Visual Lounge

Screencast of the Week - Sharepoint Intranet Launch at Hudson

Betsy Weber — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 20:48:02 PDT

This week's Screencast of the Week has it all... Great music, Picture-in-Picture, SmartFocus, Tilt and more. Kris Rzepkowski used a Camtasia video to communicate the launch of a new intranet at link Hudson. This is one high quality screencast! What a great way to launch a new website! Entertaining and informative. Check out Kris Rzepkowski's blog for a great post about the launch of Hudson's SharePoint Intranet (Challenge, User Research, Design, Development/Beta Launch) Any nominations for next week's Screencast of the Week?

Observe and Change... The Easy Way

Betsy Weber — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 21:50:16 PDT

This week I'm dog sitting my sister's 6 month old puppy, Harry. I had forgotten what it was like to have a puppy in the house! This one little 40 pound change in the household has shaken up everything! I've had to change my routine, puppy proof the house, relearn dog training 101 and hide the toilet paper (he shreds it!). That got me thinking about change. Just by sitting back and observing Harry, I noticed lots of ways I can make small changes around the house (place toilet paper up high on counter, hide the Wii Remotes) and change my habits (leave no food on counters) to mitigate problems and make both of our lives happier. The power of observation and change! The same holds true for usability of software, apps, and websites. You can make minor changes that make a big difference. That's one reason why Morae can be such a powerful tool in your toolbox. Record and observe people with Morae interacting with your website or app and see where they struggle. Then, make small changes to improve their experience! And, speaking of Wii Remotes... did you know with Morae 3.1 you can use a Wii Remote to set markers and log tasks during recording? This is perfect if you're a facilitator with only one computer, or are working alone. You can mark important moments during the session easily and quickly using the remote to set markers and start or end tasks without disrupting the participant (no need to use the computer they're testing on since you're using the Wii Remote). And, this ultimately can give you faster analysis. You can read more about it here I hope I survive this week with Harry! Good thing he's so cute! For now I'll continue to observe and make small changes...

Welcome TechSmith's New Education Community Site

Betsy Weber — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 12:22:41 PDT

I'm happy to share some good news with you! My partner in crime, Dave McCollom, our Education Evangelist at TechSmith has just launched a brand new blog. Plus, he's added a new page chock full of great resources for educators that are using all TechSmith products.

There already are some tutorials and examples showing how to creatively use Snagit, Camtasia Studio and Jing in the classroom. Dave will be working to provide you with more content all the time. We made the site with you in mind and need your input on what you need and how to improve. So, poke around the site and let us know what you think.

Check out some useful links from the new site below!

Education Community Site

Screencast Tour of Community Site (also embedded in the first post on the Education Blog)

Education Blog

Want some creative inspiration in the classroom? Check out some of these ideas and examples (you can find more on the TechSmith Education Community site too!):

Introduction to Screen Capture in Education

Students Demonstrate Understanding via Video

Have a "digital hallway" to display student work

Create quick "how-to" guides for students and staff

Make a video for when you or students are absent

Provide Thorough and Personalized Feedback to Students

Capture Instructional Content for Additional Student Practice

If any of you educators out there have any Snagit, Camtasia Studio, or Jing content and/or stories that you'd like to share please let Dave know! And, please keep the feedback coming...

Screencast of the Week - Fighting Hunger, Editing By Candlelight and WFP

Betsy Weber — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 18:20:32 PDT

When Beth Kanter talks, I listen! Beth is wonderful for so many reasons. Beth is very innovative and is a rock star in the Nonprofit world. She teaches Nonprofits to effectively use technology and social media. She also happens to be a Camtasia Studio user. :-) Beth caught my eye the other day when she posted this on Twitter: What a cool use of Camtasia Studio! The UN World Food Programme (WFP) recently launched a video blog called 'On the Road'. Bloggers are using a Flip Video Cam and Camtasia Studio for editing to show what is going on in the field - often by candle light and racing the computer battery before it dies. The first series was shot in Tanzania with Marcus Prior. Some of the videos shows what life is like in a Masai village, their new irrigation system, and you can even see Marcus sample some goat. Another video follows school kids on their 6km walk to get water for cooking their lunch. Check out several videos made with Camtasia Studio here - 'On the road: Tanzania'. They're quick videos - none of them run longer than 3:30 minutes. I love these videos - they're gritty and eye opening. I like how fast they can be created and shared. What better way to show the world what life is like in the field? And, these videos tell a story - storytelling is one of the most important parts of interesting and engaging screencasts. And, if you are bringing your Flip video (MP4) into Camtasia Studio, I've heard a few people are getting a no codec error message. If you run into this, check out this workaround. Any nominations for next week's Screencast of the Week?

