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Ask HN: What software do you use to make screencasts for you product?

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Re: Ask HN: What software do you use to make screencasts for you product?

#3

Post by tomsaffell »

I'm glad you asked - I've been wanting to compare notes with others on this for a while...

I use CamStudio. It's free, and easy to use. It doesnt have many bells or whistles, but I don't need it to. I get it to output a very high bitrate avi file. The real issue for me is how to then encode and stream the video. Here's what I tried, and where I'm at now:

1. Use the SWFProducer app that comes with CamStudio. It produces an SWF that is nice and small, but it doent not allow progressive streaming, which is a big no-no for me..

2. Use FFMpeg to convert the avi to an .flv file, and then use FlowPlayer to allow users to watch the video online. Works, but .flv isnt great quality for the file size.

3. Use FFMpeg to convert the avi to an H.264 .mp4 file. Then either use FlowPlayer to allow users to watch the video online, or post as an .mp4 and allow users watch it using QuickTime plug-in. It Works, but it doesn't allow progressive streaming, which is a big no-no again...

4. (What I'm using today). Use FFMPEG to convert the avi to an H.264 encoded .f4v file (the new flash video standard). Use FlowPlayer to allow the user to watch it online. Allows progressive streaming and is decent quality.

5. (What I want to get to one day..) Encode using a codec designed specifically for screen-casting. I tried the 'Flash Screen Video' codec in FFMPEG and it produced a very nice quality file, but the size was ~2.5x the .f4v file, so I decided not to go with it. I'm hoping there is a better codec out there somewhere...

Using (4) my video is: 650x620 pixels 24 fps ~700 kbps (includes a 320x240 video - so a screen casting codec may not do the trick anyway - maybe I need a hybrid?)

Looking forward to learning about what others are doing.

Re: Ask HN: What software do you use to make screencasts for you product?

#5

Post by amjith »

A setup for screencast definitely goes beyond a screen capture utility. You need a way of capturing and displaying keystrokes without interfering with the application you are trying to demo. Does anyone have any recommendations? What about adding text to the video at certain locations, like annotations?

edit: What about video sharing services, which ones are good at rendering text? I know that youtube does a poor job, but what other services are better?

Re: Ask HN: What software do you use to make screencasts for you product?

#8

Post by tomsaffell »

amjith wrote: post #5

A setup for screencast definitely goes beyond a screen capture utility. You need a way of capturing and displaying keystrokes without interfering with the application you are trying to demo. Does anyone have any recommendations? What about adding text to the video at certain locations, like annotations? edit: What about video sharing services, which ones are good at rendering text? I know that youtube does a poor job…

> edit: What about video sharing services, which ones are good at rendering text? I know that youtube does a poor job, but what other services are better?

I decided that I didn't want the hassle of not knowing how a 3rd party video streaming service (e.g. YouTube) might alter the quality. So I use FlowPlayer (an OS flash video player) and hosted the video file (.f4v) and the flash .swf on my webserver. It works fine, so long as you have BW..

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