Ah-ha! Here's what's probably going on. I'd like to explain how Jing works with audio devices (microphones).

The core issue is that if Jing finds a microphone that has worked before, it will keep on using it until you say otherwise. It doesn't automatically pick "the best" microphone or the newest one connected. The following example will make the workflow more clear.

Let's say your computer has multiple audio devices connected. For example, perhaps it has USB mic, and a 3.5mm analog mic that likely came with your computer (or often the built-in mic in the case of laptops).

If you're using audio from the USB microphone, and then disconnect it, the next time you go to make a Jing recording, Jing will interrupt the countdown and warn you--asking you to choose a new audio input device.

However, Jing does NOT warn you if you add a new microphone that wasn't there the last time you made a video. (Whether this is a good idea or not is a fair matter for debate and perhaps we indeed should notify the user.) Therefore, you need to tell Jing to use the microphone you wish.

Here's how to do that:

1. Click More > Preferences.

2. Next, under Audio Input, click Select Device.
3. Jing will present available audio devices. Choose the one you wish to use, and click OK.

Fame. Glory. Groupies. Bragging rights. A really cool trophy. Oh, and some cool new technology (MacbookPro, Wacom Tablet and more)... These could all be yours if, and only if, you enter our ScreenChamp awards. We're looking for the best of the best screencasters.

Think you got what it takes? Here are some of the important details:

• You can find out all about the contest here.
• We're accepting submissions from 9/8/11 - 10/17/11. You can submit them here
• There are three different categories of Screencasts we're looking for: Education, Industry and Entertainment
• Submissions will be narrowed down to top 5 per category. 15 total top entries will be eligible to win Best in Show which will be voted on by the community
• Top winner in each of 3 categories selected by celebrity judges
• We'll announce the winners live on The Forge on 1/19/12
• Use the screencasting tool and hosting site of your choice. Of course we'd love to see you use Jing, Camtasia Studio, Camtasia for Mac, ScreenChomp (iPad) or Screencast.com, but it is certainly not required. :-)
• The hashtag we're using is: #screenchamp

Super official rules are posted here.

And, as Helen Rowland (English-American writer, 1876-1950) says, "You will never win if you never begin." So, let's get started! Show me what you got!

Our development teams went into hyperdrive and came up with a new way to capture screen video on Macs and the updated versions of our products released today are testaments to the agility of our development organization as a whole.

For Jing specifically, this release also marks the last update for PowerPC Macs. PPC Mac users won't be prompted to upgrade to a newer version of Jing until they migrate to a newer Mac platform. We didn't want to cut the PPC users out and leave them high and dry as that would suck, and isn't our style.

Download the new version now! (It will work on your current operating system AND on Lion when it's released.)

To be clear:

• Today's Jing for Mac update supports Lion (in addition to previously supported OS versions).
• All Mac Jing users should install the update (even PPC Mac users).
• From today forward, Mac PPC users will no longer receive Jing updates. However, today's version can still be used indefinitely.

As always, if you notice anything unusual after updating to this new version of Jing, or want to send us feedback please let us know. Thank you for using Jing...Rrrraaaarrrr!

-Dirk Frazier, Jing and Screencast.com Product Manager

PS - If you use Snagit or Camtasia on Mac, those apps have been updated to be ready for the Lion release, too.

I'm not sure who thinks of this stuff, but here's a game where you're a piece of toast trying to get as much jelly as you can while avoiding being eaten. You get to be launched out of a toaster, so I suppose that's fun.

Play You're Toast

I only played it once--and I was only able to run for 85 seconds. Here's my high score having never played it before. Can you beat it? Put a link to your score screen in the comments. Then get back to work! :)

I wanted to mention the Screencast.com beta over here on the Jing blog, mainly because we just released a new Search feature and greatly enhanced the ability to move and manage content.

If you're a Jing user that uses Screencast.com, we think that you'll find it much faster and more efficient to locate some of your Jings in the often-crowded Jing folder.

What do you think? The best way to send us feedback is to post it here. Thanks in advance for taking the time to tell us your thoughts. We crave it.

Have three minutes? Check out this overview video.

Learn about everything that's new and changed!

You’ve no doubt heard of The Cloud. You’ve got cloud computing, Azure, Amazon S3... It’s like “The Internet” but so much more exciting, new, and profound.

