Here is a collection of a few tips that are important to think about before you start recording your Camtasia videos.

The absolutely most common problem is that the dimensions of the video are incorrect.

If you aren’t doing a project that need different video dimensions than normal I urge you to stick with the Camtasia Studio preset dimensions. I normally use the 1280×720 size because it works great with the Youtube HD format among others.

Nothing is more frustrated than realizing that after capturing an hour of video you realize that the recording size you set up will be stretched out by different video applications and look weird when played to the audience.

So if you are going to record an application on your computer, first set your Camtasia dimensions and then set your application to fit in the recording window, not the other way around.

I do not recommend recording all of your screen. It often takes too much resources and is seldom beneficial to the viewer.

Other things to think about before recording with Camtasia

• If you want to record audio while recording your screen, then be sure to test the audio recording/microphone beforehand and have a script or at least bullet points written down.
• Make sure that your surroundings are as quiet as possible. Close windows and doors, and take away that squeak toy from the dog.
• Practice what you are going to say a couple of times.
• Clean up your desktop, open up the windows/applications you are going to record and close down any that will not be in the screencast. If you are using a lot of different toolbars in your browser for example, turn these off to have less clutter in your recording area.
• If you use reminders, pop-ups for meetings and similar, be sure to turn them off. The same goes for websites with pop-ups. Set your internet browser to block pop-ups if you are going to record web pages.
• Practice moving your mouse around. Try to avoid to quick movements but instead move it in a slow, fluid motion

And if you are using pip (picture-in-picture), don’t forget to brush your teeth

Until next time

Peter – Your Camtasia Guide

PS. Upgrade Camtasia Studio. Check out special offer valid until October 21st.

Special Camtasia 7.1 Upgrade Offer

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There are several reasons why I think this is important. One is of course the viewer experience is greater when showing your videos on HD. But there is more to it than that.

For one you get the Youtube HD logo on your video, which you will not get otherwise. People also tend to watch videos in full screen mode more and more, and stream videos to their High Definition television sets and for HD TVs it’s great if you have a higher quality of video.

I have included the important take-aways of the video below. My hope is that you can use the list as a quick reference when setting up your Camtasia settings for HD.

The video runs 4:40. OK take it away Bill…

Here are some take-aways from the video.

Before you record

1. Set your recording to save as .avi in your Camtasia Recorder Tools/General Options.
2. Set framerate to 30 (Tools/Options/Inputs)
3. Select area to record to 1280×720

After recording, when editing

1. Select HD in settings and if you don’t have this setting, choose the same size as you are recording in, in this case 1280×720.
2. Edit your video

Producing Video

1. Go to custom production settings
2. Choose other formats MOV
3. Under QuickTime options set H.264.
4. Set your framerate to 30
5. Set Keyframe to Automatic
6. Set Compression to Best
7. Data rate set to Automatic
8. Sound settings for production – Set it to 48.000, 16 bit and set it to Stereo so Youtube can recognize it as a HD file.
9. Check that video size is 1280×720

And then upload it to Youtube. Youtube should recognize it as a HD file.

That’s all there is to it. Now start creating lots of HD Camtasia files! Let me know what you think about this article/video in the comment area below.

Until next time
Peter – Your Camtasia Guide

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The video is both informative and funny, well worth spending your next seven minutes on if you work with or are planning to add speech to your Camtasia Studio videos.

I have also included the tips in a summary of the video below.

Without further ado, take it away Chris:

Here is a summary of the video tips and a few bonus tips from me.

Tip 1) Use USB microphone

You can use many different Microphones for recording, but stay away from analog and webcam microphones. You will get better sound quanlity using a USB contact because the USB signal is digital.

Tip 2) “You talk what you eat”

What this somewhat cryptic statement means is that you are affected by what you eat before your recording. Stay away from sugary foods and even more important, drink a lot of water. Very important - drink between takes too to keep on being hydrated.

Tip 3) Stand up and breath

It’s easy to forget to breath when recording your voice overs. Standing up while doing your voice over recording also helps a lot to open your diaphragm.

Tip 4) Talk with your whole body and smile

Talk with your whole body. Gesticulate with your arms and smile, believe it or not people will hear if you smile.

4) Distance to mic

Do you want a close and intimate feeling? Then move up just next to the mic. You want a feeling of speaking more to the group, then move away a bit. Talk louder! A related tip – be in a quiet environment, very important.

5) Use your head voice

You can direct your voice through your lips, throat or nose. Chris recommend that you direct your voice out through your head. Let it flow upwards.

My bonus tips

6) Use a script

Write down what you are going to say.

7) Practice makes perfect

Practice your script a couple of times before going live.

That’s all for now, thanks for visiting

Peter – Your Camtasia Guide

PS. Next week we are launching SuperCallouts a new product especially made for Camtasia. Stay tuned and and check out how you can get it for free… More about this on Monday.

