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!

It's Tuesday so that means its time for some new Time Saver Tuesday tips! Up today we have a snippet from previous episode of The Forge. Today's tips are all about how to make your screencasts less awful!

I met Dan Nunez when he attended ScreencastCamp earlier this year. One of the sessions he led was called the '10 Commandments of Screencasting'. It was a big hit. Not only was it funny, but it was also informative. I promise, you will laugh and learn some useful tips! Plus, Dan rocks a really cool beard.

Here's a list of Dan's Commandments:

1. Hide the Goods
2. What to put behind you when using camera video
3. Choose the right desktop background
4. Honor your resolution
5. Don't stay thirsty my friends
6. Plainly state your intentions
7. Give your video an appropriate name
8. Shameless plug yourself
9. Get some rest

Do you have any Screencasting Commandments that you'd add to the list? Can you top Dan's beard?!?

I stumbled upon this quote from film director Stanley Kubrick the other day. And, while he's referring to camera and film video, I think his advice holds true for screencasters as well...

"Perhaps it sounds ridiculous, but the best thing that young filmmakers should do is to get hold of a camera and some film and make a movie of any kind at all." - Stanley Kubrick quotes (American Film Director and Writer, 1928-1999)

Sometimes the hardest part of making a screencast is simply getting started. And, by making screencasts, any screencast, you'll learn and gain experience. Can't think of a topic? Ask a friend or relative what they need help learning and make them a screencast.

What do you think? What's holding you back you back from making screencasts

We received some great entries for our Les Paul Guitar Google Doodle screencast contest. And, I'm happy to announce the winner!

I love, love, love Ellen Hinton's (Ellen Once Again) entry, "I'm Feeling Lucky"! She is our winner! Not only did Ellen create a fantastic screencast of the Google Doodle Les Paul guitar, but she also wrote her own lyrics and added more tracks in GarageBand. She made great use of the webcam by showing herself singing and playing the keyboard. You can read more about Ellen's screencast video here.

Check out Ellen's screencast below. I hope you're feeling lucky too! Thanks to everyone who entered!

We caught up with Ellen and she shared with us more about herself and her music!

What do you do for a living?

I currently live in Grand Prairie, Texas (near Dallas). I am more of a singer- songwriter and make "indie-pop music". I love working on ideas, music whenever I get a chance. I sometimes get my husband involved in the process as well. When asked to describe my music, I say I'm one part vintage and two parts bubbly with a shot of Pop Soul. Hopefully, that narrows it down, maybe? Hopefully, one day my Pandora station would be the likes of Ingrid Michaelson, Adele, Colbie Caillat and Sara Bareilles.

Tell us a little about your music!

I teach elementary music and was inspired to use the Google doodle after I opened the search engine and saw that it actually played. I love making music with tech-related instruments. My hubby loves computers and has a lot to with getting me hooked.

What inspired you to join the contest?

I initially made a tweet about the video earlier so i decided to do a search on #googledoodle and saw that TechSmith was having a contest. I figured I might as well tag the link and take the risk and put it out to the public. I definitely wasn't expecting this, but I am so glad I did this.

Are you a long-time TechSmith customer?

I currently only have a trial copy of Camtasia for Mac. First time users! My husband is familiar with Snagit but it was the perfect solution for getting the best screen cast quality for what we wanted for the video. Especially for capturing audio coming from the browser/CPU.

Take your air guitar to the next level! Have you seen the Les Paul guitar on Google's homepage today? Bring out your inner rockstar and hammer out some tunes! This has to be one of my favorite Google Doodles!

Want to add a video of you singing along on your webcam or preserve your video for all time? Live outside the US? I've heard the Google Doodle doesn't record your song if you live outside the US. That's where Camtasia can help! Use Camtasia to record your GoogleDoodle song!

I have a challenge for you! Record a song with the Les Paul guitar on GoogleDoodle today with Camtasia and share it. Make sure you record system audio. Then tweet a link to your screencast and tag your tweet with the hashtag #doodlecast so we can find it. We'll award our favorite rock star a copy of Camtasia (Mac or PC). The deadline is June 10, 12:00pm EST.

Show us what you got!

Need some inspiration? Check out the video Daniel Foster made.

Read more about the GoogleDoodle and Les Paul story below on Storify.

UPDATE 1: The TechSmith Terrible Screencast contest has been extended until June 20! Please keep submitting your Terrible Screencasts nominations! Thank you!

UPDATE 2: In addition, we've heard a lot of feedback (thank you!) and we've responded with a blanket anonymity rule- your identity and submissions will never see the light of day outside TechSmith, so no fear! We're not trying to embarrass anyone, just trying to understand what makes bad screencasts so very bad.

How many of you have watched a terrible screencast? I know I have. Heck, I've made my fair share of terrible screencasts!

I'm happy to announce we're having our first ever TechSmith Terrible Screencast Contest!

Here at TechSmith, we are proud to make products for entertaining and effective screencast experiences, and we love to hear about examples of exceptional screencasts. However, it's hard to ignore that some screencasts are, well, exceptional in a different way. We like hearing about those too! Nothing can teach us more about what not to do in a screencast than learning about the most devastatingly terrible experiences you've had with a screencast (not to mention they can get pretty darn funny!)

Send us your stories of the horrors of screencasting, and win acclaim and a $50 Amazon.com gift card!

Here's more info about the contest:

• Deadline: June 6th, 2011
• Instructions: Send your story of a terrible, awful, very-bad no-good screencast that you've had to endure to userexperience@techsmith.com with the subject line [Why Did I Watch This]. (click on the email address link above and it should fill the email address and subject line for you automatically)
• There's no need to send links or the screencast in question- just describe the experience in gory detail! We're interested in your impressions and stories more than anything.
• Prizes will be awarded for Worst Instructional Screencast Story, Worst Required-For-Work Screencast Story, and Worst Overall Screencast Story. Prizes will be a $50 Amazon.com gift card!
• NOTE: The Terrible Screencast Contest will be completely anonymous- we won't reveal the names of winners or the submitted stories or screencasts themselves. We're not trying to embarrass anyone, just understand what makes bad screencasts so very bad.

Prizes will be awarded for Worst Instructional Screencast, Worst Required-For-Work Screencast, and Worst Overall Screencast. Prizes will be a $50 Amazon.com gift card and immortality, as your tale of woe will be published in the official TechSmith blog (don't worry, we'll be happy to keep you anonymous!).

Thanks, and we can't wait to hear your worst!

I was absolutely blown away at the number of screencast examples many of you shared on this recent blog post. The screencast that was listed the most in your feedback was one done our Instructional Designer, Ryan Eash. I wanted to make sure everyone saw this screencast.

Ryan has created a lot of our tutorials for Camtasia Studio. He recently made a video showing behind the scenes from start to finish about how he creates our Camtasia training videos. I know you'll find it useful.

The video runs a little longer than most of our videos. It runs 30 minutes long. Ryan made a table of contents so you can easily navigate to the topic you're interested in.

Topics include:

• Writing a script
• Finished script
• Download scripts
• Why I write scripts
• Record my audio
• Audacity setup
• Start recording audio
• Effects Amplify
• Export to WAV file
• Record my screen
• Editing
• Extend frame
• Final edited project
• Producing my video
• Feedback

What else would you like to know about behind the scenes at TechSmith?

Thought I'd share another useful resource for all you screencasters out there...

I was out to Seattle this week for work and was lucky enough to catch up with Chris Pirillo. Many of you know Chris from his popular site, Lockergnome. He reminded me that he recently released an ebook with 50 screencasting tips!

The ebook is a PDF files which means you can view the file from just about anywhere and there are no DRM restrictions. The ebook costs $7 and you can find more information about the ebook here.

We're at the end of our 12 Day of Screencasting series... I hope you found something useful in each post! Thanks for joining us on this 12 day series.

We're skipping the "12 Drummers Drumming, for something better! Today, professional screencaster and Camtasia trainer, Axel Becker shares his tips with you about voice training in a screencast! The screencast runs just 2:35 minutes! It's a wonderful gift! If you like it, please let him know in the comments.

Axel Becker is a freelance designer for almost 20 years working on print, webdesign and videos. He started a (german) PowerPoint screencast in 2007 and offers training, consulting, and help on screencasts with Camtasia Studio. He "improves" screencasts from customers with intros, lower thirds with Adobe After Effects and Adobe Premiere. He produced "a few hundred" screencasts so far and is currently working on a new project called "motiongraFX" where he will offer intro designs, royalty free music and Camtasia Studio 7 libraries.

You can find Axel on the web at Camtasia Training Blog (in German) and his website fortytwo. You can follow him on Twitter at @axelbecker

We're in the home stretch for our "12 days of Screencasting" series. I hope you're finding the tips useful. If so, please let the authors know in the comments.

"On the eleventh day of Screencasting, Tom Johnson gave to me... a tip on recording dimensions!"

When figuring out the recording dimensions, if you're planning to upload the video to youtube, record at 1280 × 720 pixels (so the videos will render in HD). Sizer is an app you can use to resize your browser to a specific dimension. If you aren't uploading to youtube (nor rendering the videos into HD), use a second monitor for the recording and change the resolution to 1024 × 768. Always record full-screen on that monitor at that resolution. That way if you need to re-record a section, you won't have to guess where to line up the recording rectangle.

