You forgot the leader in the commercial space (arguably) - Camtasia by Techsmith.
John
· 1 year ago
How in the heck did you guys miss camtasia from techsmith, the guys who make jing? Its one of the biggest and most well known out there.
Shaun
· 1 year ago
ScreenFlow is nice, but it is buggy as hell.. Constant crashes.
I'm convinced they released it prematurely after they were spooked by Camtasia's press release that they were coming out with a Mac version.
Honestly, ScreenFlow has potential, but it is like... an alpha version right now... maybe a draft. It's horribly unstable.
OHWolfman
· 1 year ago
Actually, I use ScreenFlow and not a single problem. Works beautifully. I wish I could find a Windows equivalent for work!
Mark
· 9 months ago
I agree with OHWolfman. ScreenFlow has been awesome in our shop. No hint of crashes. A very sweet tool indeed.
Michael
· 3 months ago
Agree - have just been searching for other Screen recording options this morning because ScreenFlow has been a headache; I'm running the current version on Leopard. The last thing that happened that sent me to Google to search for "OS X screencasting" was that the audio dropped out for an unknown reason; can't hear the track even though you can see the waveform - & it's not my volume setting ; ) .. Something that should have been a 20 minute project has turned into a 2 hour+ project. Simple things like adding a text box just seem to not work properly. And crashes.
Paolo
· 1 year ago
I use Camtasia, they offered a free version not long ago, very easy to use.
Adobe? 700? Thtat's just too much for me right now.
shane
· 1 year ago
Isn't Wink free?
I'm not sure how/why Camtasia was left off the list unless the aim was to give some air time to other options.
I use the free version of Camtasia 3 that Techsmith released a few months ago. It works well for what it does but I would love to get my hands on Camtasia 5.
Snag-it (also by Techsmith) does bitmap video capture as well as screenshots, but the end result is not quite as smooth as specialised screencast software. Jing is nice (Techsmith again - I sense a pattern) but very limited.
I never could get Wink or CamStudio to work on my computer, which is why I ended up buying Snag-it.
Sutto
· 1 year ago
Isn't Wink free and iShowU commercial :|?
Sean P. Aune
· 1 year ago
Not that I saw, course some companies are trickier at hiding things than others.
Sutto
· 1 year ago
On the Wink page you linked (free is in bold text):
-scratches head- I know how Wink got where it was because originally had them all in alphabetical order, and I forgot to move it.
iShowU... yeah, I got no excuse on that one, I earn a -facepalm- for that one. They've been swapped. Thanks for pointing it out.
Sean P. Aune
· 1 year ago
Regarding every one mentioning Camtasia, and this goes for every list actually, I don't always "forget" something on a list, sometimes I simply don't know about a service (no one could ever know every service in every category), and in the case of Camtasia, I didn't feel it needed inclusion since I do believe every one knows it. Perhaps we should have called it "Forget Camtasia", but I admit that particular idea didn't cross my mind at the time I wrote it.
Keep the comments coming though, and do call me on things, I do read every comment left on the lists.
Mac Hammer
· 3 months ago
I found this discussion because I needed to record a software training video and knew nothing of the products mentioned here. I started reviewing them based on this list. At almost every turn, I encountered comments comparing the software to Camtasia. So, I looked up Camtasia. It was clearly the best I could find, and I'm already half-way done with the production using their free-30-day trial. Leaving them out of the list may have been fine for those who already know the software category, but for those like me, who are looking for this review to learn what is there, leaving them off was a huge disservice. I still had to find it on my own, and I'm about to buy it, it is so good.
Pbice
· 1 year ago
So, which one is the best? Or, which one do you recommend? (I don't think I'll need 12 screencast softwares.)
Sean P. Aune
· 1 year ago
I liked CamStudio and am going to be road testing it heavier this weekend while working on a project.
FSWebDevelopment
· 1 year ago
Camtasia is awesome!
Klessblog
· 1 year ago
Hey Sean, thanks for another great list. I added a link to your article in Wikipedia under screencast. You gave a nice balance of free and commercial products. I've used a few of the programs and now I have a lot more options.