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1. Create Better Tips Videos

Billy cover areas like transitions, text, background, music and more in 2:25 minutes.

For your convenience I have included a summary of the video below.

OK Billy, take it away…

Create Better Tips Videos Summary

1) Choose a video background

You can find video (moving) backgrounds at for example movietools.

2) Choose a music backing track

Create the right ambiance with the right background music. Here you find a great collection of Royalty free music suitable for videos here.

3) Use easy to read fonts

4) To enhance readability – use shadow on your text.

In Camtasia you find the Shadow function for text here:

5) Use simple transitions between your scenes

And finally, keep your tips brief and don’t include too many tips.

And a bonus tip from me, narrate your video reading your tips out to your viewers.

I hope you enjoyed the video. Until next time

Peter – Your Camtasia Guide

Resources
Bill Myers Online
Royalty Free Music

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1. Video Voice Over Tips
2. Camtasia Studio Title Clips
3. Enhance Your Camtasia Videos with Music

As we continue to master Camtasia Studio, today I will show you a tip in producing a screencast that will surely capture your viewer’s attention and at the same time deliver your key points!

Add an extra kick to your screencast by using Title Clip.  Title Clips,  allow you to add graphic/text to introduce a video, set chapters or display relevant information like credits or video resources.

Here’s the step-by-step instructions on how to create a basic Title Clip:

1.  Open Camtasia Studio and Record or Open and existing Video.

2.  Once you’re done  select ‘Title Clips’ from the Task List.

3.  On the Title Clips pane, enter your desired text for the clip.

4.   If you want to add background image to your clip, click on ‘Image’ option, then hit ‘Browse’ and locate your desired image to add.

5.  If you want to change the background color, simply click on Color button and select your preferred color.

6.   For additional texts, you can just type within the box in the pane.

• To change the size of the text box, simply drag the handles of the green rectangle in the Preview Window.

• To move the position of the text, simply drag the green rectangle in the Preview Window then click Finished!

Your title clip will be automatically added to the Clip Bin where you can conveniently use in the future with the drag-and-drop function.

How to Change Duration of Your Title Clip

Just drag the title clip onto the Timeline in your video. By default, the duration of the  Title Clips on a Timeline is five seconds, to change the duration, you may do the following:

1. Select Tools

2. Go to Options

3. Click Programs Tab

4. Choose Title Clips

5. Set the amount of time for your Title Clips to display.

That’s all there is to it, I hope you find this tip very handy in your next Camtasia Studio screencast.

Until Next Time

Peter – Your Camtasia Guide

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1. Camtasia Studio “No Codec” Error
2. Camtasia Studio Blurry Screen Video

Hi There,

As I continue to master Camtasia Studio, I will also continue to provide answers to the most the frequently asked questions.

Have you ever tried importing a video in Camtasia Studio and then it produces an error message which says, “Error: No codec available to render this file”?

Well, there are five possible causes and I have provided for you solutions for each scenario.

1. Importing MP4 file

One known cause is because of the DirectShow Filters installed on your computer.

Please use the following diagnostic tool to provide us with the information needed to resolve this problem:

Download this program called Graph Edit.

After the download and installation, do the following:

- Run Graphic Edit

- Click on File

- Click on Render Media File

- Choose the MP4 file that’s getting the problem

- No Error: It says, graph could not be created.

- Error: It creates a graph which shows the filter that’s causing the problem.

- Submit graph by taking a screenshot of it and send it to the Support Team, together with diagnostics, which can be produced by clicking on Help > Support > Save to File.

2. The codec that the video is compressed with is either not installed or its installation has become corrupted.

To solve this, you can re/install the codec by running the TSCC file. It is located in the folder where the Camtasia Studio is installed in.

3. The components of DirectShow is not properly registered.

Register qedit.dll and quartz.dll, to do so, follow the instructions below:

► qedit.dll

- Click Start button

- Click Run

- Paste this commands into the Run box:

regsvr32 “%windir%\system32\qedit.dll

- Click OK

► quartz.dll

- Click Start button

- Click Run

- Paste this commands into the Run box:

regsvr32 “%windir%\system32\quartz.dll”

- Click OK

4. On versions 4 and 5, A DirectShow filter is interfering with the recorded file.

Try to disable the recording preview so that you can see if the recording works properly.

To disable the recording preview.

Alternatively you may request an upgrade to Camtasia Studio 6.0.
5. Extracting the AVI from the CAMREC

To extract the AVI correctly , follow these instructions:

- Browse to the CAMREC file saved on your computer

- Right-click on it

- choose Extract, this will extract the AVI from the CAMREC

- Play the AVI in the Camtasia Studio

- If it won’t play in Camtasia Studio, then try playing it using Windows Media Player.