Tom Johnson is a senior technical writer for a non-profit organization in Salt Lake City, Utah. He writes a blog at Idratherbewriting.com, where he explores the latest trends, issues, and concepts in the field of technical communication. He also records podcasts, interviewing technical writing luminaries around the world. And he is a WordPress blog consultant, offering development, design, and training of WordPress blogs.

You can also follow Tom on twitter at tomjohnson

Today's tip for "The 12 days of Screencasting" is from Daniel Park. Daniel literally wrote the book on Camtasia. Several actually. And, he's made hundreds of screencasts. Daniel knows what he's talking about.

La la laaaaa! Ready to sing? "On the tenth day of screencasting, Daniel Park gave to me..."

One of the biggest threats to effective screencasting is bulk. Amateur screencast productions tend to be overly long. Do what you can to trim out those excessive pauses that try the user's patience. Strive to keep the narration light, friendly, clear, and quick. After all, this is video. If the user by chance misses a concept on the first play-through, replaying that content is a simple matter of scrubbing backward. On a related note, don't show yourself filling out every form or twiddling your thumbs through every progress bar. If necessary, make use of Camtasia Studio 7.1's vastly improved Clip Speed feature to help trim down the ol' running time.

Daniel Park is a former TechSmithie who departed back in 2003 to start dappertext LLC, his own consultancy that specializes in content creation. And for screen video, Camtasia Studio is his tool of choice. He flies all over the world to do Camtasia Studio training for companies, government agencies, and academic institutions, but he spends most of his professional time actually creating tutorials and marketing spots for organizations that lack the time or talent to do it themselves. He's the author of Camtasia Studio: The Definitive Guide. He lives in Huelva, Spain.

We have just a few days left in our "12 days of Screencasting" series. On the ninth day, screencasting expert and Camtasia trainer, Stewart Milton shares 9 of his tips for everything you need for screencasting from start to finish.

Warm up your vocal chords and help me sing... "On the ninth day of Screencasting, Stewart Milton gave to me..."

Screencasting can be a little bit daunting when faced with all the "techie" jargon like aspect ratios, codecs and frame rates. In this "Quick and Dirty" checklist for users Stewart recommends following the points below:

Stages of Screencasting

Most folks will tend to look at screencasts as being composed of the following stages - recording, editing and production. Although there is nothing wrong with this it is generally a bit too narrow. The key stage before you begin is Planning. Identify your audience, understand how to reach them, and also measure like crazy. In time starved organisations Return on Investment is the name of the game so make an effort to better understand how your screencasts are making a difference for customers and colleagues. Storyboard your screencast and sketch out the journey before you begin. A pdf storyboard can be downloaded from:

http://www.blueorange.org.uk/resources/Storyboard.pdf

To summarise the key stages, they are:

PREPP - Plan, Record, Edit, Produce, Promote and Evaluate.

Your screencast needs to be promoted so use Youtube, Social media and other free hosting sites - Vimeo, Screencast etc. Existing email mailing lists should be used and content also added to your own site. For evaluation use Youtube views, log files and quiz results.

Make Actions Explicit

Don't assume anything, typically use a slightly oversized mouse cursor and also add a highlight to it depending on the background color of your screen recordings. Also think about using mouse click colors too (viewers may not have audio enabled so your narrative does not help). Captions can also help overcome audio restrictions i.e. viewing in open plan offices.

Screen size is Crucial

It's always good practice to try and record, edit and produce at the same dimensions i.e. make sure your clips and images (perhaps png files) are all the same size. Several years ago most recordings were "squarish" based on a 4:3 ratio but with widescreen laptops, PC's and TV's, 16:9 ratio is fast becoming the norm. At the end of the day what matters most is whether your audience can easily view them (not too large for their display resolutions). Minimum for HD is 1280×720 pixels but your screencasts will have to be smaller to fit inside smaller monitor resolutions of 1024×768.

Capture Video and worry about the rest later

I always recommend working with short clips, easier to edit and do retakes if needed. Use free teleprompter software to help you remember your voice over lines. Add PiP, callouts etc later.

Keep it consistent and Short

Viewers don't like watching paint dry so keep your clips to a maximum of 2-3 minutes duration. You might have an hour long lecture to provide, no problem - use table of contents and split at markers so clips load quicker. Your viewers will happily jump back and forth to the bits they really want. Use consistent callouts and media and remember my one liner - boring is good! I got a video to review a few years back with about 6 different types of transition used - screen sea sickness was induced quickly!

Know your file types

Avi files are what I call generic files, typically I use these in other applications too for editing. MP4/flash is best for internet delivery these days and the file types are cross-platform making it easier for everyone to view them.

Anticipate viewers needs

My own MBA students struggle to get the time to read additional materials, they prefer me to provide video. Make sure you anticipate what they need and use hotspots to link to other videos or reference/research sources. Make it easy for them and they'll use it.

Project files are crucial

I'm prone to constant paranoia so make sure that when you create a camproj file you then choose File, Export project as Zip and make sure you tick "all clips in clip bin." Back up all your projects on an external HDD or USB stick.

Personalise your delivery

There are tons of bland videos out there and what makes your screencast interesting is YOU...your knowledge, style of delivery, advice etc. If appropriate use PiP to connect with your viewers to establish trust and build your reputation.

Stewart's next Camtasia Studio training classes are taking place at King's Cross, London on 28 January 2011 and Holiday Inn Express, Glasgow airport on 3 March 2011. You can book online and read past reviews from the link below:

http://www.blueorange.org.uk/proddetail.php?prod=CamtasiaTraining

Stewart Milton is CEO of BlueOrange Consulting Ltd and an MBA tutor with the Open University Business School in the UK. He is a Techsmith MVP and has trained over 1000 Camtasia Studio users at his classes in London and Glasgow. He also provides screencast and business consulting services to a wide range of academic and corporate clients worldwide and regularly runs in-house Camtasia Studio training classes for these companies too.

Today is your lucky day! Tech journalist and online media expert, Andy Walker shares his screencasting tips with us.

"On the eighth day of Screencasting, Andy Walker gave to me..."

When you turn the camera and mike on and start to screencast, try to visualize someone out there in Interneland who will be part of your audience and who may be watching -- and then present direct to them. I always try to imagine a good friend that I can have a laugh with and that really appreciates the information I am presenting because they need the advice.

This simulated one to one approach allows you to connect to your audience. Everyone who watches will feel like you are talking just to them. It will also take the formality out of the "show" and when you are relaxed, you'll enjoy it more. And so will your audience. Too many people present like they are making a speech. (And I would argue that even in speeches you should speak to the audience like they are your friends.)

Andy Walker - Executive Producer (and Host) of the mobile lifestyle network butterscotch.com

Have you ever heard the quote, "Practice make perfect"? This also applies in screencasting. If you want to master the art, you need to practice. On the seventh day of Screencasting, Tom Crawford shares his insights and tips about screencasting.

Chime in the song... "On the seventh day of Screencasting, Tom Crawford gave to me..."

When getting ready for a screencast, go through all the steps you want to demonstrate a few times.

First, the practice will help you make sure you know exactly what you're going to show.

Second, you may identify some spots that are necessary to get to what you want to demonstrate, but not the part you what to demonstrate. Those are great spots to have halfway done and waiting for you. For example, when I do Excel screencasts, I'll have multiple versions of the spreadsheet ready to go...one with only the basics that are needed to get started with the demo, one that's partially completed, and one that's how it should look when it's done. Nobody wants to sit and watch you type variations of the same formula in for a dozen rows. Once you've demonstrated what you want, you can jump to the next stage simply by switching to the next document. It even saves editing in the end.

Finally, it will help you write your bullets from Sean's 4th day, your script from Gary's 3rd day, time it from Molly's 1st day, and probably won't do anything about the partridge but you'll be ready to go when you press record.

Tom Crawford is the Owner and Principal of Visualization Network, providing education and hands-on experiences for leaders who need to solve problems and communicate more effectively. VizNetwork provides coaching and conducts workshops on learning, simulations, visualization, and communication all over the world for thousands of people. Tom is a well-respected and often requested speaker for organizations and events of all shapes and sizes. Most recently, the visualization network has been developing a visual cooking application for the iPad called VizChef due to be released in the Apple App Store in January 2011. Follow @vizchef on twitter for all the latest information.

We're half way through our "12 days of Screencasting. Have you found the tips useful?

Today you're in for a tasty treat. Forget the Six Geese-a-Laying - who wants that?! Today's tip is from screencast expert and veteran Scott Skibell.

All together now... "On the sixth day of Screencasting, Scott Skibell gave to me... Transparent Images!"

For the 12 Screencasts of Christmas, I wanted to make sure I shared a gold nugget and not just a lump of coal. Like any good elf, I scratched my head and tried to come up with that one present that readers would find really useful. You know, that one tip that would help set their screencasts apart and that they could use right away without having to worry about dad scurrying away to go assemble it. So what's my present this year? Transparent images.

Transparent images are a great way to add a touch of professionalism and to make your screencasts stand out. And best of all, they're easy to incorporate.

