another event - Higher Ed Blog Con - which is a fully Web-based event. Dan Karleen made a fascinating screencast showing some resources for those interested in new media.

Want to learn more? Check out his blog post and watch his screencast.

Check out Dan's blog here too.

Don't you wish you had all this when you were in school?

Edited May 10th, 2006

Before the tradeshow floor opened at STC, I got the lead SnagIt developer, Paul Middlin, to do a quick screencast to show how to use a couple of SnagIt 8's innovative new features.

First, he'll show you how to capture a Web page and keep the links intact. What does this mean? The links will be embedded in the image and clickable, just as they were on the original Web page.

Then, he'll show how to add a Flash hotspot to an image. (With this option, you can create images that, when clicked or moused over, cause additional text or images to pop up.) He'll show off a great user example from the Christine Ahlsten at Dakota State College of Science. To read more about her and see the interactive floorplan, click here.

Click the picture below to start the screencast. The video runs just under 4 minutes.

What feature or topic would you like our next screencast to be about? Maybe I can get Paul to make another screencast with me at the show - if he's not too busy listening to compliments about SnagIt's latest release...

We're having a great time in Las Vegas this week at the STC Conference. I'm still on the lookout for an Elvis impersonator. No luck yet, but you can see some pics from our trip here on Flickr.

We've met a lot of people who use our software, and Camtasia user and technical writer Chris McQueen even took the time to do a screencast with me. Watch the screencast to find out how he's using Camtasia Studio...I bet it's a way you haven't thought about using it! The screencast is a quick one - less than 2 minutes. Click the picture below to launch the screencast.

We also met up with Rachel Eichen, a tech writer at Lockheed Martin. Her love of SnagIt is infectious. Certainly one of the most animated SnagIt users! This screencast is a little longer - just over 8 minutes. Click the screenshot below to start the video.

Keep in mind these screencasts were made on the show floor so the lighting and sound aren't perfect - but the spontaneity makes up for it.

One of the best parts of exhibiting at a show is hearing about new feature ideas and feedback from users. But you don't have to meet us at a show to share what you'd like to see in SnagIt, Camtasia Studio, and Morae. Post it in the comments here and I'll share with the product teams, or use our handy online form to let us know what you think today.

Or, send me a video sharing your thoughts and ideas. I'll share it with the product teams and on the blog!

Last week I attended a local conference - Connecting & Collaborating Conference: Online Tools for the Classroom. It was all about how to use blogs, podcasts and RSS feeds in the classroom to improve student comprehension.

I wish I were back in school with all this cool technology. (Video iPods, blogs and wikis? These weren't even WORDS when I was in school!) During a break, I recorded a screencast with TechSmith's Academic Marketing Manager, Tanya Reynolds. Many of you may not know that we have a Web site dedicated to education, so I had Tanya give me an all-access tour.

Click on the screenshot below to start the video. Meet Tanya and get a tour of our educational resources at the same time. The video runs a little over 7 minutes.

To visit our Education site, go here. The site includes resources for K-12 and higher education, and it's chockfull of best practices, lesson plans, stories from the classroom, and the latest industry news.

So, what else would you like to see included on this site? Also - how are you using TechSmith products in the classroom? If you're not using them, why not? How can we improve them for your classroom?

Just think...there's a whole crop of students out there that has SnagIt, Camtasia Studio, or Morae in their virtual lockers. I don't want to brag, but if I'd have had that while I was in school? I might have spent a little more time studying. : )

I was glad to be 'back to reality' in Michigan after a week in Las Vegas...although my pockets are a little lighter. So, it's time to get back to our regularly scheduled 'program' - the screencast of the week. Check out this screencast from our Senior Flash Developer, Brooks Andrus, about creating rules in Outlook. Judging from the state of my inbox, I need to follow Brooks advice to help organize email.

Click the screenshot below to watch the video. It's only 3:30 minutes long.

If you're looking to get started screencasting, Patrick Fitzgerald, a web content and user interface developer at BarelyFitz Designs, recently posted some of his tips for screencasting. Check them out here.

I'm in New York City this week to attend the Syndicate Conference. Anyone want to meet up? Call me on my cell phone - 517.410.0030. Maybe we could make a screencast on the subway or at the bar. I've seen stranger things in New York.

Any nominations for the next screencast of the week?

Camtasia Studio 3.1.1 has landed, so it's now easier to customize and share your videos!

We now have more Flash Playback bars. And, remember the 'Classic' look in older Camtasia Studio versions? Well, we made a mistake by removing it from Camtasia Studio 3.1. We had no idea that you would miss it. So, we listened to you and brought it back. If you need to have the same look and feel as your previously-created videos, it's now again possible. There's a nice Matte or Glass control bar too - check them out.