The Ideal Computer for Camtasia Studio

Betsy Weber — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 21:39:55 PDT

I got an email last week from a user in the market for a new computer and he wanted to know what the best new computer would be for recording and producing Camtasia Studio. Great question! I did some research with the Camtasia Studio developers and tech support. I figured other people would be interested in what I found out. While we can't make recommendations of a specific computer model (these change quickly and each model comes with many variations of specs), this is what we came up with: The faster, the better. Simple as that. Focus on getting the fastest CPU possible, dual-core or quad-core Intel chip, and at least 2 GB RAM or more Desktop computers are often better than laptops for performance. Get the best video card option and also a dedicated sound card is preferred. Nvidia or ATI dedicated graphic cards work well. Creative SoundBlaster audio cards are great. We've had good luck with the SoundBlaster Audigy SE soundcard - it has the ability to record speaker and system audio. We have not had good luck with Realtek audio cards. We have not found that 64 bit computers produce Camtasia Studio videos any faster, but if you want more than 3 GB of RAM you need to go to 64-bit. Currently, there are not any known issues with using 64-bit computers with Camtasia Studio. If the computer you look for has these things, you should have a great time with Camtasia Studio! Anyone else have any advice to add?

Show Your Snagit, Jing and Camtasia Studio Pride!

Betsy Weber — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 19:57:54 PDT

It's good to share, right? And, I have got something fun to share with you! As you know, I love our products and I love stickers. We just got in some great new buttons and stickers and I thought many of you would like them too! If you'd like some Snagit, Camtasia Studio and Jing stickers and buttons, please feel free to order them from here. And, please, please, please email me some pics of you with your buttons and stickers. I'd love to see how you put them to good use!

Snagit, Hockey and Playoff Beards

Betsy Weber — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 14:05:53 PDT

As you know, TechSmith is headquartered in lovely Okemos, Michigan. And, lately, I've noticed many men walking around town in beards. Now, what do Michigan and beards have in common? Well, our 'local' hockey team in Michigan, the Detroit Red Wings are in the Stanley Cup finals... tonight. And, there is a tradition that hockey players and fans will grow 'playoff beards' once their team has entered the playoffs! So, that got me thinking... hockey, playoff beards, tech... how can we bring them all together? That lead me to thinking about the mustache custom Snagit stamp I shared earlier this week (you can download it here). Well, why not have a playoff beard custom Snagit stamp too?! Check out our Education Evangelist, Dave McCollom sporting the playoff beard stamp! You can download your own Playoff Beard custom stamp to use in Snagit here. Enjoy! I'd love to see what you create with it... Give your boss a playoff beard, your dog, a baby... it works on anyone. :-) You can find more info here about how to install and use custom stamps in Snagit. The 'beard is back' as they say! And, I'll be watching the Detroit Red Wings win the Stanley Cup tonight! ;-)

Rickrolling, Snagit and You...

Betsy Weber — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 18:42:02 PDT

If you grew up in the 80s like I did, you are probably familiar with pop singer Rick Astley. In the last few years, maybe you've heard of "Rickrolling"? Basically it is like the old bait and switch idea - you send someone a web link that misdirects someone to Rick Astley's video, " Never Gonna Give You Up". Pretty funny! So, naturally, when I saw the tweet above from Jessica Knott, it caught my attention. Snagit AND Rick Astley! A custom stamp match made in heaven! I had to find out more! So, I contacted Jess and she was kind enough to share the custom stamp. If you'd like your own Rick Astley stamp for Snagit, you can download it from here. Jessica also wrote a great blog post here about how she uses Snagit 9 at Michigan State University (my alma mater!) for documentation. And, while we're on the topic of the 80's, you cannot talk about 80's pop stars without mentioning Hall & Oates. John Oates has a mustache that is legendary. So, I was thinking what better than a mustache stamp to go along with the Rick Astley stamp!? I tested out the mustache stamp on our Snagit trainer, Chris McQueen's pic to the left. :-) And, I thought others might want to use the mustache stamp too (that's for you, John Quick)!. You can download the mustache Snagit stamp here. If you'd like to make your own Snagit custom stamp, you can take any PNG, JPG, GIF, TIF or BMP. Chris McQueen from our Training Department will show you how to create and use a custom stamp in this handy screencast. It runs just over 2 minutes. If you prefer a written tutorial, you can read here how to add a Custom Stamp to your Quick Styles Gallery in Snagit. Chris also writes Snagit tips on Twitter. You can follow him here or TechSmith on Twitter here. Want other stamps? You can download them here from TechSmith. Or, Geetesh Bajaj from Indezine and Scrapbook Presentations has hundreds of other free Snagit stamps available in a variety of categories here. I want to see how you use the Rick Astley and mustache stamp! Email me the pics or post links in the comments! I'm lobbying our Creative Services Department for a set of different mustaches and eyebrows. You'd use them, wouldn't you?! Any other stamp requests? Thanks for a good laugh, Jess! You make Snagit fun!