The thing is, Jing’s been there and done that--we’ve been letting people host images and videos in "the cloud" for years. Sure, it’s great. People can click a link and see the video. We get it.

But what does the future really hold? The Jing team never stops looking ahead. We’re visionaries. And we’re convinced the future lies in The Clod.

We asked ourselves this question: Why do people like the Internet? Why do they call it the Cloud? Wouldn’t a more accurate name be “huge-tangled-mess-of-wires-and-radio-signals-I-have-to-pay-to-have-inconsistent-access-to”?

The answer is clouds are cute, puffy, day-dreamy. You don’t need to understand them or explain them--you just sort of know they’re there. People don’t associate clouds with something that’s going to store a bunch of your important stuff for free and then likely lose it or charge you for it later.

Brilliant marketing and naming, but we know the truth. Clouds are here one day and gone the next. People: Are you with us? Get your heads out of the Cloud and come back down to the Clod.

So what is Jing and the Clod?
It’s the texture of punch cards
The whirr of a hard drive
The motion of magnetic tape
It’s the heat generated from a physically altered piece of plastic

In short, if you can’t touch it, it’s not the Clod.

And Jing’s going there. Now with a multitude of output buttons, including the “Mother Earth” Button XL Combo which not only saves your video to your hard drive, but also puts a copy on an SD card, USB thumb drive, DVD, CD, Zoetrope, View-Master, and 8-track tape--you can rest easy knowing that not only will that video be yours forever, but you can deliver it to just about anyone in a format they can use. And by deliver, we mean you can even throw it at them if you are so inclined.

Can you do that in the Cloud?

Didn’t think so.

We’ve all been there. While in class or in a training, you feel like you’ve got a good handle on something, but then later--even as early as that evening--something’s not quite clicking. If only there was an easy way to get a “re-cap” of the lesson!

In school, one consequence of brain flush is students arrive the next day with uncompleted homework and you spend part of your precious class time answering questions and rehashing yesterday, instead of moving ahead.

Shauna’s little Jing videos both help her students, and increase classroom productivity. Students in need of a memory refresh (and don’t forget about absent students) can click a link and watch the video. Best of all, it’s free and easy to do.

You might be thinking, “But I don’t have an interactive white board or a webpage like Shauna does!” Don’t worry, you don’t need much to make a big difference! Let’s break this down into the basic requirements.

Things You Need

1. Download and install Jing. The free version is more than adequate for what you will be doing. It works on Mac and PC, and your computer doesn’t have to be close to top-of-the-line to run it.
   
   Note that Jing and Jing Pro are limited to five minutes in length. In a way, that’s good. Would your students watch something longer than 5 minutes hoping to find the part they need? If needed, try to break your content up into multiple videos, so students can click on the area they need.
   
   
2. A microphone. We recommend a USB one, but if you have the little plastic one that came with your computer or an internal one from your laptop, it’ll do. In fact, that’s all Shauna uses.




3. A means to get the videos to students. Ideally, you want videos in a location where students and parents can watch them from home. The easiest way to do this is upload your video to Screencast.com, and share the link with students. This way there are no files to mess with and you don’t have to put the videos on a network drive behind your firewall.

You can post the link on a blog like Shauna does, on your class website if you have one, or email it out. Worst case, you can write the little random URL (hyperlink) on the board and students have to copy it down on paper. Be careful because upper case “i” and lower case “L” look the same. Here’s what a sample Jing URL looks like--the bolded part is the random part: http://screencast.com/t/5HJwW4OiU

Bonus Stuff

1. An interactive white board is nice, because you can record the lesson in real time. You also might record some student interaction. It's easy to write freehand too, which can be especially helpful for math. Even without an interactive white board there are a number of ways to draw freehand on the screen. Here’s a segment from TechSmith’s The Forge Webcast that shows a number of them.
   
2. Better microphone, like a wireless mic, or multi-directional microphone. If you’re moving about the class or trying to capture student explanations, you want to have a way to pick up any audio that’s not by the computer recording the action.
   
3. A blog or webpage like Shauna has is nice because you can display many days or weeks of lessons, and perhaps even recycle them for next year. If you don’t want to set up a free blog, two really good alternatives are to keep updating a Google Doc and share the Doc, or try http://www.delicious.com.
4. TechSmith makes Camtasia for Mac and Camtasia Studio for Windows. These products allow you to record indefinitely as well as edit and produce your video in numerous ways. Learn more.