Thanks, Larry
scyldinga
· 1 year ago
Any one using vlc desktop capture to record screen casts?
Bryan Murley
· 1 year ago
You also missed (or ignored) Snapz Pro (Mac Only), which is $70 from ambrosia software.
Danny Maas
· 1 year ago
I do a lot of screencasts for my educational video podcast, and the one I've found to be great and easy to use is Windows Media Encoder 9. Free, the screen recording is rendered as .WMV or as DV. I first do screen recordings in Windows Media Encoder 9 (records audio as well if interested) and then clean it up in Windows Movie Maker. Finally, I upload it to Google Video so I can paste the code into my blog, and also put a link to Google Video for the higher resolution video. Once I download my own Google Video in MPEG-4, I then have all bases covered with WMV, MP4, and Flash video all available for viewers.
Windows Media Encoder, I've found, does a much better resolution and compression than CamStudio. I have yet to try the latest Windows Media Encoder version.
I have ever same problem, but I can't solve that. Thanks!
Rolf
· 1 year ago
A very good screen recording program is Demorecorder
Chris
· 1 year ago
I agree, what's up?
Vic Uzumeri
· 1 year ago
We have been using BB Flashback (http://www.bbsoftware.co.uk/BBFlashBack.aspx) for several years. It comes in two forms: Full version and Express. The Express version is only $40, will save directly to Flash and is very stable. The Full version adds impressive editing capability for about $200. Techsmith Camtasia is still probably the Cadillac of the field, but BB Flashback is very good value alternative.
For software developers, the authors of BB Flashback have some other really interesting tools for capturing screens from remote computer users - along with a host of background PC operating system detail. One of the tools even works via the web with an easily loaded ActiveX component.
I'm in no way associated with this product except as a satisfied long-term user.
librarysteve
· 1 year ago
depends what you want to do and what file format you need...I use Camtasia, Captivate, and Jing...and just started playing with Snapz Pro X on the Mac.
For me, Camtasia rules for an easy screen video recording program with LOTS of file format options (flash, .mov, .wmv, .avi, .m4v, etc.) ... if you only need Flash, then Jing generally works great, but you only get 5 minutes of recording time (and a little too much Jing branding) ...Snapz Pro X is great, but you only get .mov (QuickTime) ... I like Captivate, but I feel a bit limited by Flash or .exe only publishing, but it's nice for creating interactive style step by step exercises
In General, For $299, I just don't think you can beat Camtasia
just my .02
Laurie
· 1 year ago
I will be joining as I see much here I would love to learn about. I am seeking OpenSource alternatives to the real pricy deals as I am disabled an on a fixed income. I look forward to my next visit.
I tried Jing and really like its interfaces. But it has an uncertain future/pricing
Giochiapalla
· 1 year ago
Nice post! I have used it to make a video for the site!
Edward McGee
· 1 year ago
Good information. The performance of a few of these are really terrible (Wink & Camstudio). Screencast-o-matic is a great idea, but has lots of issues. Adobe Captivate is great, but very pricey. Camtasia is popular and a good overall product although I believe it is also over priced. FRAPS is good if you need to record DirectX games.
I think the best product that is not listed is SentryWorks Abra which you can get from http://www.sentryworks.com. They have a free version and the paid version is $99. Excellent performance and feature set for the price!
Ed
· 1 year ago
If you're doing a screencast using webpages only, Flowgram is great for that. Here's an example:
I have some experience with camtasia studio.. Very nice listing,thank you I've also written an article about free screen recording software.
Edwin
· 1 year ago
I have some experience with Camtasia studio and posted an article about free screen recording software on my blog. This is a very nice listing, thank you..
Techmith Camtasio is vrey good and user friendly. Best thing is you can add your own watermark to your video.
Fuzz
· 1 year ago
I liked CamStudio
land008
· 1 year ago
I think there is a good screen recorder called DemoCreator. It is slide based, a little bit like Captive.
Michael Stewart
· 12 months ago
Another one to add would be Camtasia Studio by Tech Smith it's pretty steep so it would be under the commercial section but it's what I use for all my screencastr.com videos.