- If still, it won’t work in Windows Media Player, it could be corrupted.

- Record a new one and follow the solution provided in method 3.

That’s all there is to it, hope you find this useful .

Until Next Time

Peter – Your Camtasia Guide

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1. Camtasia Studio Blurry Screen Video
2. Camtasia Studio Title Clips

Hi There,

As I continue to master Camtasia Studio, I can describe it in a few words  Smart, Friendly and the most Powerful screen recording software I have ever used.

One of the frequently asked questions is a problem with the sound that some of you may  have already encountered after producing your videos.

Have you ever experienced this scenario?

You were recording and everything was going well until the video is produced, that’s when the audio suddenly starts to sound really weird. The sound goes faster and at times takes on a higher tone, more likely compared to a talking chipmunk.

If you have, worry not.

This problem is not related to Camtasia but by your sound device. This can happen mostly on computers running on Windows XP but can also occur in other operating systems. Some people experience the problem because the Sound scheme is by default set on  “Windows default”. Thus, during a recording process whenever a button is pressed, a Windows sound is being generated.

Wanna know how to resolve this? Well, read on…..

Simple turn off the default Windows sound scheme, to do so, please follow these instructions:

1. On your desktop, click on Start button.

2. Go to Control Panel

3. Click on Sounds and Audio Devices.

4. Go to the Sounds tab, this will bring up the Sound and Audio Devices Properties dialog box.

5. Under Sound Scheme, click on the drop-down arrow, then select No Sounds. See image below to clearly follow the instruction.

6. Apply

7.  Then Click on OK

Now, you are all set and chipmunk-talking-free!

As for recorded audio, sorry this  can’t be fixed, you could do the recording again or if not you can remove the chipmunk-like audio and add a newly recorded sound clip.

If you have been sitting on the fence undecided about whether to upgrade your Camtasia Studio I can tell you through experience the upgrade is well worth it. You can checkout the new features of Camtasia Studio 6 that simplify alot of tasks and make you look like a pro.

To proceed and request for the special upgrade price go here.

I hope this has been helpful to you!

Until Next Time

Peter – Your Camtasia Guide

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1. Camtasia Studio “No Codec” Error

I know a lot of people are looking for references on how to use Camtasia Studio software. As a new user, you would want to know the basic features of the product. As an experienced user, you want to know if there are product upgrades or new tricks for you to use. I have stumbled on a few good websites that should be good sources for Camtasia tips.

Please include any other references you find helpful in the comments section below and I will be sure to include them.

This list is in no particular order. OK, here we go – websites that offer Camtasia Studio tutorials and tips.

1) Help may be closer than you think. Just bring up Camtasia Studio on your desktop and press your [F1]-key. Up pops the Camtasia help file. It covers many of the topics we get questions on a day to day basis.

2) Camtasia Forums – a great way for fellow users to interact. Users could help each answer each others questions by discussing it here at TechSmith forum.

3) TechSmith FAQ Page – Check this page out for some common questions that users ask about the product.

4) Camtasia Video Tutorials – Step by step video tutorial about the software.

5) The Visual Lounge – A Camtasia community. Great source of information.

6) Camtasia Guide – Not a complete guide if we didn’t mention yours truly We have a lot of plans to increase the content, especially with more Camtasia tutorials and good stuff. Sign up to the newsletter and I will keep you posted.

7) Camtasia Tutorial Video Compilation – A video compilation uploaded by different users. It has a lot of great videos on how to use Camtasia.

8 ) Video tutorial from webreference – A video tutorial from webreference site. Very detailed video tutorials divided in 6 parts.

9) E learning at Virginia Tech – An online distance education. Offers lessons on How to use Camtasia Studio.

10) Instructional Technology Development Program - More on Camtasia tutorial topics

11) Camtasia Tutorial by Joe Liaw – A detailed tutorial made by a high school teacher. It is an audio and video tutorial.

12) Pierce College Tutorial on Camtasia – Another informative site about Camtasia.

Camtasia Studio is screen recording software with full-motion recording capability. It records the screen, voice and camera video. It is a great tool for making tutorials, presentations and advertisements and really good demonstrations.

If you don’t have this software you can buy Camtasia here.

I hope this information is helpful to all Camtasia users. If you have additional references and other websites that have great Camtasia Tutorials/Guides, please include them in the comment area below.

Until next time

Peter – Your Camtasia Guide

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Camtasia Studio

“Record your sessions! Use Camtasia and lapel microphones to record it. The problem is you still need to sync up the audio with the video, but if you do a lot of people will find value in this.”, he says. He also describes several other ways to improve group meetings.

Other exiting ways to use Camtasia as a Slide Show creator, but more on that shortly.

Until next time

Peter – Camtasia Guide

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