Other features include support for SCORM 2004, an option to split long timelines into multiple movies, and XHTML-Compliant production files.

What's better than a software upgrade? A free one. If you have Camtasia Studio 3.0 or 3.1, it's a FREE update.

Product Manager, Troy Stein, and the Lead Developer, Dave O'Rourke, made a screencast about Camtasia Studio 3.1.1. Click the screenshot below to watch the video. It's almost 16 minutes long so get comfortable. Or, read more about the release and download it from here.

Consequently, it's great to hear what you love about Camtasia Studio, but we need to know what you don't like about it as well - so we can improve. E-mail, call me on my cell - 517.410.0030, Skype me at - betsyweber, IM me on MSN IM at - b.weber@techsmith.com, comment on the blog, use the feedback form...do whatever it takes!

One of the nice things about working at TechSmith is that they allow us to experiment.

On that note, I want to try something new. I've roped the Camtasia Studio Product Manager, Troy Stein, into doing three online events with me next week.

If you're interested in joining the call to give us your input on Camtasia Studio, drop me an e-mail and let me know your first and second choice for time slot.

May 25, Thursday 10:00 a.m. or 3:00 p.m. EST

May 26, Friday 3:00 p.m. EST

We'll put all aspects of Camtasia Studio up for discussion and debate.

Here's your chance to have your voice heard! Don't like the new control bars for Flash files? Want more choices for special effects or quizzing? Tell us! I know there are things that you don't like about Camtasia or things you need added. Here's your chance to tell the product team and have ownership in Camtasia Studio.

We'll start with three one-hour long sessions with 14 spots open in each session for participation. Depending on how it goes, we'll open it up for additional sessions and for SnagIt and Morae.

Outside of the rain, I'm having a fine time in New York City. What's not to enjoy? I spent Monday at Fog Creek's offices in the Fashion District of Manhattan visiting with Joel Spolsky and Sumana Harihareswara. Tuesday and today have been spent at the Syndicate conference. And, I have ventured down to Greenwich Village and Little Itay for dinner with friends.

So, back to Fog Creek Software. They have just come out with a new version of their bug tracking software, FogBugz, which is a project management system we use here at TechSmith in a variety of departments.

Babak Ghahremanpour and Sumana Harihareswara of Fog Creek made a great Camtasia video for the launch of their latest version of FogBugz 5.0. What I like about this video is that it's a great blend of showing the people behind Fog Creek and showing what's new in a product. Click the screenshot below to watch their video. It's a quick video that runs about 2:30 minutes.

I had a few minutes to sit down with Sumana, one of the employees in the video above. She's in Fog Creek's Software Management Training Program - you can read more about it here. Hey TechSmith - Maybe we should look at doing something similar?!

Sumana talked with me about the program and professional development, plus the Camtasia Studio video they recently made. Click the screenshot below to watch our screencast. It runs almost six minutes.

And, check out their reading list! It's impressive - lots of good books for people to read in any industry.

Don't you love when people figure out cool things...and then let everyone else know?

I was reading Daniel Egan's blog, The Pattern Man, and saw his recent post about Scott Watermasysk's Community Server control that lets you embed a Camtasia Studio video into your Community Server 2.0 blog!

So, if you'd like to add Camtasia Studio video to your Community Server 2.0 blog post, start here at The Pattern Man's blog or visit Scott's blog. Download Scott's CSModule pack here.

Anyone out there using this? How's it working for you?

Thank you, Scott and Daniel!

Who collected (or still collects) stamps as a kid? I know I'm not the only one. I love stamps! I have many sets of framed ones, like a set of Jamaican Bob Marley stamps, as well as James Dean and, of course, Elvis stamps. All right, make fun of me because I'm a geek...

So, let's talk stamps. No, not the kind of stamps hanging on my walls, but rather SnagIt stamps. Geetesh Bajaj over at Indezine has a great article about using stamps in SnagIt. If you've never used SnagIt's stamps, give them a try. I use them when I really need to make something in my screenshot stand out. I use the arrows and callouts all the time to annotate my screen captures.

Read more about SnagIt stamps here in Geetesh's article.

And, as an added bonus, here are additional stamps you can download from our site.

If you can't find the right stamp, you can make your own! Add your own stamps by selecting the Custom category and specify a folder of images (BMP, GIF, PNG, and JPEG files). Maybe I can use that Bob Marley stamp in SnagIt too!