A transparent image is a type of image file that has the background removed. Typically this is a picture with an object appearing on a white background. However, instead of having a picture with a white box appear in your screencast, the white background is removed so only the object is shown. The object then appears to float over the screencast. This results in a much more polished and professional look.

Let me share 3 ways you can use transparent images in your screencasts and then I'll share how you can do it.

Three ways to use transparent images:

Watermarks

Watermarks are typically logos that appear to float over your screencast video. They're great for advertising, branding, and attributing credit to the original screencast author. If you've ever watched a YouTube video, you've seen the YouTube watermark in the lower right-hand corner.

Watermarks are a great way to "brand" your screencast so no matter where viewers may see your video, they know it came from you. Watermarks are typically your company logo and appear in one of the corners of your screencast. And since free hosting providers like YouTube place their watermark over your video, make sure to place your watermark in a different corner. I typically use the lower left corner.

Watermarks can also be a call to discourage unauthorized sharing and give credit to the original author so others can't take credit for your hard work.

Use transparent images to create watermarks and brand your screencasts.

Callout Objects

Callout objects add a little pizzazz and interest to your screencast. For example, Camtasia:Mac offers different arrows you can bring into your project. But you can turn any object you create or purchase into a callout object.

For example, place a lightbulb icon on the screen when you're sharing a good idea. Or use branded custom shapes and colors for your text box backgrounds. Even, incorporate custom thought bubbles and starbursts to add a comedic effect.

Another advanced tip is to place numbered callouts on the screen that match specific sections in accompanying written materials like training manuals or job aids. This helps people follow along in a handout while watching your screencast.

Using transparent images as callouts are easy, entertaining, and differentiate your screencasts.

Frames

Frames are like watermarks and callout objects but instead of having the background removed, they typically have their middle removed. This way, they cover the edges of the screencast but let the video appear thru its transparent middle.

Incorporating a colored frame around your screencast customizes the screencast so it blends into your website or adds consistency across a series of screencasts.

Incorporate your logo into your frame. Or, feel free to have it expand outside your frame a little for a more organic and 3-dimensional feel. You can get some great ideas by watching sporting events on television and seeing how they use frames and transparent graphics on the bottom of the screen.

Use frames as a way to provide consistency in a series of screencasts videos. For example, use a frame to distinguish a course and some frame color coding or labeling to distinguish between chapters or modules in the course. This is a great way to make all the screencasts feel like a unified product.

Using transparent frames create a unique feel to your screencasts and take them to the next level.

How to create transparent objects

So you might be saying, "Well Scott, this is all fine and dandy and I'd really like to create watermarks, callouts, and frames, but what type of a present is it if you don't tell me how to do it?"

Well, making and incorporating transparent images really is easy with the right image editing software. Here are the basic steps to get you started:

1. Select an image that has a uniform colored background. Lots of images are on white backgrounds and those make great candidates for creating a transparent objects.
2. Open your image editor and select and remove the background color from the image.
3. Once the background is removed, it'll typically be appear over a white & gray checkered background. PhotoShop Elements, Pixelmator, and SnagIt all have this capability though they each go about it differently. I can't cover to how each one does it here but definitely look at the help file of your application to learn how.
4. With the background removed, save your image as a .png file. Other formats like .gif and .jpg do NOT support transparency and won't work.
5. Import the new image into your screencast project.
6. Place the image on your timeline on the top most track. This ensures it will appear over all the other video tracks and won't be covered up by another track.
7. Resize and position the image as needed. For example watermarks might go into a corner while an icon could appear anywhere on the screen.
8. Set your timings for when you want it to appear and disappear. For example, a watermark might appear throughout the screencast from beginning to end while a callout icon my only need to appear for a few seconds.
9. Then, compile your screencast as normal.

Conclusion

Incorporating transparent images adds a touch of professionalism and really sets your screencasts apart. I encourage you to brand your screencasts with watermarks. Incorporate callout objects to keep them fun and interesting. And finally, add frames for consistency and uniformity.

I think you'll agree, this year's tip sure isn't a lump of coal!

Happy Holidays everyone.

About Scott Skibell

Scott is a 20-year training industry veteran. He helps individuals and businesses "productize their knowledge" by creating digital products around their expertise. These solutions include videos, e-learning courses, and of course, screencasts! You can learn more about Scott at SkillCasting.com and MacScreencasting.com

You can follow Scott on Twitter here.

Listen up fellow Screencasters! Today's tip is from someone who has a lot of experience not only in front of the camera but also behind the scenes in production. Sean Carruthers has a ton of professional video experience. It's my pleasure to share his tips with you.

Ready to sing with me? "On the fourth day of Screencasting, Sean Carruthers gave to me... "

I think the number one tip for producing content of any kind is being prepared! Make a list of bullet points of the things you want to cover, in the order you want to show them - that allows you to speak conversationally without fumbling around for the topic or forgetting things you want to talk about. You can script the presentation in its entirety, if you want to be sure every word is where it should be, but until you get a lot of practice at reading from a script, it will SOUND scripted and unnatural.

It also means going through the software demo ahead of time to make sure everything works the way you remembered it...that way you get through the demo smoothly without any "ah wait, how does this work again?" moments sandwiched in the middle of everything.

Sean Carruthers is a producer at butterscotch.com and a co-host on the popular technology show Lab Rats. Sean accidentally found himself in the world of tech journalism in 1997 after years of selling CDs to underage prairie gangsters. Since that point, he's written for The Computer Paper, HUB Digital Living, The Globe and Mail, The Village Voice, Homefront, CE-Biz, onAir, TUXmagazine.com, and more. His record reviews have appeared at AllMusic.com, RollingStone.com, MSN.com and BarnesAndNoble.com. Sean worked as a tech researcher and made occasional appearances as the Gadget Guy for the show Call for Help. Sean was also a tech researcher on The Lab with Leo Laporte.

You can find Sean on twitter here.

Like the tips our experts have shared with you during our "12 Days of Screencasting" series? Have feedback or suggestions to share? Please let our contributors know in the comments!

We're up to day three in "The 12 Days of Screencasting" series. I know you know the words by now... Sing along! ♫♪ "On the third day of Screencasting, Gary Short gave to me... "♪♫

"I have three tips for the new screencaster and oddly, since screencasting is a visual medium, they are all to do with sound, something you may not have thought about. Firstly, I'd say, write a script. You're doing a screencast, which means you are showing somebody something, right? Now that means that your brain is going to be busy with the "doing thing" and that means that you're going to find it difficult to recall what you are going to say next. This means your screencast is going to be full of "umms" and "ahhs" and that's pretty off putting for the listener. So, work out what you are going to say, then write it out - double line spaced - on paper and place it next to you. Now as you are screencasting simply read your script, no need to recall what comes next, and no annoying "umms" and "ahhs".

Well that's all the tips from me. Happy screencasting everyone!"

Gary Short works for Developer Express as the Technical Evangelist on the frameworks team. He has a deep interest in technical architecture, especially in the areas of technical debt and refactoring. Gary is a C# MVP and gives presentations at user groups and conferences throughout the UK, Europe and the US.

You can find Gary on Twitter at @garyshort

According to the traditional Christmas carol, "The 12 Days of Christmas", today we would have received two turtle doves. Well, my true love can keep the birds. Instead, let's continue with our next tip for the "12 days of Screencasting"...

We have a great tip for those just getting started in screencasting from Ian Ozsvald. Ian has made over 170 screencasts! He knows what he's talking about...

Sing it loud and proud! "On the Second Day of Screencasting, Ian Ozsvald gave to me..."

"If you haven't made a screencast - just get on with it. Start with Jing, graduate to Camtasia later. You'll gain confidence by seeing that you can talk and act at the same time and the 5 minute Jing limit is useful to force you to be concise and clear. Send your videos to a few people for feedback, try again and then just start to publish your videos. Real feedback from real people sure beats worrying that your private videos isn't any good! If you want further beginner-tips then see my blog and look at the free chapters of The Screencasting Handbook."

Ian Ozsvald has created over 170 screencasts since 2005, from 30 second tours to 30 minute lessons. He co-founded the screencast tutorial site ShowMeDo in 2005 (used by 50,000 people a month) and founded the professional screencasting company ProCasts in 2008. He also blogs at IanOzsvald.com, encourages entrepreneurs at the £5 App event and occasionally lectures on Artificial Intelligence at Sussex University (UK).

What would you ever do if someone gave you a partridge in a pear tree? I often wondered that when hearing the song, "The Twelve Days of Christmas". All the gifts were impractical in that song. I thought it would be fun to make a more useful version of the traditional Christmas carol and change it to be "The 12 Days of Screencasting"!

12 expert Screencasters have shared their tips and screencasting advice with me. And, I'll share with you their insights over the next 12 days!

Sing it with me... "On the first day of Screencasting, Molly McDonald gave to me..."

Start your timers!

I know how long a screencast will be before I even record it by using the Stopwatch on my iPhone. I can turn on the Stopwatch, read through the script at a steady pace and see almost exactly how long the end result will be. This works great for deciding when to cut out content. If you time a script at 4 or 5 minutes you'll know that you need to cut out some of the "fluff" - Instead of wasting your time creating the video first and then realizing it needs to be cut down. If you don't have a Stopwatch on your phone there's a simple stop-watch Web app at Online Stopwatch.