Screencast of the Week - Len Charnoff and Bing

Betsy Weber — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 19:47:30 PDT

I was poking around on Twitter the other day and this tweet caught my eye. Recently Microsoft launched some new technology called Bing. So, Len Charnoff's tweet about Bing caught my eye. I was curious about Bing - It's a new search engine. And, as you know, screencast is a perfect way to show new technology off in action. In addition to reading about new tech, I really like to see the new tech in action. Len Charnoff has made not one, but three screencasts reviewing some of Bing's new features. Len's screencasts were perfect timing for me so I could see Bing in action before trying it. I also like Len's use of title slides, transitions and callouts. In his first screencast, Len reviews Bing's free 411 information service (a voice activated information service from Microsoft - 800-246-4411). He shows off how to find a restaurant. Very useful for someone like me who travels a lot and is frequently lost (it gives directions!). :-) You can view the video here. He also tests out the Weather and Traffic sections of Bing 411 in this screencast here. He has an update to the Traffic portion of the screencast here You can learn more about Len here. Congrats Len for being our Screencast of the Week! You have bragging rights! :-) Any nominations for next week's Screencast of the Week? You can even nominate yourself if you like.

6 Jing Videos in 60 Minutes... Jing Speed Series Has Begun!

Betsy Weber — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 13:29:32 PDT

Cross posted from The Jing Blog And, we're off! The Jing Speed Series has started! Can we pull off 6 Jing Screencasts in 60 minutes? We will find out! Up first, we have David Moulton, Senior Web Designer, shows me how to turn an unused button on your mouse and making it a hotkey for Jing. Makes captures fast! You can see the Jingcast here. By the way, he made our cool Jing Speed Series graphic you see in this post. Jing Lead Developer, Bill Scanlon and Katie Lewis, the Product Marketing Manager, will be going over what's new in Jing. You can see the Jingcast here Katie and Mike Curtis, Information Developer, go over an easter egg in the latest version of Jing on the Mac giving you the ability to display all of your easy region selection options. You can see the Jingcast here Training Manager, Matt Pierce, and Tech Support Engineer, Casey Phear, go over how to move the Jing sun and using it with a hot key. You can see the Jingcast here. Matt Pierce and Instructional Designer, Chris McQueen, go over how to use Jing with Snagit and Camtasia Studio. You can see the Jingcast about using Jing with Snagit here and the Jingcast about using Jing with Camtasia Studio here. And, lastly, Mike Curtis, Information Developer, and Katie go over demystifying embed code and the value of the new Screencast.com folders. You can see the Jingcast here. If you'd like to tune in live, you can watch here on Ustream.tv here Note: Well, we actually made 6 screencasts in 60 minutes with Jing, but found out we had audio issues (as in no audio) on 2 of our videos. So, we had to re-record them! Always something! :-) Thanks for tuning in!

Kick Start Training for Camtasia Studio

Betsy Weber — Sat, 30 May 2009 19:10:27 PDT

Well, there may be 'no such thing as a free lunch' but you can get some free Camtasia Studio training! Our Training department is putting on a free webinar. The webinar will go over the basics of recording your screen, editing, and production. It's perfect for first time users. Sign-up here. There are 15 spots available so sign up quickly. Can't attend the webinar? We have lots of great resources online like our Learning Center which is full of tutorials and videos. Or, walk through your first project with the 'Fundamentals of Camtasia Studio' PDF. And, about that free lunch... Catch up with me on the road - email or tweet me. I'd love to take you out to lunch, get your feedback and chat about screencaptures, screencasting, usability, etc. See? There is such a thing as free lunch! Next stop for me is Chicago in July for the Blogher Conference, July 24 - 25. Hope to see you there!