Are you using stamps? Do you like the choices we give you?

I need your help. If you've watched the latest screencasts, you know that the quality of the webcam video and the audio could be improved.

I like to make screencasts in lots of different environments like the airport or in the booth. So, often, lighting and background noise are out of my control.

But, there must be a way to get better quality. What other small cameras have you had luck with using in conjunction with Camtasia Studio? I want a new camera that gives me better quality, but is small enough to take on all my travels. We have a great Canon XL-1 at work, but at that size, it's completely not portable.

I'm also looking for new microphones. I have the problem of recording in a booth with lots of ambient noise and people talking all around me. I was thinking about this new microphone from Samson, because it is switchable from omni, cardioid and figure 8 pick-up patterns, but am definitely open to suggestions. I'm currently using lapel microphones, which are nice because they are small and unnoticeable, but the quality could be improved in these odd recording environments.

Any input on cameras and mics you've tried would be helpful. Hopefully the screencasts will be more enjoyable as the quality improves!

I'm completely addicted to Flickr. If you're not familiar with Flickr, it's an easy place to upload and share photos and screenshots with others.

I use Flickr and SnagIt all the time at work. I use SnagIt to crop and rotate photos and then upload the pics to Flickr. Sometimes it's fun to add captions to pics with SnagIt too.

So, the developers have been working hard on a new extension for SnagIt and Flickr, which you will love! Basically, you can capture a screenshot or pic with SnagIt, and then immediately upload your capture to Flickr and share it with anyone. The SnagIt to Flickr Profiles makes it easy to share images because it will automatically upload your capture and copy the URL of that image in Flickr to your clipboard. Then, you can quickly e-mail or IM that link to others. It's easier - and more universal - than sharing image files as attachments. Who wants to open a file when they can just look on the Internet? You can read more about the SnagIt and Flickr extension here.

I had only a few minutes to make a screencast with the SnagIt Product Manager, Tony Dunckel, yesterday. It's quick video that runs just under 5 minutes. Click the screenshot below to watch. There's even a surprise guest in the screencast...a blast from the past.

The screenshot we made in the screencast can be found here.

And, if you know of a Flickr Support Group, send me their way...

Will you use this SnagIt to Flickr Profiles? Why or why not? What other programs would you like to see SnagIt extensions for?

Sometimes I am too! Since it's not always easy to give a full answer at trade shows, I thought I'd talk to you a little about it here.

A codec is the abbreviation for compressor/decompressor. Codecs are applied to audio, video and image files to compress their size. The benefit is that the files don't use as much disk space when stored - or as much network bandwidth when streamed. To open a compressed file, the same codec must be used to decompress the file. You can learn more about the TechSmith Screen Capture Codec (TSCC)here.

If you want to learn more about codecs, it's best to learn from the experts, and Ben Waggoner from Microsoft is one of the best compressionists around. I just heard that this summer Ben is hosting an in-depth class that will help you master video compression.

This is an intermediate or advanced class that will cover all the major formats and areas where compressed video is used, including Web video, CD-ROM video, DVD, and HD.

One of the featured tools that Ben will be going over is TechSmith's Camtasia Studio and Screen Capture Codec. This is a great opportunity to take your compression skills to the next level!

The course runs August 21-25 in beautiful Stanford and you can find more details here.

And after you take the class? Maybe you can teach me a thing or two about compression.

TechSmith's President, Bill Hamilton, and the Camtasia Studio Product Manager, Troy Stein, were recently interviewed on the Internet Advisor Podcast on WJR in Detroit.

I thought others might want to listen in on the show! Bill and Troy talk with the hosts and guests about all things Camtasia ranging from its history to how Camtasia can save your marriage. (It's true!)

You'll have to download the podcast's mp3 file from here to learn more. Bill and Troy's interview starts at about a third of the way through.

Now, if I did a screencast with Bill, what questions would you want him to answer? Comment away...

We'll be at Microsoft's TechEd Conference in Boston next month, and we'll be celebrating SnagIt's 15th anniversary! Bring your party hat - or we'll even provide you with one.

There's lots going on:

• I'd love to meet up with you at the show (or outside the show)! Lunch, June 13? Drop me an e-mail if you think you'd like to go, since I need an idea of reservation numbers. If you want to get ahold of me, my cell phone number is 517.410.0030.
• I've got five - count 'em, five - expo hall-only passes. First five people to e-mail me win!
• Calling all webcam lovers! I'd love to do a screencast with you. Who's up for it?

If you're not going to show, let me be your roving tech reporter. Anything you want me to scout out...besides the Sam Adams brewery tour?