Molly McDonald, aka DemoGirl, lives in San Francisco, CA and has been creating screencasts since 2006. Over the past 4 years she's gone from running a screencast blog to building a business that specializes in creating custom screencasts for companies all over the world. Her professional narration skills coupled with an excellent grasp of the technology she covers make her screencast services in high demand. Molly is also a monthly contributor of screencast tutorials for Butterscotch.com. You can learn more about her work by visiting Demo Girl which is run by her parent company, Centercloud LLC.

And, while we're on the subject of songs... some of our talented TechSmithies have recorded a screencasting carol, "Jing Love". I think it's the first song recorded about screencasting!

"Jing Love" was written and performed by:

• Steve Elgas - Software Engineer, Camtasia Studio: guitars, vocals
• Alex Novak - Software Engineer, Screencast.com: guitars
• Clint Hoagland - Software Test Specialist, Camtasia Relay: drum programming, engineering

#jing_love by vsComputer

I need your help! It's that time of year! What would you get your favorite screencaster as a gift? What are essential tools that you need to make great screencasts? Maybe it's a camera? Or, storyboard paper? Or, a particular microphone?

I need your input to compile a list of gifts to get your favorite screencaster. Here are the past lists from 2009, 2008, and 2006 (looks like I skipped 2007!). Anton Bollen, our German Evangelist, has started his list which you can see here (in German, but you can see which products he picks).

Feel free to leave your suggestions in the comments or email me! I'll post the list later this month. Thanks for your help! Can't wait to hear what's on your list!

It's that time again. Tune in to the next Forge live on December 2 at 2pm EST here on the Visual Lounge Blog. The theme will be all about music and fun! We'll explore places to find music you can use for free and legally, how to built a digital card, how to use music well in your videos and look at gifts for screencasters.

In the interim, enjoy this video with expert screencaster Ian Oszwald that Matt Pierce recently made. Ian Oszwald is the co-founder of ShowMeDo. ShowMeDo has 50-70k monthly visits from people who learn through screencasts! Ian is an professional screencaster who has also authored the Screencasting Handbook..

Highlights from the interview include:

• How did Ian get started in screencasting
• Suggestions for getting started in creating professional screencasting
• Why using stories in screencasting is important and helpful
• What are key things to include in screencasts
• Ian's process from start to finish for creating screencasts
• Information about The Screencasting Handbook, written by Ian.

You can see past episodes and information about The Forge here. What would you like to see us cover on The Forge?

Anyone can make a screencast, right? I mean, you just hit the big red button and start recording.

But, what sets apart an average screencast from a masterpiece? With a little planning, you can take your screencast to the next level. There a few small things you can do before you hit the record button to get a higher quality screecast.

I asked around the office today for tips about what to do before you record a screencast. Since I like Top 10 lists, here is list of the "Top 10 tips to do before you hit the record button!"

1. Put a sign on the door to keep unwanted visitors out, mute phones, disable all other possible sources of noise - Dave McCollom, Education Evangelist
2. Clean up your desktop! This will keep your viewers attention and they won't be distracted by your icons. I like to use something like Fences from Stardock on the PC or Ryan Eash, an Instructional Designer from TechSmith's Training Department, has two monitors. So, he drags any icons/files/etc that he doesn't want to show to the monitor he's not recording.
3. Clean your Apps and Browser - Don't want people seeing your browser history? Have sensitive documents, account information or past projects you don't want your viewers to see? Make sure you clean up your history, past projects or Camtasia Library so it doesn't show information you want to keep private. If you forget something and it ends up in your recording, well, that's where the blur callout in Camtasia Studio comes in handy. :-)
4. Set the stage - After you've cleaned up your desktop, set your desktop color. For our Camtasia Studio screencasts we set the desktop color for our videos to RGB of 51, 51, 51. Pick something that is not too distracting...if the desktop is being shown - Ryan Eash
5. Script it out - Ryan Eash shared an example of one of the scripts they used in a recent project. Follow along the final screencast here with the script here. It will show you how the screencast was put togehter. The script shows the narration on the right and either some screenshots or text on the left that illustrates what's going to be shown on the screen at that time.
6. Get Feedback - Run your script or storyboards by others before you record. Get feedback on your language and the clarity of what you're showing - Conan Heiselt, Instructional Designer
7. Check 1, 2, 3 - Do a quick sound check - record a few minutes of audio and test for quality - Walter Pelowski, Customer Solutions Engineer
8. Dress rehearsal - Do a quick Jing screencast to make a prototype of your screencast. You can see what worked well or needs to be changed before you record your screencast - Conan Heiselt
9. Record and edit your audio - It's easier to record your screencast if you don't have to worry about recording the audio at the same time. You can play your audio while you record the screen. That way you have your timing down and it is easy to sync the audio and video together. - Conan Heiselt
10. Set your recording area - Set your recording area (either full screen resolution, or custom region) to an aspect ratio of what you plan to edit and produce to. For the Camtasia Studio 7 Learning Center videos, the final video dimensions were 800×450 (16:9), so Ryan Eash made his custom region for recording set to 1376×774 (16:9) and it resized nicely into the 800×450 dimensions for editing and production.

This is where I need your help! I need your tips! What do you do before you record your screencast?

We'll compile all the tips into an ebook and share them with you.

Prefer to post your tip on Twitter? Please use the hashtag of #screencasttip so I can find your tip.

I recently had a request by email to share a list of suggested books for screencasters. So, I asked a few people around the office like Daniel Foster, our newsletter editor, Matt Pierce, our Customer Engagement Manager, and Dave McCollom, TechSmith's Education Evangelist.

And, I was also thinking about different elements of a screencast: preparation, planning, writing, graphics, presentation, storytelling and promotion.

Based on that, here are some of the books we came up on our suggested reading list for screencasters:

Prep:

• Made to Stick, by Chip Heath, Dan Heath - This book gives you tips on how to keep your screencast viewers attention and make your ideas stick.
• The Back of the Napkin by Dan Roam - A picture is worth a thousand words. This book helps you create compelling graphics and visuals for your screencasts.
• Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer by Roy Peter Clark - this is a useful book for any writer. Great screencasts start with great writing.

Presentation:

• Beyond Bullet Points by Cliff Atkinson - learn how to use storytelling and graphics to effectively communicate. I've seen Cliff speak several times - he has wonderful advice!
• slide:ology: The Art and Science of Creating Great Presentations by Nancy Duarte - effective visual communication for your screencasts. Make great graphics especially when recording PowerPoint. I've seen Nancy present several times - every time I see her speak, I am in awe.
• Presentation Zen: Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery by Garr Reynolds - make better presentations which makes for better screencasts.
• Confessions of a Public Speaker by Scott Berkun - learn techniques behind what great communicators do and how to effectively present ideas. Use these tricks to make better screencasts.

Tools:

• Camtasia Studio 6: The Definitive Guide by Daniel Park - Daniel's book takes you through using Camtasia Studio from start to finish of your screencast.
• The Screencasting Handbook by Ian Ozsvald - Ian has created hundreds of screencasts and his handbook reviews software and microphones, processes and techniques.

Promotion:

• Get Seen by Steve Garfield - now that you've created your screencast, make sure your screencasts are promoted and seen!

I've started a list on Amazon - Screencaster Suggested Reading List And, I'd love to add what's on your reading list.

Here's where I need your help... As a screencaster, what books have you found useful and why?

It's been 5 years since Jon Udell invited his readers to propose names for making videos of software. They landed on the term Screencast for this genre.

And, since then, screencasting has grown leaps and bounds. It's easier to record and produce a screencast. Software and hardware have improved. The barriers to entry on screencasting have been lowered. You don't need a production studio or expensive, complex equipment to do it.

Our newsletter writer, Daniel Foster, recently wrote an article for one of my favorite blogs, ReadWriteWeb (RWW) about the rise of the micro-screencast that reviews some of the history of screencasting and some tips. You can read the post here.

How will you celebrate the 5th anniversary of the term 'Screencast' (someone please make me a screencast!)? :-) What do you think the future holds for this medium?

We asked, you responded! Remember last month when I asked for your tips to share with a new screencaster here? We compiled all of your comments from this blog post, as well as comments from the Education blog and our Newsletter. Big thanks to the 40 people who responded. I appreciate it!

From your responses and tips, we created a booklet "What would you tell a new screencaster?". Download your free copy here. If you left us a comment, your name will be listed in the booklet! Now, if I could just meet up with all the contributors and get a signed copy, I'd be all set!

The booklet has several sections including: General Tips, Content & Planning, Before Recording, During Recording, and Editing & Production.

The top tips (by number of mentions):

* plan out screencast &
do practice takes
* create a script/storyboard
* shut down apps to free up memory & avoid pop-up notifications
* use a good mic

Download your free copy here and feel free to share the PDF with others you think would find it useful.

Thanks to all who shared their knowledge and tips! What else would you like to learn from others about?

Calling all Camtasia users! There have been some great resources cropping up on the internet for screencasters and Camtasia users that I wanted to share with all of you.

First up, check out Scrast. Scrast is a site all about screencasting. Scrast launched earlier this year and they've been adding more content, tips and tricks and tutorials all the time. They have a nice section with 'Tips for better Screencasts' and a section dedicated to Camtasia.

