Tag Archive: Camtasia Studio 6

Camtasia Studio Blurry Screen Video

Posted Sep.01, 2009 under Tutorials

blurryvideoHello Friends,

I’m back with another Tutorial series for Camtasia Studio, answering the frequently asked questions from Camtasia Studio fans!

Have you tried recording an on-screen video and  when you played it back, the video appears blurry or has poor quality?

What Causes Blurry Screen Video in Camtasia?

There are two general causes of blurry videos in Camtasia Studio, but first a little  about  Camtasia Studio Codec….

Codecs are the algorithms being used to compress a video, most of the time installed as a software embedded within a hardware. They are of the same idea as in compressing files using a program like WinZip.

Video codecs are categorized into two types of compression:

Lossless codecs/compression - you lose nothing, but you can’t compress much.
Lossy codecs/compression - you lose quality in return, you achieve great downsizing.

Camtasia is equipped with a TSCC video codec that is lossless, thus, compressed videos with TSCC have great quality!

Having said that there is no reason why your Camtasia Videos should lose any quality unless you are doing something wrong.

Moving on, here are the general causes of blurry videos.

SCALING YOUR VIDEO IN A PLAYER OR IN THE CAMTASIA DURING VIDEO PRODUCTION

  • If you scale the video during playback to other sizes than the original size, quality will lessen.
  • If you use the default setup of Camtasia Recorder and produce videos with the TSCC codec, the playback should have a very good quality and looks similar to the screen.
  • If video is played in a Media Player, the quality is lessened due to the “skins” mode of Media Player causing the video to be played back at a different size than the required 100% original size. Trying to change the video size will still not work.

How to Fix Camtasia Studio Blurry Screen Videos

SOLUTION 1 – Configure Media Player to avoid videos from scaling.

For Media Player 11:

1. Open Windows Media Player.
2. Go to View.
3. Choose Video Size.
4. Fit PLAYER to video on Start.

For Media Player 9 or 10:

1. Change your Media Player’s skin mode to “Classic” mode, to do so, just press Skin Chooser button and select “Classic”.
2. Go to View.
3. Choose Video Size then set it to 100%
4. Run the player to Compact mode.
5. Select View, then choose Skin Mode.
6. Run it in 6.4 mode.

How to use Media Player in v6.4 mode:

1. Go to Program Files, then choose Windows Media Player.
2. Run MPLAYER2.EXE file.
3. On v6.4 mode  select View > Options > Formats, select All > Apply > OK.
4. Select View > Options > Playback , then set the Zoom level to 100%.

SOLUTION 2 – use  Camtasia Player or other player that doesn’t scale videos.

PRODUCING THE VIDEO USING A “LOSSY” CODEC

By default, Camtasia Studio will now scale the video. For you to be able to produce video with the same good quality,  simply follow these steps:

1. Once you’re done with your captures screencast, click on Produce.
2. Choose your desired output, click Next.
3. Select your desired format, click Next.
4. On the Fit in field, click on the drop-down arrow and choose the largest video size, click Next.
5. Click Next.
6. Select the output location, click Finish.

That’s all there is to it. I hope this has been again helpful to you!

Until Next Time ;-)

Peter – Your Camtasia Guide

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Camtasia Studio “No Codec” Error

Posted Jul.30, 2009 under Tips, Tutorials

no-codec

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.

tscc

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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Camtasia Videos with Chipmunks Audio

Posted Jul.20, 2009 under Camtasia Upgrade, Tips, Tutorials

sound-on1Hi 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.

nosounds

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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Camtasia Studio First Time User

Posted Jun.29, 2009 under Camtasia Features

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

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