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The other thing it does is reduce your support requests and also provides an extra resource for you which means that you can refer people to your video instead of having to answer numerous questions. 

Preparing to record your Screen Capture

Last month we discussed the how to create an audio interview. When creating your screen capture video the same principles apply in that you need a quiet space, you need to prepare the format and make sure you have no interruptions.

Cam Studio records screen activity from your Windows Desktop into standard AVI movie files. It is an ideal tool for developing videos to demonstrate features of a new software product or any other task that requires the capture of desktop activity. The program is easy to use, and you can select an area or full desktop for recording. You can adjust the video quality settings to reduce file size, use custom cursors and add a soundtrack through your microphone. Furthermore, you can add screen captions to your desktop while recording. These captions are anti-aliased, high quality images that support text display in multiple languages. With the Video Annotation feature, you can also personalize your movie by including a webcam movie of yourself into the AVI.

Once created you can convert these avi files to flash or other streaming formats or place them on cd's and include them in presentations. This whole process simply enables you to show people live things that would take you ages to write about and also adds some credibility to your products.

10 Minutes to your First CamStudio Video

In this tutorial, we will take you through a quick-start approach to getting you up and running quickly with Cam Studio. Completing this tutorial should take you ten minutes or less.

Within this brief tutorial, the following topics will be covered.

• Making a recording.
• Editing your video using the cut and split options.
• Adding a transition to your video.
• Producing the final video.

Step 1. Making a Recording

The first step in creating a Cam Studio project is to record your screen. Cam Studio automatically records all the dynamic activity on your PC screen, including:

• Mouse movement
• Text entry
• Scrolling windows
• Animation and video
• Pop-up windows
• Animated CAD designs

So... let's make a recording. 

1. To begin, choose Start > Programs > Cam Studio. 

2. Once the recording panel opens go to Region in the menu and make sure region is selected. If you are making a recording of a fixed window like a software program then you can use the Fixed Region and then use the select button to out line the window payne of the software. We rarely use the full screen function as the files are so bib. Its ok if you are putting the final output on a cd or using it in a presentation. So lets make our first video of the actual Cam Studio screen.

3. Now lets set up our options. You can leave most of them as is for this tutorial however I encourage you to go in and try different combinations to get the best results for your project. If you want to add audio just make sure that the record from mic is ticked. You can leave the rest.

4. At this time, take a moment to get familiar with the record options. For now, you will use just two of the options: Record and Stop.

5. Once you are ready to record, choose the red record button and use the blue pause if you want to pause and the blue button to stop the recording.

6. Once you finish you will be asked to save the output and just create a new folder on your hard drive or save into any place you want and give the file a good name so you can keep track of it.

Important Note:
Once you click record, your screen may momentarily go black. This is normal and expected.
Perform some on screen activity such as opening and closing a dialog box or typing in a Word or just open some windows in the Cam Studio Software.

 Note: If Cam Studio Recorder has minimized during recording, double-click on the flashing Recorder  

Step 2. Software for Editing

Editing allows you to trim out the pieces of the video that you don't want. Unfortunately Cam studio does not have an editing package so you need to use another program however if you use xp then you will have in your accessories folder a program called movie maker which is free and you can edit it in here very easily. There are plenty of tutorials around for this.

This is a great little piece of software as you can add other clips, record audio to add to the clip which means you could make a silent movie then add audio to it later. The latest version and some tutorials can be found here. You can download the latest copy here. In fact version 2 is almost the same as Camtasia editor. It will usually install in accessories/entertainment.

Editing clips

You have several options for editing clips:

• Splitting a clip. You can split a video clip into two clips. This is useful if you want to insert either a picture or a video transition in the middle of a clip. You can split a clip that appears on the storyboard/timeline of a current project, or you can split the clip in the Contents pane.
  
