Camstudio For Instructional Videos

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Permalink Reply by Jodie on November 19, 2008 at 12:10pm

I used Camtasia (sp) at a previous district. I am now using jing. http://www.jingproject.com
It works great and is free. It was very easy to learn and I was making videos in a matter of minutes.
You can save the video to your computer or on screencast.

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Permalink Reply by Karen Biddinger on November 21, 2008 at 6:30am

I tried Jing http://www.jingproject.com and it is extremely easy to use! However, it created .swf files and I would like to convert these files so that they work on my school website. We use Schoolwires and it does not like flash code. The only way that I can use the video right now is to link to my video on http://www.screencast.com. Also, can the size of the video be changed using Jing? Thanks for all of your help so far!

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Permalink Reply by Jodie on November 21, 2008 at 10:42am

I just googled "swf to avi convert" and got one of the free converters. Can't tell which off the top of my head, but it was easy. What size are you refering...file size or screen size??

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Permalink Reply by Karen Biddinger on November 21, 2008 at 12:03pm

I wanted to change the screen size which Jing does not do, but maybe one of the converters will allow me to change the screen size as well. I also am playing with the trial software for Camtasia. It is more complicated than Jing, but also allows multiple soundtracks, frame by frame editing, zoom and pan, and the ability to save in multiple formats and sizes. Maybe the school district will pay the $299 for the program if I can show them how it can be used. In the mean time, Jing is an awesome free resource!

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Permalink Reply by Greg from LessonGateway.com on November 19, 2008 at 2:19pm

Hi Karen - also check out Jing, it is a really easy to use piece of software to make instructional videos and is free as well - there is a Classroom 2.0 discussion just started on it.

Greg
TeacherRated - where teachers find, share and rate the best online resources.

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Permalink Reply by Sabrina Fu on November 19, 2008 at 11:36pm

Hi Karen,

What I use is DemoCreator, it's easy to get started and make the video tutorials as Camstuido. I have tried Camstudio, but I can not get started easily.

Hope it helps!
Sabrina

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Permalink Reply by Erik Johnson on November 20, 2008 at 1:19pm

snapzprox works really well on a Mac platform

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Permalink Reply by Bill Genereux on November 20, 2008 at 8:14pm

I learned about Camstudio from none other than Michael Wesch, the YouTube professor. His famous videos were made in part using the free Camstudio software. I have used it myself and it works well for the most part. I especially like the included ability to create swf format files. I haven't tried Jing myself, but it sounds like that one is worth investigating too.

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Permalink Reply by Mark Cruthers on November 20, 2008 at 9:25pm

Hi Karen,

You could try authorPOINT-lite to create flash based recordings.

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Permalink Reply by Hans Feldmeier on November 20, 2008 at 10:45pm

Hi Karen, firstly - my greetings from Germany!
If you are a Mac user - you could work with ScreenFlow
Hans

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Permalink Reply by Mary Hricko on November 20, 2008 at 11:45pm

We use jing, captivate, and camtasia and also have made use of flipvideo as well to show demos and such. I use camtasia to teach students how to do library research.

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Permalink Reply by Michael j. Buchholz "Buck" on November 22, 2008 at 6:33am

see: http://www.flip4mac.com/screenflow.htm

I really like this program. It is not free but $99 is pretty affordable for software that "works". It can easily capture video/audio from your desktop camera while also capturing your desktop. It will also allow you to easily call out sections etc.

As for your desire to convert (.swf) to (.avi), I would be concerned about the file size. Traditionally (.avi) is horrible for file size. Have you consider a podcast file format such as (mp4).

- buck

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