Also, Camtasia Studio expert, Lon Naylor has set up the Camtasia Users Group. There are already 155 members sharing tips, tricks and techniques in the group. I love the tagline for the group, "Simply useful Camtasia stuff!".

Have you found other useful sites for Camtasia users and screencasters?

"Help, I need somebody, Help, not just anybody, Help, you know I need someone, help!"

Yes, I need your help! More and more people are screencasting. We're looking to gather and compile a list of the best screencasting tips to share with people that are new to screencasting or looking to take their screencasts to a new level.

If you have any tips to share, would you please comment on this post? I look forward to seeing your feedback and creating a great resource! So the question is:

What three things would you tell a new screencaster they must do to be successful?

Where will we use the info we gather? We'll post the results in a future newsletter and blog post.

Together we can make better screencasts! Thank you for your input - we could not do this without you!

Sometimes I hear people say that it is too hard to make videos. Think again! If you have 7 minutes, Ian Ozsvald of ProCasts can have you screencasting!

Ian just participated in BarCampBrighton4 and led a talk about ''Screencasting in 7 minutes with Jing' workshop at BarCamp Brighton 4'.

Check out Ian's blog post here and he'll show you how to start screencasting in 7 minutes. You'll see his video of his session and him helping others install Jing and make their first screencast. You will also see one his friends in the session use his MacBook to record his first screencast on searching Wikipedia (there is a link in the blog post above), plus Ian gives some tips on recording better screencasts.

Ian has some great tips for first time screencasters:

• Do a walk-through first of all so you're practiced
• Speak slowly and clearly
• Record the audio in a quiet room (you can clearly hear other background voices in Jez's example above - best avoid this if you're doing work for clients!)
• Don't wiggle the mouse to highlight something, prefer to use an editor later to add highlights or spotlights
• Just Do It - don't worry about it, just make a recording and repeat it if it wasn't good enough. Soon you'll have something online that Does The Job

Ian has made 170 screencasts since 2005 so he knows what he's talking about. :-) And, I'm excited for his next project to be released - he's working on 'The Screencasting Handbook'! Be sure to sign up on his website for updates.

We're busy working behind the scenes at TechSmith gearing up for the launch of Camtasia for Mac later this month! We're excited and hope you are too!

In the interim, I thought you might be curious about what kind of videos you'll be able to easily make with Camtasia for Mac. So, roll out the red carpet, grab some popcorn, and get comfortable... check out a screencast, Troy Stein, recently made using Camtasia for Mac.

Stay tuned... I'll be sharing more information and additional screencasts as we count down to the release of Camtasia for Mac on August 25!

If a picture is worth a thousand words, what's a screencast video worth? How about $2.4 million?! I was really excited to see this 'tweet' this morning on Twitter from Paolo Tosolini at Microsoft.

Paolo has been doing amazing stuff at Microsoft - he has created a "Podcast-in-a-Box". These are audio/video creation kits that allow Microsoft employees to capture and share their knowledge with each other in a rich multimedia format. In the Podcast-in-a-Box kit, there is a copy of Camtasia Studio plus a Flip video camera and professional audio recorder among other things.

Paolo captured a great video with Bob Lincavicks. Bob is an Information Worker Solution Specialist at Microsoft. He shares his story about how he leveraged Academy Mobile (Microsoft's internal enterprise podcasting platform) and applications like Camtasia as sales tools to close a $2.4M deal. How's that for ROI?! The video runs 4:30. Check out Bob's story below.

Paolo is willing to share his knowledge about enterprise podcasting with you - if you have any questions, email Paolo or you can find him on Twitter here

Got a story you'd like to share about how you're using Camtasia Studio, Snagit, Jing, Morae or Screencast.com? Grab a video camera and tell it to me! I'd love to share it!

Hey Camtasia Studio and Jing users! Are you up for a challenge?! I thought so! MindBites has a screencast contest and the grand prize is $1,000!

I know what you're asking yourself. Self? So, what is MindBites? Well, MindBites is a website where you can find, publish, sell and distribute video tutorials and how-to lessons (on the MindBites site, on your own site, and across the web). You can find instructional videos on everything from Calculus lessons to Photoshop tutorials.

Now, how do you win the screencast contest? Simply register at MindBites and then create and upload an original screencast tutorial. The lesson must be instructional in nature, focused on tech (e.g. software, development, or gaming), at least three minutes long, and meet the standard MindBites lesson guidelines. You can find the rules here.

What can you win? Well, there are two prizes - The Grand Prize winner will receive $1000 plus a copy of Camtasia Studio and Snagit. There is also a People's Choice Award winner who will walk away with $500 and a copy of Snagit!

So, what's the timeline?

* April 21st - Contest and weekly People's Choice voting begins
* May 18th (11:59 PM CST) - Entry Deadline
* May 19th - Daily People's Choicevoting begins
* May 26th (11:59 PM CST) - Daily voting ends
* May 27th - Winners announced

How do you vote? Simply login or register as a user (don't worry it's free and painless), click on the "All Entries - Vote!" tab here and add your vote to your favorite. And, as an added bonus every time you vote, 10¢ goes to the Youth for Technology Foundation (up to $1000)! Vote - it's for a good cause!

If you're on Twitter, you can follow along at @mindbites for reports on the contest and the hashtag to use on Twitter to tag contest tweets is: #cast4cash

And, in the interest of transparency, I have to let you know that TechSmith is a sponsor and I have the honor of being a judge.

I would love to see a Jing or Camtasia Studio user win this contest! And, I'm looking forward to seeing the great screencasts you create! Make me proud!

What would you do with the $1,000 if you win the Screencast contest?!

What I've learned over the past few years is that it is much harder to make a shorter screencast than a longer one. For the blog, my goal is usually around a 3-5 minute video. And, if I'm really pushing it, 10 minutes max. The shorter the screencast, the more I need to prepare. I know I personally prefer shorter videos that I can 'digest' quickly. And, if the screencast is longer, it needs to be really engaging. Otherwise, I prefer the screencast broken up into small chunks.

I asked on Twitter to see what people thought the ideal length of a screencast was. You can see some responses to below. One of TechSmith's Flash Developers, Brooks Andrus, has an interesting post on his blog proposing 120 seconds for video length. Is that long enough? I'm really curious to hear what you think. What's the ideal length of a screencast or Jingcast? How long are you willing to watch? Other thoughts?

My computer's desktop is often like my desk. Messy! Which is fine for every day work. But when you're making a screencast, a messy desktop can be an ugly sight and major distraction to your viewers.

Stardock released a new product today, Fences. Fences can help with the organization and 'housekeeping' of your computer's desktop. Fences allows you to group your desktop icons and files together for organization or it can hide them with the click of a button. Perfect for quick clean up of your desktop for screencasting.

Lifehacker did a great review of Fences today - you can read it here.

And, you can check out this demo video (made with Camtasia Studio!) about Fences.

The price is right on Fences - it is free! Found any nice tools to improve your screencasts lately?

At Microsoft TechEd last year, I met Peter Bruzzese, the Director of Screencast Production (I LOVE that title!), from ClipTraining. That's him pictured to my right. ClipTraining had a booth next to the TechSmith booth and they make a lot of Camtasia Studio screencasts. Talk about a great neighbor to have at TechEd!

We're all trying to tighten our belts and spend our money more wisely. An article Peter wrote at Infoworld caught my eye. He talks about how screencasts can fit into being a smart training option in a tough economy. Could screencasts be your secret weapon? Check out his article here. Have you saved money or travel costs using screencasts?

I got a new laptop last week and yes, it has Vista on it. And, there's a feature on Vista that's is great for screencasting! Tony Dunckel, the SnagIt Product Manager, tipped me off to it last week when he was prepping for a webinar and it occurred to me that it would work well for screencasting too!

When screencasting, it is good to have as little distraction in your video as possible. You want your viewers to focus on the topic at hand. One way to do this is to clean up your desktop or other areas you will be showing off. A little 'house-keeping' is good! I made a quick jingcast to show you how to clean up your desktop quickly in Vista (Note: I learned this option is available on XP too from Pierre and Owen. See comments below!). The video runs less than a minute.

Got a screencast tip to share? If so, I want to hear it! Or better yet, Jing it to me!

Mark your calendars - I just got word from Daniel Park at dappertext that he's being interviewed tomorrow on all things Camtasia Studio and dappertext by 'Views from the Coop'.

You can hear Daniel's interview live on Blog Talk Radio here tomorrow at 3pm EST, If you can't listen live, they usually post the podcast to their site here within about a week (usually). I can't wait to hear Daniel's tips and tricks. I always learn something new from him.

Daniel also has a new newsletter that is dedicated to screencasting. You can sign up for it here.

Put your screencasting skills to use and win some prizes! I noticed that Firefox is holding a screencasting contest and thought some of you might want to enter! FireFox needs your help to create screencasts for their support articles. Grand prize gets a Flip Video Ultra Series camera!

By the way, does anyone have a Flip Video Ultra Series? I was thinking about getting one. What do you think of it?

