For my new friends from the Orange County Social Media Summit (#OCSMS), I’m honored to have met you!  If you have questions for me following our session, feel free to send me an email at:  mel (at) melaclaro (dot) com.  Also, feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn.  You’ll also find me frequenting the “back channel” on Twitter. As a matter of fact, the one below is from today’s Orange County Social Media Summit. Feel free to jump in, Join the Conversation.

[Read more about what I do; I hope you'll connect...]

The good news?  We won’t be speaking to an empty hall at the Orange County Social Media Summit (twitter hashtag: #OCSMS).

The bad news?  If you didn’t get your ticket by now, it’s pretty much a done deal.

The silver lining?  There’s gonna be a live stream (here you go) of the #OCSMS event provided by the cool peeps in the Communications team at Saddleback church.  (You can also participate in the back channel on Twitter by following and posting comments on Twitter using the hashtag #OCSMS.)

Although “attending” via the livestream (free, by the way) won’t give you the same “network effects” as being there in person, I’d recommend at least tuning in to the keynotes in the early part of the day.

I posted a program in yesterday’s post – here.

If you’re around for my panel at 4:30 (PST), I’ll “see” you there.  Otherwise, catch my highlights notes on Saturday.

Oh! And, if you’re going to be at the conference in person.  Please make sure and find me.  Say hi!  See you there.

Yours truly, along with an impressive lineup of Orange County, California professionals (and at least one honorary Orange County resident) who rock at social business and social good programs, will be paneling at this Friday’s (May 18, 2012) Orange County Social Media Summit.  If you’re in the area and are available to attend this Friday, May 18 (9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. PT), then you may still be able to nab your (free) tickets to the OCSMS here.

The venue will be on the spectacular Saddleback Church campus in Lake Forest, California; specifically, at The Refinery building on the Saddleback campus.

The venue is capped at 600 seats… but, just last week, the event coordinators, and my friends, Rochelle Coles (@RochelleVeturis) and her sis Haley Veturis (@HaleyVeturis), informed me that last week saw us already with over 572 verified registrants. So… you do the trend analysis.  (Hint: If you’re in the area and haven’t gotten your ticket(s) yet, then you’ll want to hit that link above — NOW.)

“What If I Can’t Attend, Or I Want to Attend the OCSMS Event But Don’t Live In California?

I’m so sorry. I’m so very sorry. (Just kidding.)

In case you won’t be able to attend live, or you’re one of my readers who live out of state, then you’ll be happy to know that the Saddleback Church Communications team has kindly offered to arrange this Orange County Social Media Summit (#OCSMS) livestreaming website for you on the day of the event.

While it won’t be anywhere near the experience of being live onsite and networking with a lot of cool and well-connected professionals — while giving ME the honor of meeting you and shaking your hand personally, to boot! — the livestream is, well, better than nothing, eh?

Will There Be a Back Channel?

Seriously? You don’t actually believe that a bunch of social medians would get together for a multi-hundred-seat conference and not have a back channel, do you?

Use — or tune in — to the Twitter hashtag above on Friday.

The Orange County Social Media Summit (#OCSMS) Program

What else am I forgetting…?  Oh yeah, here’s the program.  See you there!

This is the last episode in the Best Video Screen Capture Software Series.

If you’re just jumping into this series, then you’ll want to start with Episode 1: Six of the Best Screen Capture Software – Compared.  You’ll also want to subscribe to my updates on this blog so you get notified when new updates come online.

In this episode:  My recommendations about CamStudio and Screenr for video screen capture

Here’s the high level:

Two questions I get asked a lot is “…which video screen capture software do you recommend…?”  The other one is, “…are there any free software you’d recommend for recording my computer screen…?”  I answer both questions in this video.

Here’s the summary:

• Screenr – for free video screen capture software to record Q&D-type (“quick-and-dirty”) screencasts
• Camtasia Studio – for professional grade video screen capture software if you’re using a PC platform
• Camtasia Mac or Screenflow – for professional grade video screen capture software if you’re using a Macintosh platform
• Snagit – for capturing the occasional (and highly frequently used) stills on your computer screen

Related episodes:

• Episode 1 – 6 Of the Best Screen Capture Software – Compared
• Episode 2 – Camtasia Macintosh
• Episode 3 – Camtasia Studio
• Episode 4 – Screenflow
• Episode 5 – Jing and Snagit
• Episode 6 – CamStudio vs. Screenr (this post!)

