The Short of It
Windows Media Encoder
There is a great free screen capture tool called Windows Media Encoder. It can be found here and a quick video showing how to setup one up here.
What is a Screencapture?
My definition is simple. Capturing your computer screen and associated in-sync audio to a video file. Recording what is happening on your screen along with your voice explaining what is seen on that screen. Note this is not about game screen capture…
Screencasting is simply putting it out there for others to get it. Some might contend that doing this “live” is screen casting – I will not argue that point. So, if you are capturing then you are probably casting – putting it out there for others.
Why Screen Cast?
I think the answer should be obvious. Have you said/heard this….
“A picture is worth a thousand words.”
“Here, it’ll be easier to just show you.”
“Can you say that again?”
“I forget how to do that.”
If you are like me – a geek who has to occasionally show someone else how to do something on the computer and talk them thru it – then screen capture might save you some time. It can be much easier to create than detailed documentation that describes some steps in a GUI and it is easier to consume. I do this sort of thing at work – teach the new comer the ropes. I have created a series of screen casts that allows the new person to get a hands-on demonstration of how to do critical tasks without having to keep showing the same thing to them over and over again! Another bonus is that the new person can rewind and review at their leisure.
Cheap Screencasting
After searching the web and looking at all these crazy little tools that claim to do this, I found one almost by accident. Windows Media Encoder is cheap because it is free. Just download it. It is relatively simple and reliable. And, it creates good-looking screen/voice captures that don’t consume a lot of disk space. There are other tools on the market that probably do a better job, but this tool can get 80 to 90 percent of that functionality without accessing the wallet.
How
Once you have installed Media Encoder, then you start capturing….. This is a good place to use Media Encoder – to show how to use Media Encoder. [Recursive, chicken or the egg, etc] So, here is a screen cast I created for coworkers almost a year ago. Click here to watch.
Some Notes:
- Windows only: Media Encoder is a Microsoft product, so the captured files will be in a proprietary format. You will only be able to capture windows sessions. I’m guessing comparable tools are there for Mac and Linux. I just don’t need them.
- Test the capture and audio setup first. Always test! You do not want to go for an hour or two only to find out the microphone was not plugged in correctly. I always do a short capture before EACH session as I start. I hen watch the short file I captured to make sure the sound and video are good.
- Be sure you have enough CPU-power to capture your screen. The first rule here is simple. If your machine seems unable to reliably create a good screen capture because the CPU is too weak, then simply lower the resolution of your screen or decrease the amount of screen you are trying to capture.
- Use a good microphone. The one built into the laptop is probably not the best. If the audio is good, your listener will get more out of the capture since they are not straining to hear. If you are taking your valuable time to record something, might as well do it right!
- Spend some time preparing. If I know the subject well, then I usually get bywith a outline that exists more as a check list of topics to cover. I do not post-edit my screen captures. This simply takes more time than I want to spend and who cares if there are few extra pauses or “ums” for something with limit distribution. The point is to save time.