I've talked in the past about the importance of storyboards. I thought I'd also share another tool we use when planning our screencasts. We have a 'Video Project Form' that we use for planning before we record so we don't run into any 'gotchas' during recording or production. If you think about the goals of your video the audience before you make your screencast, it can change a variety of things like file format and video dimensions, if you use audio or captioning and other options.

You can download blank storyboards and a video project form here.

How do you prepare before you record your screencast?

I just learned that it's Videoblogging Week- April 20 - 28! It's not too late to celebrate. And, even though the organizers are talking about videos made with a camera, I think a screencast counts too. Afterall, you can easily record your screencast in Camtasia Studio complete with camera video combined with screen video together. There is a tutorial about how to do that here.

Judging on how my week is going so far, I probably won't have time to make a screencast a day to celebrate Videoblogging Week, but on my list for screencasts this week is one about creating iPod or iPhone videos with Camtasia Studio. But, I'm open to requests. What would you like to see?

There is a wiki full of info about Videoblogging Week which you can find here. Are you going to celebrate Videoblogging Week?

We've been laughing a lot at work lately about Lolcat pictures. If you haven't heard of Lolcats before, they are usually pictures of cats that have been captioned with internet slang and poor grammar. You can see a whole collection of the pictures at a website called 'I Can Has Cheezburger'. The Wall Street Journal even wrote an article which will tell you the history and background of Lolcats which you can read here.

The Lolcat photos always have great captions which brings me to SnagIt. SnagIt is perfect to make these types of images since it has tool that allows you to type text on an image. With SnagIt's Text Tool, you can add text and you can set the font, size, alignment and color of the text. SnagIt's Text Tool is useful to not only write captions, but also to add things like your copyright to an image, instructions, fill in content on a PDF form, and more. You can see in screenhots of the SnagIt Editor below where the Text Tool button is located (it looks like the letter 'A' on the left hand side).

I also made a quick little Jing screencast showing how I used SnagIt's Text Tool to create a Lolcat with my dog, Mutton, since I don't have a cat. (Would that then be a Loldog instead of a Lolcat?!). The screencast runs less than a minute long. And, no animals were harmed in the making of this screencast. Well, maybe Mutton's dignity was hurt, but she got lots of treats after the pic was taken. :-)

And, on a side note, do you have any suggestions for better captions for the Loldog pics of Mutton?!?

Beep. Beep. Beeeeeeeeeep! Ever had one of those nights were you swear your head just hit the pillow and then your alarm goes off? I just had a whole week of that! I was running day until night...and often back into day at the Microsoft Mix and SXSWi conferences. The only thing that kept me running was a lot of Diet Coke! Consequently, the blog did not get updated for a few days. My apologies.

You can see some pictures here from SXSW and here for Microsoft Mix. The TechSmith crew had a great time meeting up with people doing amazing things with SnagIt, Camtasia and Morae. More stories on that later...

I also got great news that Daniel Park has started a new newsletter about all things screencasting called, 'The Screencaster'! You can sign up for it here. It's a free monthly newsletter all about the art of Screencasting.

Daniel told me the newsletter will be filled with tips, tricks, news, and reviews. And, he'll be focusing not just on the technology, but also be giving lots of attention to higher-level marketing and training topics as they relate to screencasting, so Sales Directors or IT Coordinators who are left wondering how to implement screencasting in their own organizations will all find something to like.

And, I'm told the first issue goes out early next week, so sign up now so you don't miss it.

To celebrate, I thought I would give away a few copies of Daniel's latest book, Camtasia Studio 5: The Definitive Guide! The first 4 people to comment on this blog post answering the following statement will get a free copy of the book - 'Camtasia Studio is {insert your answer here}...'

What are you doing to celebrate Valentine's Day? Are you boycotting it completely, hitting the town on a big date, or hanging out close to home? If you celebrate the holiday, it can be hard to plan for sometimes - ever wonder what your significant other likes or dislikes? Hate spending money on flowers that will wilt quickly or cards that will be thrown away and forgotten? Or maybe you have a secret crush that you are too shy to tell them how you really feel? It's your lucky day! Screencast expert, Molly McDonald aka DemoGirl comes to the rescue! She recently made two screencasts that can help you get through Valentine's Day.

The first screencast is about a new website called GetinHerHead. You can add your likes and dislikes for restaurants, clothing, and other items. That way there is no question about what you want or like. You can see Molly's blog post and screencast about it here. Molly also did a quick screencast about HadToSay - a website that gives you a fun and anonymous way to tell someone you have a crush on them. Check out Molly's post and screencast here.

My vote for a Valentine's Day gift? I say, give your crush or significant other a screencast for a gift. What's better than that? It's a personalized gift plus you can share your feelings and thoughts with them. And, as an added bonus, they can watch your screencast over and over. It will last a lot longer than that bouquet of flowers ever will. :-)

Are you addicted to Facebook like I am?  I recently joined and find myself checking my Facebook page daily! Facebook is a great way to keep up with friends all over the world.  Anyone can join Facebook for free.

I was excited to see that Amit Agarwal from the Digital Inspiration Blog recently started a new group in Facebook all about Screencasting (link will not work unless you are a member of Facebook).  I'm excited to learn and swap tips with fellow members in the group.  I'm in very good company -  I know expert screencasters, Beth Kanter and Long Zheng have joined the group.  Plus, technology expert Jeremy Wagstaff of the Loose Wire Blog and Wall Street Journal is in there too!  Remember Jeremy? He wrote a great directory of screencast resources which you can see here.

You cannot access the Screencasting group without being a member on Facebook.  But, it's painless to sign up for Facebook. Click here to register. And, if you join, feel free to add me as a friend!

Hope to see you join Facebook and in the Screencasting group to share your tips and tricks!  Now I have an excuse to go into Facebook while at work. ;-)

Remember when I wrote about SnagIt's new output for Microsoft Visual Team System? Well, I went to TechEd with one of our Screencast.com developers, Justin Welsch. He made a quick screencast showing the new SnagIt output for Microsoft Visual Team System in action. Much better than a write-up about it.

Click the screenshot below to watch the quick screencast. There is no audio, just a demo of output in action. It runs less than 2 minutes

And, on a side note, here's a pic of where the TechSmith team gathered every night to discuss the events at TechEd - at the fountain in the Lobby with the ducks at the Peabody Hotel! We had a lot of fun staying at the Peabody Hotel. Not a bad place to debrief the day! Here is the history of the Peabody ducks.

Photo by the Peabody

Troy Stein, the Camtasia Studio Product Manager, was recently interviewed by Tom Cone over at Screencast Central. You can check out the interview here. You can hear how Troy uses Camtasia Studio 4 plus get his tips and tricks. You can hear Troy's thoughts on screencasting too.

I'm in the hot seat for an interview next week with Tom about screencasting and SnagIt. Anything you'd like us to cover?

And, if you haven't visited Screencast Central yet, give it a whirl. It's got lots of a great resources to get you started on your screencasting journey.

Remember way back here when I blogged about storyboarding your screencasts?

I was hanging out at a bookstore the other day and found something really fab! I'm addicted to these Moleskine notebooks for many reasons (thick paper, nice pocket, etc). So, I was really happy to see that they now make a storyboard notebook! Plus, it's the perfect size little notebook to jam in your pocket or backpack so you're always ready to scribble down your screencast and movie ideas.

Or, hack a regular Moleskine notebook and add the storyboard frames yourself. There's an article and instructions here. Looks pretty easy and there's a PDF template.

And, if you'd like a free storyboard, I uploaded the storyboard template that we use at work here and here.

I also found a neat video showing how an illustrator uses a Moleskine notebook to storyboard. Wish my storyboards looked that good! See the video below.

What tools have you found to help you with your screencasts?

Ever use Microsoft Paint? Who hasn't? Some people use it much better than others! That is certainly the case with a video I found this week.

I recently used Paint, and, it wasn't pretty. Here's an example of me trying to write my signature using only Paint and my mouse. It is legible enough, but it certainly doesn't match my real signature or look very good.

So, here's the amazing Camtasia video. Somehow the author is able to draw a realistic car using only Paint and a mouse! He's not even using a Tablet PC!

I also like the video because they use a little known feature in Camtasia Studio. Did you know that you can speed up or slow down your clip speed? If you right click on your timeline, you should see the menu below.

Click on 'Clip Speed'. From there you can speed up or slow down your clip.

This is a handy feature. Especially if you'd like to shorten a lengthy video or slow down a clip to add additional audio.

We also had a video about this in our '30 Camtasia Studio Videos in 30 days' series which you can view here.

What amazing Camtasia Studio videos have you seen lately?

Screencast expert Jon Udell recently posted a great screencast here and had a blog post with his screencasting tips here.

I love his point about resizing the application window that you will be recording down to 800x600. It not only helps with file size but it also helps your viewers focus on the action. If you think about it, most of the action on your screen takes place in a very small area. Plus, don't you hate having to use the scroll bars when trying to view a video? The Zoom and Pan feature in Camtasia can be particularly useful when recording a smaller screen. In Camtasia, you can zoom and pan while recording or after you've recorded the screencast during editing. I prefer to zoom and pan during editing - the less I have to do at record time, the better.