• Remove a color (similar to chroma-key / green screen effect in video editors).  This effect lets you superimpose a live action video subject onto your screencasts.  This feature is huge.  As a matter of fact, I haven’t seen this feature in any other video screen capture software — including Camtasia’s PC cousine, Camtasia Studio, nor Techsmith’s closest rival, Telestream’s Screenflow.  Traditionally, this effect has been limited to the realm of video editors (i.e., iMovie, Final Cut, Adobe Premiere, etc.) … then again, I’ve maintained that Camtasia for Macintosh is, in my opinion, pretty well a different animal entirely from its PC-based cousin.  Cam-Mac straddles a nice little sweet spot between video screen capture and video editor that few other video screen capture software programs have matched.  (One exception I’d say is Telestream’s Screenflow.  But, this update, plus my assessment in Episode 4: Screenflow, highlight the lead that Techsmith continues to gap ahead of Telestream.)

• Clip speed effect.  Finally!  The addition of this effect in v2.1 I think adds one of the features that has lagged behind Camtasia’s PC-based cousin and Telestream’s Screenflow.  In fact, when I produced the Mindmap Evolution: “Group Think” video, I had to revert back to Camtasia Studio (the PC version) because it had the clip speed effect, whereas Camtasia Mac was still working on incorporating it.  But, now there’s no need.  I can take care of all that inside Camtasia Mac without having to splice-in video rendered via other programs.

The Bottom Line

If you work off of a Macintosh, and are hunting for a robust and very capable video screen capture software program, you’ll do very well to check out Camtasia for Macintosh.

Did you see what I did there?  In the title?  You already know something’s up.

Turns out, Techsmith is retiring Jing Pro….

(Click to enlarge)

Beginning February next year (2013), they’ll be reverting all Jing Pro subscribers to the free version of Jing.  In the meantime, encouraging new users to try the new version of Snagit which, beginning with version 2, now sports the ability to for video screen captures.

And that’s not at all a bad thing.  As I say in the video, Snagit — although not what I would consider a robust video screen capture software tool — is definitely a piece of software that should be in your toolkit if you plan on producing screencasts professionally.

So, all this begs the question:  With all the choices out in the wild, which video screen capture software should you use for professional screen capture projects?  Check out the video; I answer all those questions for you.

[Related:  Best Screencasting Software Series]

If you’re juuust jumping into the series, then you’ll want to start with episode 1 in this series: Six of the Best Screen Capture Software – Compared (Ep. 1).  You’ll also want tosubscribe so you get notified when new updates come online.

In this episode: Telestream’s Screenflow

Screenflow is Telestream’s client-side video screen capture software that’s made for the Macintosh.  In the  features we’re using for comparing the different software in this series, Screenflow came out with an overall “Mel Rank” of 5.0 (out of 5)*.

• Cursor effects/animation: 5 (out of 5)
  
• Multiple video tracks:  5 (out of 5)
• Multiple audio tracks: 5 (out of 5)
• Animation of annotations and/or callouts:  4.5 (out of 5)

*  Note:  While Screenflow actually scored a Mel-rank of 4.5 out of 5 in the annotations/callouts area due to some limitations I mention in the video about the pixelation feature, I decided to give it a “field promotion” to an overall Mel-rank of 5 out of 5.  I thought Screenflow’s feature of capturing keyboard button-key combinations during the recording stage was an extra bonus.  (Hey Techsmith – that’s a good feature to have for Cam-Mac!)  :)

Summary

So far in this series, Screenflow and Camtasia for Macintosh have come out on top.  Each has earned an overall Mel-rank of 5 out of 5.  Interestingly, at a price point of $99, each is actually very cost effective.  Next up in this series, we’ll take a look at Techsmith’s Jing product.

[Related: Best Screencasting Software Series]

Where do I host non-YouTube videos?

In the 2-part video above I answer a question that has come up several times in both the VTA members only group and also recently via email from my cool subscribers on this site.

The short story is: I use Amazon’s Web Services for both storage (via Amazon S3) and streaming video delivery (via Amazon Cloudfront).  And, I use Easy Video Player (EVP) to configure the player for presentation purposes and embedding.  (EVP also has the advantage of adding call-to-action interactivity like buy buttons and sign-up forms in the video player.)

It’s important to point out that you really need a minimum of all three of the solution types above if you’re looking to pull off a video and screencast content distribution model that optimizes your viewers’ experience.    I explain in the video what each of the components do — together, they effectively and efficiently stream video to your audience while minimizing their frustrations.

