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Ever notice that small button in the Callouts section of Camtasia Studio? You know, the button that says, 'Custom Callouts'...Yes, you can create custom callouts in Camtasia Studio! I saw a screencast from Tim Heuer recently about custom callouts and was reminded that not everyone knows we have this option.

Custom call-outs are perfect if you want to add something beyond the standard arrows and other callouts we provide. Many people like to add their corporate or website logo to their screencast to brand them. Tim uses them to add a 'lower third' to his screencast

Watch Tim's video below and read his blog post about custom callouts in Camtasia Studio here.

And, there's a great tutorial on our website here all about custom callouts if you'd like step by step instructions.

As a kid, I always liked breaking the rules. I still do sometimes! I was watching my 2 year old nephew, Moose, the other evening and was quickly reminded that there is a reason behind many rules and they can be good (ask me about the 'Don't throw objects at Aunt Betsy' rule sometime)! After I finally got Moose to bed, I was thinking about what it takes to make great screencasts and videos. And, so I decided to compile a list of rules for screencasting!

1. You shall not bore your viewer.
2. You will include audio.
3. You will publish in Flash (99.9 of the time to keep it web friendly).
4. You shall check the recording dimensions.
5. You will keep the screencast short and to the point.
6. You will share the screencast with others who can benefit.
7. You shall not make me seasick with panning.
8. You will not film the screen with ones webcam.
9. You will use special effects sparingly.
10. You will watch the entire screencast before posting and sharing with others.
11. You will plan or storyboard your screencast...at least a little.
12. You will do a test recording to make sure everything is working properly.
13. You must have fun while you screencast. You are a rockstar!

What did I miss? Am I way off the mark? Which ones are made to be broken? Add your thoughts and rules in the comments!

This week's Screencast of the Week is from Fog Creek Software!

Fog Creek made a screencast showing off their new release of FogBugz. What I like about this screencast is that it is not your typical serious, dry product demo. I really like the dynamic of having two narrators. Fog Creek's CEO and founder, Joel Spolsky and Babak Ghahremanpour, from their technical staff, narrated the screencast. Having two narrators is nice as it makes the demo interesting and conversational. The audio, which was recorded in a studio, is really high quaility too.

Click the screenshot below to watch the screencast. It runs close to 13 minutes.

Congrats to Fog Creek on the new release of FogBugz Version 6!

I was digging around looking at screencasts last week and stumbled upon this mashup contest by the Sunlight Foundation. To enter the contest, you had to submit a screencast showing off your mashup!

There were several great Camtasia Studio screencasts entered in the contest which you can view here. Click the image below to watch the winning entry. It's a short screencast running less than 2 minutes. And, the winners won $2,000 for their mashup and screencast!

What great screencasts have you seen lately?

Did you know that Camtasia Studio will allow you to add your own graphics (BMP, GIF, PNG and JPG) as Custom Callouts?

Sometimes when making screencasts you want to graphically show the key being pressed especially when audio isn't an option. Showing the key can really help illustrate or reinforce your instructions.

And, you're in luck. AlanWho has created 104 standard PC Keyboard key icons that you can use in your Camtasia Studio screencasts. You can download and read more about them on AlanWho's blog here. No need to create your own Keyboard Callouts thanks to AlanWho.

Click here for a quick tutorial on how to create your own custom Callouts to Camtasia Studio.

Same thing goes for SnagIt. You can make any PNG, JPG, GIF, TIF or BMP your own custom SnagIt stamp. For more information about how to do that, click here. Don't feel like making your own SnagIt stamps? We have lots of SnagIt Stamps which you can download for free here.

Thanks AlanWho for not only creating the Keyboard Keys, but also sharing them with everyone! Now we just need AlanWho to create the 'Any' key icon for us to use. ;-)

Pssssst…I've got a secret to share. As a thank you for reading the blog, I wanted to give you a sneak peek at some of the new features in our upcoming release of Camtasia Studio v5. And, you, my fellow blog readers, get to see the inside scoop first!

The Camtasia Studio team has been hard at work and we're gearing up to release Camtasia Studio v5 on October 9. Since I'm a fan of top ten lists, I thought I'd take the next ten days before the release to off what's new in this release.

One of the major goals of Camtasia Studio v5 was to make it so any user – novice or expert – could create a high quality screencasts faster and with less effort.

You'll see over the next ten days how we’ve added major new features during each of the three stages of production - recording, editing and production – that have benefits for both the screencast creator and the viewers.

With that in mind, let's get started. Up first in our top ten countdown is a feature we've added on the editing side - SmartFocus!

SmartFocus intelligently tracks activity on the screen and zooms in to keep your viewers focused. This feature enables users to create smooth automatic zoom-n-pan action with the click of a mouse button, It focuses the viewer’s attention on important points of interest. This feature is nice because you record large areas of your screen and scale your screencast for smaller playback windows (think blogs and Apple iPods) and still provide visual clarity. There's a screenshot below of Camtasia Studio's timeline with the SmartFocus button below.

It is best to see SmartFocus in action. Troy Stein, the Camtasia Studio Product Manager, made this short screencast that runs a little over 4 minutes. You'll get more information about SmartFocus as well as see a comparison of a video with SmartFocus vs one without.

You'll be able to get your hands on Camtasia Studio v5 in two weeks and use SmartFocus yourself. But, fear not…until then, you can purchase and use Camtasia Studio v4 today. If you purchase Camtasia Studio 4 now, you will be sent a key that works for Camtasia Studio v5 (it will work with Camtasia Studio v4 too). That means you'll get a free upgrade on October 9 when Camtasia Studio v5 comes out.

Are we off to a good start? What do you think?

Do you sudoku? I have to admit that I'm a bit addicted to it. It is the perfect way to pass time on those long flights and when I'm standing in line anywhere. And, I feel like I'm exercising my brain by doing the math in the game.

Daniel Foster, TechSmith's new Newsletter writer, sent me a link for a sudoku screencast. I like it because the screencast is about a fun subject! Not all screencasts have to be about how to use software or a website. Click the screenshot below to watch the screencast. It runs just under 4 minutes.

And, Patty makes more screencasts! Check out Patty's other mathcasts here.

And, on a side note, if you'd like another option to share your screencasts, try Screencast.com. It does not scale your screencasts so your videos retain their original quality. There is a free trial for anyone who'd like to try it out here.

Any nominations for the next Screencast of the Week? I'm looking for some screencasts about the holidays. Have you seen any?