I also love his tip about editing. Cut off the extra footage and take the video down to the essentials. The longer the screencast we make, the fewer viewers. I have a hard time keeping our screencasts short, but I'm working on it. I have to learn to shut up! :-)

I also agree with Jon's tip to make screencasts more interactive. I find screencasting with someone is easier and more entertaining. That's how I usually do our screencasts. I prefer not to screencast solo. Plus, you get to hear more than my point of view. I prefer to watch and make interview-style screencasts.

You can read all of Jon's tips here. What tips do you have after watching or creating some screencasts?

One of the things I love about Camtasia Studio is the fact it can be faster to make a video than to write an e-mail or report.

Lately, I've been making screencasts to show new technology to my fellow TechSmithies and friends. I thought I'd share some of the videos with you (if you don't mind). Nick Gorsline, our Senior Web Designer, sat down to make a screencast about Twitter with me.

I'm addicted to Twitter. Basically it's a social broadcast site - you simply sign-up, add friends and post what you're currently doing or thinking (really, anything) from the web, IM, or your phone...in 140 characters or less. Simple! Now I can show the world how boring I really am! :-)

Actually, I like Twitter because it is conversational. At first I was skeptical of it, but you learn a lot about your friends and contacts that you might not learn through e-mail or blog posts. And, all your favorite techies are on Twitter like Robert Scoble of PodTech, Chris Pirillo of Lockergnome, Marc Orchant from ZDNet and Foldera, Jeff Barr from Amazon, Tablet PC MVP James Kendrick and Kevin Tofel and more...

Click the screenshot below to start the video. It's under 5 minutes.

Twitter has cut down on e-mail for me. I've posted messages on Twitter instead of sending e-mail. And, some of us have been using it for conference meet-ups. I've also met other local techies in Michigan.

If you join Twitter, add me as a friend. You can find me under the Twitter ID, 'Betsy Weber' on Twitter. Original, huh?

To make this video, I used Camtasia Recorder. Then, in Camtasia Studio, I removed a few seconds of the intro and produced it. When listening to the audio during editing, I noticed, I say 'um' or 'cool' a lot. My feature request for the Camtasia Studio team? An 'um' filter, please! I need an automated way to cut all the 'ums' out...or train myself not to say it at all. ;-)

Hardware:

• Dell Latitude D820
• Samson CO3U Microphone

Software:

• Camtasia Studio

I ran into Kathy Jacobs at the APCUG Conference yesterday. You might remember her from this recent OneNote screencast. She sat down with me to do a quick screencast on how she uses SnagIt. She'll teach you new tricks and give you ideas on how to use SnagIt differently than you normally do.

The video is just over 11 minutes. Click the pic below to start the video. In my tests, the screencast ran fine on Internet Explorer, but I had problems with FireFox. I'll try to get this fixed on Monday. For now, please use IE.

To make the screencast, here's what we used:

Hardware:

• Dell Laptop - Latitude D820
• Panasonic MiniDV Camcorder
• 2 Lapel Microphones with a Y-cable/splitter

Software:

• SnagIt
• Internet Explorer
• Camtasia Studio

Plus, one dark and cold conference room at the Riviera Hotel

Does this count toward my new years resolution of a screencast a week?

Way back in September (yes, I'm behind), at PowerPoint Live, Kathy Jacobs sat down with me to show me what's new with OneNote 2007, one of my favorite programs.

Not only is Kathy a PowerPoint MVP, but she is also a OneNote MVP. She's the expert and has even written a book about OneNote.

OneNote is a quick way for me to take, share and organize notes. I usually draft my blog posts, plan projects and write longer emails in it. And, it has a great option for searching all of your notes so you can easily find them. I love love love OneNote! Did I mention that I love OneNote?! I also love that OneNote autosaves your content. As soon as you type it, OneNote saves it so you never have to worry about losing your data if your computer crashes. I use it all the time and often use it instead of Word.

Click the screenshot below to start the screencast. It runs just under 10 minutes. Kathy shows me the new features and some tricks in the new version of OneNote 2007. We recorded this screencast in an uncontrolled environment so we did not have the ideal recording conditions between the audio and lighting, but it should be tolerable.

If you'd like to try out OneNote 2007, you can visit here to give it a try.

Any requests for the next screencast?

The SnagIt Product Manager, Tony Dunckel, and the Lead SnagIt Developer, Paul Middlin, geek out over SnagIt v8.2 in this new screencast.

They'll walked you through all the new features and enhancements of SnagIt v8.2.

Click the screenshot below. The screencast runs about 15 minutes. The video is also available for the iPod or MP3 so you can take them to go. Enjoy!

When planning our screencasts and videos, we'll often storyboard them out. Our storyboards are simply a rough sketch of what we want to cover in the screencast and the content we want to talk about. Our better videos happen when we pre-plan them out. Go figure. Storyboarding helps us organize the content of the video and makes sure we cover all topics we need to incorporate in the video.

For example, here's a pic of the storyboard used in a recent video Kelly Rush made about UserVue.

You can see the video created from the storyboard here. The part from the storyboard is at about 2m:33s into the video (almost the end).

I recently found these storyboard pads of paper at Levenger that I thought some of you might be interested in as well. They're nice to use when planning your screencasts.

Or, if you'd like a free template for a storyboard, download a copy of the ones we use internally here and here.

What have you found useful when planning for your videos?

How do you create a new product from start to finish in 30 days? I'm not sure just quite yet, but Dana Epp from Scorpion Software will show you how with Project Anvil.

Project Anvil is Dana's quest to develop one product, by himself, and make it ready for beta in a month. So, ask me at the end!

He's blogging and screencasting all along the way so you can watch and learn from his journey too. Check out the Project Anvil blog here. It's best to start with the first post here. Dana will show you the development process he goes through as well as all the tools, technologies, and methods he uses to build the software.

Check it out...one month, one man, one project! Oh, and he has some great screencasts made with Camtasia Studio too!

Make sure your microphone is plugged into the microphone jack and not the headphone jack.

<*sigh*>

Am I the only one this happens to? Seriously?

See what happens when techies meet over dinner? You end up screencasting!

Brooks Andrus, our senior Flash developer, and I went out to dinner last night. We were talking about all the new screencasts popping up and how it's exciting to see videos become more prevalent online. With the news from the VloggerCon about Robert Scoble leaving Microsoft and going to PodTech.net, it's only increasing the visibility of podcasting, video blogs (vlogging) and screencasts. Great news, in my opinion.

So, part of the way into our conversation, we decided we should be screencasting about it. I ran out to my car and grabbed my laptop, webcam, and microphone. Even though it was pretty noisy and dark at PF Chang's, we gave it a shot.

Granted, dark restaurants don't make for the best 'studio' in terms of sound and lighting, but it will do. It was a spur of the moment thing. That's one of the positives of screencasting - you can do it anywhere!

So, click the screenshot below to start our screencast. We ramble on for 9:26 minutes and discuss Robert Scoble, RocketBoom, equipment to get you started screencasting, LabRats.tv and GottaBeMobile and more... plus at the end, you can hear our fortunes from our fortune cookies.

On the last day during the last hour of the expo, I was able to get a quick screencast with Tablet PC MVP Craig Pringle.

You remember him, right? I blogged about him earlier in the week. I also have one correction to that post - I mentioned Craig showed me his Ultra Mobile PC, (UMPC, also known as Origami Project), and that was incorrect. He has a Tablet PC which happens to be pretty darn small.

So, Craig did an obviously much-needed screencast to teach me the difference between a Tablet PC and a UMPC.

I learned something and I think you will too! Click the screenshot below to watch the screencast. It runs 4 minutes.

And, here's a side by side comparison of Craig's Tablet (left) and the UMPC (right).

For more information on the UMPC, visit here.

To learn more about the ultra-cool Tablet PCs, visit here.

Plus, Craig has several recent posts on the subject which you can read here and here.

Did I get everything right this time? : - )

It's been an exciting week for Camtasia Studio and screencasting!

Jeremy Wagstaff, a Wall Street Journal columnist, has a great directory of screencasting resources on his site, the LOOSE wire blog.

Jeremy also wrote a column for the Wall Street Journal about screencasting which you can read here. Read it quick, this reprint will be posted for only a month!

I recently found some Google SketchUp screencasts. They're a perfect example of what Jeremy writes about in his Wall Street Journal column and blog post. Click the screenshot below to watch a Google SketchUp screencast.

Try explaining that Google SketchUp video with only text. Not only would it take a long time to write...but it wouldn't paint the clearest picture.

And, if you know who made this video, let me know. I'm trying to contact the creator!

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.

Recently, Presenters University asked me to write an article for them. I knew I wanted to write it about screencasting, but as I worked on it, I knew it would be even better if I asked screencasting experts for their top tips.

You can visit the article here: http://www.presentersuniversity.com/visuals_screencasting.php

I got input from a diverse group, including:

• Andy Walker of Lab Rats TV and Cyberwalker fame
• Rob Howard over at Telligent
• Thom Robbins from Microsoft
• Bill Myers from Bill Myers Online
• Anthony Garcia from Future Now
• Jean-Claude Bradley at Drexel University
• Yoz Grahame at Ning
• Will Richardson at Hunterdon Central Regional High School
• Troy Chollar from TLC Creative and PowerPoint MVP
• Hans Mestrum from Tulip Computers
• Mathcasting team of Tim Fahlberg, Graeme MacNeil and Linda Fahlberg-Stoljanovaska

The article is full of links, great ideas, and even a screencast!