How to fix buffering problems or video stutter in your self-hosted web video

One of the big problems with self-hosted videos is that, unless they’re served with the use of a streaming video service, they could increase your viewers’ frustrations.  Video buffering problems or video stuttter are common issues with self-hosted / non-streaming videos and will likely make your visitors click away.

To fix it, you need to make sure that your web video content distribution model includes a streaming video service.  Amazon Cloudfront that is configured for streaming (along with Amazon S3 for video storage) will do that for you.  (So will a hosting site like YouTube, for that matter, which is another reason why it’s such a popular storage and delivery medium.  But, for private, or otherwise non-public video, you’ll obviously need another solution.)

Another advantage of Cloudfront is that, in addition to the option of configuring it for streaming video, it also acts as a content distribution network (CDN).  That is, it attempts to store copies of your video at access points closest to where it senses your audience is.  That further increases delivery efficiency.

The video above (via YouTube) is an example of streaming video.  (I explain what that is in the video.  Watch it.)  For the sake of comparison, I said, in the video, I’d show an example of the (potential) pain with video that’s served up as http-type progressive download.  (I explain, too, in the video what that is.  Watch it.)  :)

So, here it is: below is an example of self-hosted video that isn’t configured as streaming video.

You Still Need a Video Player

Finally, it’s worth saying that, in addition to having a place to physically store your video files and distribute them as streaming video and via a content distribution network, your audience still needs a way to interact with your video.  That is, to allow them to issue commands to play, pause, rewind, etc. your video.  That’s the role of a video player.  You need this also.

The thing is, admittedly, configuring a video player to work with Amazon’s Web Services requires a bit of gymnasitcs.  Not a lot, but enough to make it a barrier for some of us.  And, that’s why it’s important to consider the features of your chosen video player.

Some video player software systems will actually take care of the Amazon-side configuration for you if you just provide a couple of pieces of information.  And, that’s why I use Easy Video Player.  It makes that part of the configuration very easy.

But, rather than get into it here, I’ll reserve that discussion for another blog post.

My friend, Ron Siegel, asked me once if he could watch over my shoulder as I make one of these mindmaps during our meeting.  We haven’t yet been able to connect on that, but Ron was my inspiration for capturing a screencast of the notes I took from yesterday’s SMMOC meetup.  The video above was captured using Ron’s inspiration, Camtasia for Mac, and then sped up about 5000% using Final Cut.

To view the actual mindmap notes from yesterday’s SMMOC meeting — and which is featured in the video above — click the image below.  And, in case you’re wondering what software I use to make my mindmaps, it’s no secret: I use MindJet’s Mind Manager to make all of my mindmaps.  (Tip:  Make sure and click embedded links in the mind map to click-through to related resources, people, images and places.)

(Click to view in a new window)

Why Mind Manager?

While there are many mind map software packages you can get easily enough–some of them for free–I’ve grown accustomed to MindJet’s tool as I’ve used their products since version 1.0.

BUT, more than just it all being a loyalty thing, there are some very practical features of MindJet’s tools that you won’t find in many others.  Some of these benefits include:

• The ability to easily share mindmaps in various formats — including the interactive one you see above — in a way that doesn’t require the recipient to own a copy of the mind map software themselves
• The ability to download many free templates
• Rich features that include a stock of icons and graphics that you can easily embed into your mindmap in click-and-drag fashion
• An active online community with many users sharing tips, tricks and more templates

There are more benefits, but those above are the highlights.

Questions?

If you have any questions about how I produce my video screencasts, the effects I use, about any of the tools and services you see on my site, or if you’d like to suggest a future topic, let me know: just post a comment below or via one of the many social networks you’ll probably find this in.  :)

Share!

If you found this helpful, feel free to share it.  You help me; you help your friends.  Thanks in advance.

In this screencast software tip I answer a question about how I create a simultaneous zoom effect found in a couple of my video screen capture projects.  The effect is to focus on two different parts of the computer screen at the same time.

The V2 Zoom Effect

I’ve dubbed this the “V2 Zoom Effect” because it requires at least two video tracks (“v1″ for video track 1, and “v2″ for video track 2) to pull it off.  It also requires key-framing clips on each track simultaneously with different zoom settings.

When to Use This Effect

(Click to enlarge)

This effect is helpful in cases where zooming in on one part of the screen would otherwise cause another critical part of the screen to disappear off-frame and away from view.  Use this effect when you want to show details of changes that become visible in other parts of the computer screen when settings are made in the subject software on another part of the screen.