Tag Archive: Camtasia Review

Camtasia 7 Reviews

Camtasia 7 ReviewsThe initial reviews of Camtasia 7 are in. Generally I would have to say that the reviews agree with my first judgement, Camtasia 7 is a great upgrade. But as I am a bit biased (love Camtasia and all that) I thought I’d let some other reviewers have their say.

If you are looking to buy Camtasia or upgrade to the new release Camtasia 7, our partnersite, SoftwareCasa offers a number of bonuses.

Amit Agarwal of Digital Inspiration is a professional blogger and personal technology columnist. The review is published on Digital Inspiration.

Amit says: “If you are already using an older version of Camtasia, the first change that you’ll immediately notice in Camtasia Studio 7 is the revamped UI — they’ve moved from the classic XP like blue design to a black glass-like but non-transparent interface. The vertical task bar is gone and instead, you have a tabbed horizontal bar that gives you quick access to all the various editing tools but you can no longer hide this area.”

Amit goes on to mention the new features of the Library and that finds the new feature cursor effects one of the most useful features. On the negative side Amit mentions: “…the built-in title editor is very basic and there’s absolutely no support for rollovers and closing credits. As a workaround, you can produce title videos in Windows Live Movie Maker and import them into Camtasia Studio.”

T. Michael Testi is software developer, a writer, and a photographer. His review is published on blogcritics.com.

Michael cover the new functionality of Camtasia Studio 7 in depth and I am quoting his final judgement here.

“I think that with all of the improvements to the prior version like the SmartFocus technology and improved recording engine that running Camtasia Studio 7 was very crisp, clean, and had a noticeable improvement in the final video rendering.

Then when you add the new library capabilities, the sketch motion feature, all of the new callouts, the improvement to the audio capabilities, the answer to my initial question is that TechSmith has made the premier video capture program even better. If you are looking for a complete product for creating and editing video casts then I highly recommend Camtasia Studio 7.”

Travis Campbell of Marketingprofessor goes through the seven reasons why he thinks you should upgrade to Camtasia 7. Here is his bottom line: “Software companies often push things out the door without adding enough value add features to justify it for customers. I’m glad to say this is not the case for Camtasia 7.

The huge time savers for me will be:

  • YouTube integration
  • Media library
  • Improved controls for audio editing (background music).

Couple these with the:

  • Revamped user interface
  • Post recording motion callouts
  • Improved screen recorder, and
  • Improved cursor effects…

…and this could be the best version released yet.”

Nice review Travis.

And last, but not least, Screencaster Lon Naylor from Screencast profits has done an extensive review and in which he grades all the new features. Lon likes the new interface change although seasoned Camtasia users will have to get used to a few changes. Library, new callouts and keystroke callouts get several thumbs up. Lon hasn’t seen my SuperCallouts yet, I wonder what he will say about those :-0

Lon goes on to comment about getting control of the fading in and fading out audio controls. He loves those but isn’t so keen on noise removal and volume level affect all tracks. That gets the only thumbs down.

And with that I end this Reviews overview.

Happy Screencasting,

Peter – Your Camtasia Guide

star3

Hello There!

If you have just purchased Camtasia Studio or are thinking of purchasing for a friend then read on….

I decided to go back down memory lane on my first time using Camtasia Studio.  I had just had enough raving from my friends about  Camtasia Studio and so I decided to get my own copy.

As I was staring at the Camtasia Studio welcome screen, I was not sure what to expect. Yet, the only thing I was sure of was I’m about to embark on a trip to Wonderland.

To start off, the Welcome Screen itself was simple and clean. Its simplicity of design gives you an impression of, “Are you a newbie? Don’t worry, I’m ready to guide you.” That impression kept clinging to me while making my way on discovering the world of Camtasia Studio.

So, I tried recording an on-screen video, the Capture Area Selection window’s black background and minimal major options laid out gave me just exactly what I needed. Its visual presentation is good, that even, as a first time user, I can just simply do my own thing without having to completely depend on online tutorials.

camtasia

Recording was even cooler than what I expected it to be.

