Month: April 2018

  • Top 5 Professional Screencast Softwares

    Screen-casting is an art. To be able to deliver great videos that communicates your message in a clear manner without B.S demands a lot of dedication and commitment in ideation stage. The first requirement is having the right tools for your project execution.

    Screen-casting software is the first among the list of other requirements like microphone, computer specs and script. Any newbie will find himself torn between several consumer software in the market. Having worked on more than 2000 screen video tutorials in the past 7 years, here are my top 5 recommendation.

    1. Camtasia studio

    This is one of my favorite software for recording and editing screen recorded videos. I use it across the board on windows and Mac. Unlike other screen recording software\’s, it has an easy to use screen video editor. You can add call outs, zoom in and out, blur information, crop, add music and voice over and render in any file format that you need in UHD 4k.  You can create subtitles using the software as well.

    Pros 

    • You can edit files across platform e.g you can open a file created on windows with Mac.
    • Easy to use editor
    • Has 30 day free trial
    • You can use it for commercial projects
    • Can create educational content
    • You can use it to create subtitles and render it in .SRT

    Cons 

    • Sometimes it crashes without saving your project
    • It takes long time to render long videos of 30 Minutes long and consumes large space based on the bitrate you chose

    2. Screenflow 

    Screen-flow is another professional screen casting software designed for Mac users only. It has several features and effects to make your final out put appealing to the eye. Recording quality is excellent, and thanks to a high frame-rate (which you can set), your videos look as if everything was actually happening on your screen. What\’s also surprising is that ScreenFlow is very lightweight for what is effectively a video editor, consuming relatively few CPU and RAM resources.

    Pros 

    • High quality recording
    • More advances transitions and effects on videos

    Cons 

    • Can\’t add text  to your video
    • Only works on Mac

    3. Screencast-o-matic 

    Like Camtasia studio, Screencast-o-matic is easy-to-use, free screen recorder for Windows, Mac, and Chromebook you can capture any area of your screen with the option to add narration from your microphone and video from your webcam. You can record lectures, webinars, demos, games, Skype calls, etc. and share free on Screencast-O-Matic.com, YouTube, or save directly to a video file.

    Pros 

    • Its online. You can access the recorder online
    • Affordable. Costs $1.50 a month

    Cons 

    • Recorder limited only by local hard disk space available. Uploads to Screencast-O-Matic.com are still limited to 15-min per upload unless you also have Pro Hosting.
    • Recording computer audio requires PC with Windows Vista or later

    4. Quicktime 

    Quick time is app that comes with most of the Mac computers. With Quicktime, you can record audio, video and screen. You can choose section of your computer screen to record and start recording it together with your voice. Once done, you can save your recording in .mov inside your local computer.

    Pros 

    • Free – it comes with your Mac.
    • Records clean and sharp video and is good for starters

    Cons 

    • You need to find another video editing software to edit your recording
    • It does not record clicks and keystrokes

    5. OBS Studio 

    OBS studio is a free and open source software for video recording and live streaming.It\’s simple program, with simple interface and big flexibility. It\’s perfect program to capture webcam and screen simultaneously and even more.

    Pros 

    • It\’s free
    • High performance real time video/audio capturing and mixing.
    • Create scenes made up of multiple sources including window captures, images, text, browser windows, webcams, capture cards and more.

    Cons 

    • Do not have a video editor
    • No any effects or text adding features

    And these are  my top 5 screen casting softwares that  I  have used and outputs great quality videos. If you are starting up, you can try these free softwares and work with them alongside other video editing softwares if you have them installed in your computer  like Adobe premiere or Adobe After Effects.

    If you need professional help with screencast videos, you can request a free quote on www.techtubestudio.com

    Don\’t forget to give this post a thumbs up and leave a comment below.

    Also, follow me on twitter @cheptiony

    Till next time, bye bye and take care.

  • 4 things Every Client Should Know Before Hiring a Screencast Video Tutorial Producer or Editor

    Every client would love to work with an expert  in wherever field they need help. The catch is; it comes with a price, and not everyone  willing to pay it. The same case applies to finding a professional screen-cast video editor or producer. If you are scouting for one, please read the following article to the end before you decide on who to go with.

    Here are 3 main things a professional screen-cast video producer should request from you(client) before  starting.

