Record and produce on screen demo videos?

Question

The company that I work for has an web-based application. I need to create some videos to be used on the web that demo commonly used features. Feedback on programs to create the videos, formats to use, etc?

Answer 1

I remember personally finding the Windows Media Encoder 's performance low. I had frequent mouse lock ups during the capture and capturing did not feel smooth.



Since you are looking for a web solution it may be important that the output is flash based. one free solution is Debugmode's Wink tool which captures flawlessly and outputs reasonable sized flash files which you can embed in a page.



One paid solution would be Camtasia Studio. I think it is an excellent tool which will let you choose from may different output formats, automatically generate the webpage for you, etc.



I have used both of these and if you can pay I would recommend Camtasia. If not, Wink is the best free video capture tool I have used.



Also, if you check another question at https://answersrip.com/question/index?qid=1005120800367, another user gives a link to a collection of screen capture programs.



Hope this helps,

Turker

Answer 2

A hugely popular application is "Camtasia" by Techsmith (same people who produce "SnagIt" screen capture). Used by many large well known organisations for training purposes, sales demos etc.,



An alternative might also be "BB Flashback" by BB Software. Inexpensive and relatively simple to use.



Format will be goverened by what will work best for your customers/viewers. Flash might be the way to go.

Answer 3

Depends on your audience...



If you want to go the MS route, you can use the Windows Media Encoder to do the work for you.



I've linked in a 'how to' blog entry from an MS employee that did something similar to what you want.