Here are the 10 things which I thought 100% Cool and Easy while discovering Camtasia Studio:

1. The 3,2,1 counting before the recording takes place. Whoa! What I miss is just a stool and a megaphone, I could have shouted, “Action!”

2. The Preview Window: Lots and lots of it, that is. I love it, super! I could just go back and re-do it, go on and edit it or just produce it in no time at all. Whichever way I want it, no more questions asked.

3. With a lot of formats to choose from: AVI, M4V, MP3, etc. I can’t wait to start making one and post it to my social network groups and blogs. My friends will surely be jealous of me. Haha

4. Assist Me and Show Me: When I talk about not completely depending on online tutorials, I meant it because every function available on the task pane, gave me the Assist Me and Show Me button on their respective windows. It made my experience easy and less hassle.

5. The customizable callouts gave me a chance to emphasize and de-emphasize the things I wanted to on the video I captured. It’s so easy and fast to do.

camtasia26. Decoupling of Audio and Video: As I was editing my test video, I noticed that there’s something wrong and I wanted to edit the audio track. Good thing, I found out that I could decouple it from the video track so easily. Phew! What a relief.

7. Adding Additional Audio Track: I like this, I was able to add another track which I found relevant for the video that I was recording. Pretty easy too!

8. Adding Transitions: All I had to do was just select an available preset and Tada! As easy as that and my video moves from one scene to another with style.

9. Adding quizzes and surveys during the video was cool too. I just had to choose which part of the timeline I wanted the quiz/survey to come out and then type in questions and the correct answer and then it would appear then and there!

10. Upload to Screencast feature: Boy, this one gave me a faster way to get the URL and embedded code. It’s really fast, as in, no need to open a browser, go to the site, login, upload, and get the code. The end.

There’s nothing I found too difficult or hard to understand. With consistent use and training, I’ll eventually be a rookie or an expert (if given the chance)in video recording, editing and sharing.

For now, need to familiarize more of this Super Cool program, Camtasia Studio 6.0 especially the new features.

If you are already a novice user you can continue enjoying the super features if you don’t own the latest version Camtasia 6.0 just send your existing license to Softwarecasa Support for your 50% discount on the upgrade!

Don’t Miss the Bus!

Peter – Your Camtasia Guide

Camtasia 6.0

If you think, your Camtasia Studio 5 is the best thing you’ve ever got, then you’re wrong. A few months back Techsmith launched its newest version, Camtasia Studio 6.0. With exciting new features added, you’d absolutely want to get your hands on it.

I would have written about it earlier, but I was just too busy building the worlds best software store! Now I hopefully have some more time on my hands trying out all the cool new features.

Some features that you should take a deeper look at:

Unlink audio and video tracks
This feature allows you to decouple the video and audio track, these tracks can then be locked edited independently of each other.

Customizable Hotkeys
7 additional hotkeys with which you can customize for you to save time in editing.

Production Presets
You can configure as to how you want your work to be shared and the dimensions to use. The options are Web, Blog, CD, DVD-Ready, HD, iPhone, iPod, Screencast.com, and Youtube.

Preview Window
Here’s what I think is cool, with the preset configured, a window will show the preview of how the video will look with the chosen dimensions. You can also see a preview of your work while and after editing.

Perspective Tilt
On the Zoom and Pan window, you can zoom one  side of the video into different perspective. It’s as if looking on a flat screen on different angle you prefer for your audience.

Upload to Screencast.com
If you have a screencast account, you can upload your video to Screencast.com by signing in. With a free storage space and monthly bandwidth of 2gb for Free accounts that you can absolutely take advantage of.

Camtasia Studio 6.0 will fill you appetite for smart video recording, editing and sharing.

Go here to read more about Camtasia 6.0 and if you’re already a proud owner check out: Upgrade Camtasia

Until next time ;-)

Peter – Your Camtasia Guide