Learn more about Jing
Check out our Educational Community
Talk with other TechSmith Customers, ask questions and give feedback

The top problems are:

1. The code is displayed to viewers (instead of the video)
2. Video is way too big for blog or website
3. Code doesn't work, or isn't accepted by html tool

I welcome feedback on the video, especially as I plan to create a three-part series on embed code. This would be the "Basics" video. Do you like the live intro or should I just cut straight to the screencast? Anything you want me to cover in the next videos?

Don't forget you can click the Full Screen button to watch the video at it's original size. I also made a low-res version that is a faster download.

Finally, here's how to get embed code straight from Jing.

• Make a button for videos you know you will use again. An example might be for frequently asked questions. When the question comes up again, don't re-make the video, just grab the link from Screencast.com. You could even make a playlist.
• Make a button that returns embed code instead of the link.
• Separate work content from play content.
• Make a button that sends content to a password protected folder for clients, or a public folder a collaborative group can access.
• Public folders are nice because people can view all the content in the folder--great for series or related content. Viewers can also tweet or share on Facebook to spread the word--only if the content is in a public folder.

Here's how you can set up additional buttons or learn more about sharing to Screencast.com in general.

Learn more about Screencast.com folder privacy options.

Learn how you can help us make TechSmith products better.

Meet Rob Zdrojewski. He's a Technology Teacher and Director at Amherst Central Schools in New York. In those parts he's also known as Rob Z. a.k.a. the "King of Jing", but he's also involved with many projects and technologies. One you might want to check out is Amherst Tech TV!

Recently Rob had small groups of students use Jing in conjunction with an IPEVO webcam. (This is similar to a document camera or ELMO if you are familiar with those.) The students reviewed a piece of educational software for mobile devices.

The camera uses a USB cable and displays the iPhone (or Blackberry) on the computer monitor. The students record the computer screen and thereby capture the device's screen.

I thought the quality of the webcam was outstanding, and I thought Rob had a creative idea here. I could see recording paper documents and giving feedback, drawn math problems, specimens in biology, and so on.

Great work students! Here's one example below. And you can view all of them in Rob's Screencast.com folder. I think I'm going to get a couple of these for my kids to use!

Jing works great for informal "one off" screencasts, and with a script and enough takes you can create a fairly polished video. However, even the Jing Learning Center videos aren't made with Jing. We need to utilize the editing capabilities in Camtasia. If this is something you're interested in, Ryan Eash--the person who makes all the Camtasia Studio videos--recently put together a comprehensive video showing his process. It's filled with tips and has a Table of Contents so you can jump to the part you're interested in.

Watch it here.

Scripting is an important part of the multimedia creation process. When used in conjunction with a well-designed storyboard, a good script can spell the difference between a short, clear and concise video and one that rambles and loses focus.

• Keep each page of the script equal to about one minute of content
• Use a large, easy to read font.
• When recording, don't stray from what you've written in the script.
• As you script, be sure to note what is happening in the video, podcast or presentation at the time you are speaking.
• Use contractions. It sounds better when speaking.
• Keep your tone conversational, and make sure it reflects your personality. This will help keep people interested.
• Write in a manner that allows you to bring in images, graphs, charts or humor to keep the video interesting and fun to watch.
• Break your projects up into short, easy-to-follow pieces.
• Keep asking yourself: is this essential? Could I cut this, or make it shorter while still achieving my goals?
• Read the script out loud before you record it to make sure it flows well and sounds correct. Also, send it to someone else for review whenever possible.
• Be consistent when using I, you, past and present tense.
• Identify one to three things (goals) you want your viewer to leave with.
• Every video or podcast should have some kind of introduction and closing. Typically you introduce yourself and briefly set the viewers' expectations about what they will be learning. Remember, your introduction is your first impression, so put some effort into making it great!
• Not sure about a particular section? Record both versions now and decide later.

Scripts don't need to be fancy. Here's what one of ours looks like:

Have you seen this warning?

The situation occurs when you stop recording a video, the Preview Window opens and Adobe Flash presents a warning dialog about Jing trying to connect to the Internet. My hunch is this warning dialog is so easy to dismiss many people don't bother reporting it or look for a solution.

Well, when you get a minute, you can change the Flash settings and never be bothered by it again. Check out this support article to learn how.