If you've never visited Presenters University, check them out. It's a site dedicated to helping you make your next presentation the best it can be. It's sponsored by the good people at InFocus, the projector company.

Interested in collaborating with me on an article? E-mail me, and let me know the topic!

My teachers always said I worked well with others...

I thought some of you might be interested in what Brooks Andrus, our Senior Flash Developer, presented on at Flash in the Can. So, we made a screencast late last night about his presentation and accompanying screencasts.

So, with that, watch the screencast and you can see me pretend to understand what Brooks is talking about! Actually, his presentation had a little bit of something for everyone - whether you're a Camtasia Studio beginner or Flash Expert.

Click the screenshot below to watch the screencast. It runs just under 10 minutes - 9:58 minutes.

You can find more screencasts on his blog, Cogito Ergo Flammeus.

Ok, Brooks - you've been holding out on me. This is a really cool screencast. Why didn't you show me how do this before?!

Is this kind of stuff helpful for you? Do you want more screencasts like this? Let me know...

When I go to trade shows, I'm always asked to send a daily report back to work. (They want to make sure I'm on my best behavior.) So, instead of typing up a long report, I thought I'd do a screencast.

Brooks Andrus, our Flash guru, and I did a screencast from the show floor at Flash in the Can on Sunday.

Not much to say about this one...You'll just have to watch it. It's pretty funny. Click on the screenshot below to play - it's a little over 10 minutes so get comfortable.

My pics from the show are on Flickr here.

Wish you were here!

I'm hearing a lot of terms thrown around for videos, and I'm getting confused. Am I the only one?

Jon Udell coined the term 'screencast' which I'm partial to. Since you're 'broadcasting your screen' on your blog or Web site, it seems logical. That's how I usually refer to Camtasia Studio video online.

I've also been hearing videos referred to as Vodcasts, Vidcasts, and Video Podcasts. The Tablet PC bloggers over at GottaBeMobile.com are calling Camtasia Studio videos on the Tablet PC...Ink Shows. Ink Show makes sense to me - I definitely like it for Tablet PC Camtasia Studio videos.

Chris Henley over at Microsoft is calling them Podcasts on his Blue Blog.

Tim Fahlberg at CoolSchoolTools.com is calling his Camtasia math videos: MathCasts.

Paul Pival, the Distant Librarian is calling them Librarycasting.

Anyone hear other terms? What do you think Camtasia Studio video on blogs should be called?

On a side note, I found this nice article online about the seven things you need to know about screencasting. It has an education focus, but the information is useful. Check it out here.

I had an amazing time at the O'Reilly Emerging Tech Show! I have jet lag, but it's well worth it. At the show, I met up with some cool people like Yoz Grahame from Ning at our booth.

Yoz made an amazing Camtasia Studio screencast, plus he detailed the creation process on his blog. If you're interested in screencasting, he has a lot of great tips and tricks and mentions some 'gotchas' to avoid. You can read some of his screencasting tips here.

Click the screenshot below to see his screencast!

I didn't know much about Ning before I saw the screencast, but now I know more - Ning gives you a way to create your own Social Web App in just a few steps. It's easy - check it out here.

There's even an alternate screencast. He used the same Camtasia Studio video screen capture, except he just replaced the audio. Trust me, you want to spend the extra six minutes to hear his alternate version. It's like a Monty Python screencast! Truly brilliant! Click here to view the alternate screencast.

I can't wait to see what Yoz comes up with next.

I spoke on Tuesday with Joel Spolksy about Project Aardvark, now known as Copilot, and usability. Part of the talk was based off of this PDF white paper about User Experience - UX 2.0.

If anyone is interested, I can upload the PowerPoint slides. Let me know.

Click here for some pics from our trip out to San Diego for the O'Reilly show.

Hat tip to Jon Udell for posting the Ning screencast on his blog.

I'm sitting in Detroit Metro Airport after catching the redeye home from the FlashForward Conference in Seattle - and I decided to spring for the overly expensive wifi because I've found something so exciting!

I found a great Camtasia Studio screencast that I can't wait to show off - finally! I've been hoping to see how the next Windows OS, Vista, works beyond the screenshots I've seen posted.

Chris Henley at Microsoft has posted a Camtasia Studio screencast about Vista's Speech Recognition on his blog, Blue. You can read his post about the screencast here.

If you're curious to see Vista in action, check out the video. I may be a little biased (OK, a lot), but I think this video of Vista is much more compelling than the basic screenshots I've seen in the past.

Click the screenshot below to launch the video podcast.

Chris says he has more Vista screencasts planned. Can't wait to see what he shows us in his next video podcast!

I'm starting a new slang word...Camtacular! Feel free to use it whenever you see a 'spectacular Camtasia Studio' screencast or video.

We were having a little fun here at the office with the other day with Camtasia Studio 3.1's new side-by-side video display and ended up with camtacular results.

Watch our Digital Media Designer, Ann Dack, take on Google Earth with a globe. Anyone want to bet who wins?

Click the screenshot below to watch the 4 minute and 40 second video.

I think you'll find this video camtacular as well! Let me know if you've seen any other camtacular videos or screencasts...or have your own slang to describe them.

I wanted to go more in depth about the new features in Camtasia Studio 3.1 for you.

So, I asked the Camtasia Studio developers to make screencasts of the features they worked on. Who better to tell you about the ins and outs of the new features than the person that actually made them?!

So let me introduce developer Marty Gardner! His screencast focuses on captioning - one of the new main features of 3.1. He gives great tips on making it easier to add captions to your video.

Click on the screenshot below to start the screencast!

What's the next feature you'd like to see a screencast for?

To get to the Elvis impersonator on the other side!

We're having a great time out here at CES! It's been a long time since I've been to a huge show like this - the last time was for Comdex - and I nearly forgot how impressive they are.

It's so exciting to see all the new and upcoming technology. I'm seeing lots of mobile devices I want to try out with my Camtasia Studio videos. (Are any of you putting your Camtasia Studio videos on a PocketPC, Palm or other mobile devices? If so, I'd love to get your feedback.)

I also found a few small Tablet PCs I want to investigate more. I'm looking to do more screencasts when I'm on the go and while my Dell laptop is great, it's not conducive to carrying around a show floor...and these Tablet PCs look like they need a home.

I also saw some huge monitors! Do you think anyone would notice if I brought one of those back to the office?

Skype is at CES, giving out headsets and program CDs. So, I finally got around to getting Skype - I think I'm the last one! Skype me at: BetsyWeber

I have a big day on Friday. I'll be meeting up with the Microsoft Tablet PC MVPs to see and hear how they're using SnagIt and Camtasia Studio, and I'll also ask their advice on which Tablets to check out on the show floor. I'll also be heading out to a geek/blogger dinner with Robert Scoble, Chris Pirillo and Jake Ludington and other blogger celebrities. I'm looking forward to some great conversations, because it's always interesting to meet people in person after you read their blogs for so long.

Anything you want me to check out for you? E-mail me or post in the comments, and I'll try to do my best to be your roving reporter. And if you want any more pictures with impersonators, I think I saw Marilyn Monroe around here somewhere...

I've posted my pics from day one at show here. Enjoy!

This week I was lucky that Carla Wardin, our marketing writer, was in the office. Normally she telecommutes from Connecticut.

With her in the office, I took the opportunity to make a quick screencast. Yep, that's right - we made a screencast about screencasts!

We found some great Camtasia Studio screencasts - one screencast about using Google Maps, another made up of vacation pictures, and a cute video about a birthday. Click on the screenshot below to start the screencast.

So, we hope these inspire you to make your own Camtasia Studio videos to preserve the memories and fun along the way...and of course, to get going in the right direction in the first place.

Happy New Year!

After I posted the screencast about the new features in Morae, I had a few questions for viewers about what Morae does ... and even what it is.

So, I sat down with the Morae Product Manager, Shane Lovellette, for a quick Morae 101 screencast. In the screencast, Shane will demonstrate what Morae is, when you would use it in your organization, and how it will help you. Click the screenshot below to start the video.

Feel free to submit more questions by either e-mailing me or posting in our blog comments, and we'll try to answer them in a screencast. Let us know what you want the next screencast to cover!

If you haven't noticed already, we like to do things a little differently around TechSmith, and today's Secret Santa luncheon was no exception. Instead of the normal Secret Santa gift exchanges, we added a little twist - you have to get your gifts off of eBay! It makes for some fun and interesting gifts, ranging from vintage cookbooks to Napoleon Dynamite lunchboxes. And of course, the stories of the searching, bidding, and winning are the best part.

Well, despite the magic of eBay, not all the gifts made it through the mail on time. The gift I was gave didn't come on time either, so I just wrapped up a printout of the auction I won and presented that at the lunch.

However, Brian Lesperance from Sales had a much more creative way to give me my gift that didn't come on time. He made a Camtasia Studio screencast!

Thank you, Brian - you made my day! He is one technologically-advanced Secret Santa. This video is almost as good as the gift. Watch for yourself! Click the screenshot below to watch.

I posted a few pics from our luncheon here.