• Combining clips. You can combine two or more contiguous video clips. Contiguous means the clips were captured together so that the end time of one clip is the same as the start time of the next clip. Combining clips is useful if you have several short clips and you want to view them as one clip on the storyboard/timeline. Similar to splitting a clip, you can combine contiguous clips in the Contents pane or on the storyboard/timeline.
  
• Trimming a clip. You can hide parts of a clip you do not want in your project. For example, you can trim the beginning or end of a clip. Trimming does not remove the information from the source material; you can clear the trim points to return the clip to its original length at any time. Clips can only be trimmed after they have been added to the storyboard/timeline. You cannot trim clips in the Contents pane.
  

  Drag the trim handles, which are shown in the following illustration, to trim the unwanted portions of the clip.

  

• Creating clips. You also create clips from video clips after they have been imported or captured in Windows Movie Maker. This lets you create clips at any time when working in Windows Movie Maker. By separating video clips into smaller clips, you can easily find a particular part of your captured or imported video to use in your movie.

Step 3. Splitting your Video

You will use the Split Movie option to split your video clip into two pieces.

1. Place the seek bar in the location where the split is to occur.

2. Click on the Split Video button . The movie is split into two pieces. At this time, both pieces are placed on the Timeline or the Storyboard.

Step 4. Add a Transition

Using video transitions, video effects, and titles

You can enhance your movies by adding different elements to your movie, such as the following:

• Video transitions. A video transition controls how your movie plays from one video clip or picture to the next. You can add a transition between two pictures, video clips, or titles, in any combination, on the storyboard/timeline. The transition plays before the one clip ends and while the other clip starts to play. Windows Movie Maker contains various transitions you can add to your project. Transitions are stored in the Video Transitions folder in the Collections pane.
  
• Video effects. A video effect determines how a video clip, picture, or title displays in your project and final movie. Video effects let you add special effects to your movie. A video effect is applied for the entire duration that the video clip, picture, or title displays in your movie. You can add any of the video effects that appear in the Video Effects folder in the Collections pane.
  
• Titles and credits. Titles and credits let you enhance your movie by adding text-based information to your movie. You can add whatever text you want, but you may want to include information such as the title of your movie, your name, the date, and so forth. You can change the appearance of the title or credit, in addition to changing the title animation, which determines how your title or credit displays in your movie.

Step 5. Save your Project

At this time, it would be a good idea to save your project. Saving the project allows you to come back to this video and continue working on it at a later time. With movie maker you have the choice to save as a Windows Media File or an AVI.

1. Click on the Save button on the toolbar.

2. Browse and select the folder where you would like to store this project.

3. In the File Name field, give this project a name.

4. Choose Save.

Step 7. Produce the Final Product

Up until now, we have been working with an avi file. Until you produce your video, you do not have a video file that can be played on the net.

1. To produce your video as an flash streaming file, choose Start > Cam Studio > SWF Producer. 

2. Within the producer, choose file and open your edited avi file.

3. Now choose the convert to swf and a widow will open giving you the ability to choose a whole range of options.

4. In the output file name, within the Destination Folder field, browse and select the folder where you would like to store this video.

5. In the File Name field, give this project a name.

6. Choose Finish. The program status dialog box displays showing you the progress of the production. Once the production is complete, your video will playback for your review.

That's it. You've just created your first Cam Studio video. Of course you could also do the same and create a wmv file for streaming but it requires a little more work.

Now if you want to add this video into a web page simply use your prefered editor and open the html file and copy all the code between the <object> and </object> and then open your webpage and paste where you want the video to appear. Also move the swf file into the same folder or reference to where you have stored the file on your server.

Expect Success

Quentin Brown
MP3 Sound Stream
http://www.msincome.com.au

<param NAME="Movie" VALUE="http://www.theirwebsite.com/
051005-PodCast_Radio_Showd.swf">

You can do this with your media if you want to store it somewhere else other than the root folder where the web page is located.

ZZ Top - Tush

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