Going from 0 to 60 - 6 Jing Videos in 60 Minutes

Betsy Weber — Fri, 29 May 2009 18:16:56 PDT

"I feel the need... the need for speed!" Ah, one of my favorite quotes from the movie, Top Gun. Remember that scene? Last weekend was the Indianapolis 500. I was watching the news and found out that those cars hit speeds of 220 mph or more!? That got me thinking about speed... which led me to thinking about Top Gun and then got me thinking about one of my favorite topics, screencapture and screencasting (yes, that's how my brain works)! ;-) It occurred to me that Jing is like the racecar of screencaptures and screencasting! It's all about speed, baby! And, I've been thinking lately about how much fun it was to do the Camtasia Studio 24 videos in 24 hours. And, wondering if we should pull another all nighter to make 24 videos for Jing? But, since a big benefit of Jing is how quickly you can create and share content, I thought a speed test would be a better idea instead! Besides, I'm not sure if I've caught up on sleep after our last all nighter screencasting. :-) So, for our speed test, we'll create 6 Jing screencasts in 60 minutes next Tuesday, June 2, 2009 at 3:00 pm EDT (GMT-4)! A variety of TechSmithies will be joining me on the screencasts from Jing developers, to Graphic Artists, to Trainers and Information Developers to Product Marketing Managers. We'll post the Jingcasts here on the Visual Lounge Blog as well as on the Jing Blog as they are available (hopefully every 10 minutes). If you'd like to tune in live, we'll be streaming from Ustream.TV here. There will be a chat room on Ustream.TV so feel free to ask us questions there. I will also post updates on Twitter (TechSmith and BetsyWeber). We'll show you some new tips and tricks and reveal some new surprises as well. So, tune in! Any topics you'd like us to cover?

Come Visit TechSmith! May 28 is 'Take Your Customers To Work Day'

Betsy Weber — Fri, 22 May 2009 08:37:19 PDT

Now here's a 'holiday' I'm excited to celebrate and I hope you will join in too! I just learned that May 28th is 'Take Your Customer To Work Day'! We like to think that every day is 'Take Your Customer To Work Day' at TechSmith and our doors are always open to visitors... We love it when users come to visit. We've even had people spend part of their vacation with us! So, on May 28th, I'd like to invite you in to visit TechSmith in Okemos, Michigan. Come have coffee (or a beverage of your choice) and some sweet treats with us! Jen Middlin, the Community Relations Manager, and I will give you the grand tour, you can meet our president, Bill Hamilton, and our Product Managers and dev teams, training, tech support and more. And, more importantly, come give us your feedback and help shape the future of the products you use. If you're interested in coming in from 1:00 - 3:00pm, on May 28, please RSVP here. Come on in - we've been waiting for you! Can't make it on May 28th? We're happy to have you visit anytime! Just drop me an email and we'll set something up. By the way - I learned of the 'Take Your Customer to Work Day' from Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba who write the Church of the Customer Blog, authored two books, "Citizen Marketers: When People are the Message" and "Creating Customer Evangelists" and created SWOM (Society of Word of Mouth). Ben and Jackie taught me just about everything I know and have a profound impact on my life and career! Seriously. I just learned that Ben went in for surgery last week for renal cell carcinoma (cancer of the kidney). Ben - From your friends at TechSmith (and me!) - we're wishing you a speedy recovery! You're in our thoughts...

Visual Communication, Camtasia Studio and Bacon

Betsy Weber — Wed, 20 May 2009 10:17:09 PDT

Brooks Andrus and I are having a great time at 360|Flex today! We had a chance to catch up with Renaun Erickson, a RIA developer at Adobe and who is also the driving force behind Structured Log Testing, an open source project for RIA Flash platform developers. Renaun shared with us the benefits of visual communication for him and how he needed a little more than Jing for his screencasting (he hit the 5 minute limit). He shared how he uses Camtasia Studio. And, in keeping with the bacon theme, we got Renaun to try one of the maple bacon lollipops we brought to the conference! He may be the biggest bacon fan I have ever met! The video is just under 4 minutes long... We recorded the video with a Flip HD Mino camera and Brooks edited and produced the video using Adobe Premiere and After Effects The pic above is by Eric Stoike - See more of his great pics from 360|Flex here

Bacon, 360|Flex and TechSmith

Betsy Weber — Tue, 19 May 2009 13:41:04 PDT

Part of my job is to connect with people. And, as you may know, I might be what some people call a little quirky. :-) So, I thought we should have something fun in the booth. Somehow I stumbled up Maple Bacon Lollipops - I had to try them! I mean, what could be better than sugar plus organic bacon on a stick?! I figured, it'd be fun for Brooks Andrus, our Senior Flash Developer, and I to take them down to Indianapolis for 360|Flex this week. The lollipops would be a great hook to get people to talk to us and a way to have fun at our demo table. So far, so good!

Interested in the response to the lollipops? Brooks and I interviewed a few Flex developers not only about the candy but also how they use Snagit, Camtasia Studio, and Jing. Check out the first interview with Nick Kwiatkowski. It's a quick one that runs 2:00 minutes.

We made the video with a Flip Mino HD camera and used Adobe Premiere to edit plus a pic from iStockphoto.

Also, be sure to check out Brooks' first video about the bacon lollipops here.

Maple + Sugar + Bacon + Stick = Good?