    Note: Most these items can be provided by the editor or producer based on  agreement.

    Script

    A professional screencast video producer uses a written script or an outline provided by the client to produce the video. There are many reasons as to why I recommend this. One is because, video scripting cuts the presentation time by half. One is able to save time by focusing on the most important features or sections of a software or a website and probably break down the presentation into sections where viewer can choose to watch a section they would want only.

    Professional Voice Over

    Voice over is very crucial as it explains what’s is happening on the screen. Some video editors are native English speakers and can do the presentations easily in a flawless manner. But this will not be appealing if professional quality equipment is not used in recording the voice over thus its important to consider hiring a professional voice over to record your script. Professional screencast video producers can source this on your behalf on freelancing sites like Upwork and Fiverr.

    Delivery Timelines

    Any professional screencast video producer is able to advise you on how long it will take to deliver your video. This will be based on if you provide the script, the expected video duration and whether the script you have needs a professional voice or not. Usually a 2-5 Minutes video tutorial takes 1-3 days to complete and deliver.

    Video Quality You Need

    As a client, you must know from the onset the quality of video you expect from the video producer you hire. This way, you will know if the editor is able to delivering the same. Video quality ranges from HD, FHD(Full HD) and UHD 2k,4k (Ultra HD).

    And that’s it. If you are able to get answers to these things upfront from the editor/producer, you are good to proceed to the next stage of hiring him/her to produce your video tutorial(s). Of-course, you must understand each other clearly when communicating in order to save time and speed up the process of production. Since business is all about building relationships, it is important to work with someone you can freely contact in times of need without a second thought.

    If you need professional help on video, let me know on here.

    Don’t forget to leave a comment below.

    Also, follow me on twitter @cheptionymutai

    Till next time, bye bye and take care.

  • Five Areas in Business that Instructional Video Guides are Used

    With every business embracing technology in all aspects, there is a growing demand for software applications and apps to meet these needs. But lets admit, not everyone is a tech savvy.

    Some customers, if not all of them, will need user guides or instructional videos to help them understand how the app/software/programs works.

    Therefore, it has become imperative to consider developing professional instructional guides both in writing and video formats to accompany the application or software  you are selling. Here are five areas in technology that instructional video guides are used;

    Demonstrate How Software’s And Programs Work

    All softwares and programs created to be used by business people require instructional guides (both in written and in video) to help new users understand how to carry out some crucial tasks in order achieve results in  business.

    Such videos will save the company a lot of time that could have been spent teaching new recruits how to use the software. Also, it will save the developers and support team a lot of time.

    Demo Mobile Apps

    With thousands of mobile apps being published daily on  Google Playstore and Apple Appstore, users are keen on which app they download.

    They first scroll through the screenshots, and watch the video (if there is one) before deciding to install it on their phones. It\’s therefore important to have a demo video on the apps preview page to show them how it works.

    That\’s what we offer at here at Techtube Videostudio. We develop demo videos for mobile apps which gives users  a sneak peak on how to the app solves their problems in 30-90 seconds.

    Demo Web-Hosted Apps

    Software developers who use to sell their software applications offline (for download) are now making their software available online to anyone anywhere across the globe to capture the new market of online users.

    Take for example Microsoft office 365; if you subscribe to it, you can use the software anywhere in the world without the need of having to worry about carrying your saved document in a USB Flash disk.

    It’s therefore important to train all of your new customers, on how to go about the software through video.

    Website Tutorials

    Thousands of websites go live everyday. If your website is providing a service to customers remotely, it’s crucial to have a demo video showing users how sign up and make the best use of their website.

    You may dismiss this but some customers love watch video on how your website works rather than reading an long article.

    Hardware-Software Guides

    Some companies have hardware’s they sell  which do not function without a software. The process of setting this up is sometimes technical to a raving customer.

    They will need a video to showing them how to use it both physically and configuring the hardware using the software that comes along with it.

    That\’s where how to’ video tutorials comes in to guide users and thus support time by half.

    These among others are some common places where instructional video guides are required. Of-course there are several sectors in business where instructional video guides are needed which require visiting the location an filming the step by step process.

    If you need someone to develop an instruction video guide, let me know here because I can help you out.

    Don\’t forget to give me a thumbs up and leave a comment below.

    You can also follow me on twitter @cheptionymutai