Banks
· 9 months ago
Thanks for sharing. The big deffence between the free screen recorder and commercial one is the eidting features. There are more editing features in commercial screen recorder. I would like to add another screencasting tool in the list: DemoCreator, which records the onscreen activity as slides for easier editing.
Great listing! It's tough to find all these products in one place, much appreciated. If anyone out there needs help with developing a story before using these products, check out FlashDemoWorld.com. It's full of free advice and samples.
Sweet list. Been looking for a screen casting program for a minute. Thanks!
Yamazaki
· 3 months ago
Adobe Captivate is ideal choice for commercial use except its dear price. If you balance the function and price, there're some other great screen recorders you didn't mention above: Total Screen Recorder, Eatscreen-pro, DemoCreator, etc.
axl
· 2 months ago
for most freeware screen recorders, they can only capture your screen but lack of video editting features. so from my point of view it's necessary to choose commercialware if you are willing to creat your unique demos. now i'm on my way of trying Democreator, a friendly pc screen recorder costs $99, with most of common editting functions.
All Comments
I'm convinced they released it prematurely after they were spooked by Camtasia's press release that they were coming out with a Mac version.
Honestly, ScreenFlow has potential, but it is like... an alpha version right now... maybe a draft. It's horribly unstable.
Adobe? 700? Thtat's just too much for me right now.
I'm not sure how/why Camtasia was left off the list unless the aim was to give some air time to other options.
I use the free version of Camtasia 3 that Techsmith released a few months ago. It works well for what it does but I would love to get my hands on Camtasia 5.
Snag-it (also by Techsmith) does bitmap video capture as well as screenshots, but the end result is not quite as smooth as specialised screencast software. Jing is nice (Techsmith again - I sense a pattern) but very limited.
I never could get Wink or CamStudio to work on my computer, which is why I ended up buying Snag-it.
"Wink is free with unrivaled features."
And on the iShowU page, there is a purchase link in the menu which leads to http://www.shinywhitebox.com/store/shop.php
iShowU... yeah, I got no excuse on that one, I earn a -facepalm- for that one. They've been swapped. Thanks for pointing it out.
Keep the comments coming though, and do call me on things, I do read every comment left on the lists.
(I don't think I'll need 12 screencast softwares.)
Thanks, Larry
Windows Media Encoder, I've found, does a much better resolution and compression than CamStudio. I have yet to try the latest Windows Media Encoder version.
http://screencastingprimer.wikispaces.com/
There's also a free screencasting tool for linux - not sure if your forget or left it out or just wanted to focus on windows/mac
http://www.freecharity.org.uk/2007/04/12/the-se...
For software developers, the authors of BB Flashback have some other really interesting tools for capturing screens from remote computer users - along with a host of background PC operating system detail. One of the tools even works via the web with an easily loaded ActiveX component.
I'm in no way associated with this product except as a satisfied long-term user.
For me, Camtasia rules for an easy screen video recording program with LOTS of file format options (flash, .mov, .wmv, .avi, .m4v, etc.) ... if you only need Flash, then Jing generally works great, but you only get 5 minutes of recording time (and a little too much Jing branding) ...Snapz Pro X is great, but you only get .mov (QuickTime) ... I like Captivate, but I feel a bit limited by Flash or .exe only publishing, but it's nice for creating interactive style step by step exercises
In General, For $299, I just don't think you can beat Camtasia
just my .02
http://philosophical-literatu re.blogspot.com/ http://www.anarsist.org/felse fe/ http://www.bid-directory.net/ http://www.anarsist.org/
Camtasia is popular and a good overall product although I believe it is also over priced. FRAPS is good if you need to record DirectX games.
I think the best product that is not listed is SentryWorks Abra which you can get from http://www.sentryworks.com. They have a free version and the paid version is $99. Excellent performance and feature set for the price!
http://beta.flowgram.com/p/130/
Very nice listing,thank you
I've also written an article about free screen recording software.
This is a very nice listing, thank you..
http://probedeep.blogspot.com/2008/10/make-scre...
Best thing is you can add your own watermark to your video.
http://www.coreldrawtips.com