Screen Capture with DP

[bayswater]

If all you need is a video of the screen, no annotations, zooms, etc, Quicktime, along with Soundflower for audio will record video and audio for anything that appears on the Mac from any source.

[labman]

If all you need is a video of the screen, no annotations, zooms, etc, Quicktime, along with Soundflower for audio will record video and audio for anything that appears on the Mac from any source.

Thanks Bays. I need to have hot keys printed on screen, enlarged mouse clicks, and watermarking too.

[Shooshie]

SCREENFLOW!

I've bought a dozen of these apps. Screenflow is the only one I will use now.
It does everything you want, plus tons more. Once you figure out its logic, it's very easy to use. Get to know its keyboard commands to move 500% faster.

Shooshie

[davidh]

What protocol for mac audio does Camtasia use?

DP audio in the older versions (which you would use apparently) is routed via Soundflower. The newer version has extended sound input options which apparently don’t use SF thankfully, but I haven’t tried that yet.

David, could you go into more detail about "slightly 'unique' interface"? Any troubles getting along nicely with other apps?

'Unique' interface for me relates to workflow and the way they add effects and level changes to audio tracks. I found it slightly less than intuitive at first but once you get accustomed to their way of doing things it’s very simple and fast. Also, it does play nicely with other apps.

[labman]

Thank you all for such big help. Appreciate it.

How fast is it to publish with these things like screen flow & camtasia etc, from your experience? Meaning, how much editing and then subsequent rendering must be done if you want stuff like watermarking, hot keys printed to screen, and mouse highlights? Using iShowU HD PRO is so fast because it tracks those things on the fly, then renders immediately, then you hit publish and you are done. But it uses the silly sound flower engine.

[Killahurts]

Camtasia is awesome! I just got it for my 11-year-old for making "Let's Play" type videos. She mastered it in a single night (well, for what she needs).. very intuitive software. I have Voila and it's OK, but it's a little more effort to make it work for screen movie capturing and editing. I actually use it for screenshots more than anything.

Both of these programs used to use Soundflower, but now they've broken free with their own audio bridge to mix the system sound in with the mic/camera, so that's a very good thing. Soundflower is, well..

I haven't seen Screenflow yet, might take a look at that one..

[labman]

SCREENFLOW!
I've bought a dozen of these apps. Screenflow is the only one I will use now.
It does everything you want, plus tons more. Once you figure out its logic, it's very easy to use. Get to know its keyboard commands to move 500% faster.

Shooshie

So Shooshie, You are getting great DP audio into Screenflow??? No conflicts with our beloved motu interface drivers?

[Shooshie]

Thank you all for such big help. Appreciate it.

How fast is it to publish with these things like screen flow & camtasia etc, from your experience? Meaning, how much editing and then subsequent rendering must be done if you want stuff like watermarking, hot keys printed to screen, and mouse highlights? Using iShowU HD PRO is so fast because it tracks those things on the fly, then renders immediately, then you hit publish and you are done. But it uses the silly sound flower engine.

Screenflow allows you to edit your material very quickly, then save it and post it directly to YouTube. When it's done, it gives you the URL for it, though you can always find it on your YouTube member page, along with playback statistics and more.

Audio and video are separately editable, each in their own tracks. Effects are easily added and edited, including zoom into an area you want to focus on, or zoom back out. Text can be added in post-production onscreen, along with keystrokes, mouseclicks, large cursor, etc. (You don't have to set those up in advance. It records everything you do, so you can add mouse clicks after-the-fact.) You can snip portions of your video (all tracks or individual tracks) and have the remainder close the gap, which makes for very quick editing of errors, silent spots, and so forth. Add slides, screenshots, etc. very easily. Again, zooming in is easy and effective. There's a small learning curve, mainly to remember the keyboard commands, but there are several menus to become familiar with, both in the menu bar and in the interface. You can't have features without an interface for using them, and I think Screenflow found the most effective, easy ways to do most things.

I recommend giving it a try. That's the only way to find out how easy it is to use, and what a great tool it is for making and posting videos.

Shooshie

[Shooshie]

SCREENFLOW!
I've bought a dozen of these apps. Screenflow is the only one I will use now.
It does everything you want, plus tons more. Once you figure out its logic, it's very easy to use. Get to know its keyboard commands to move 500% faster.

Shooshie

So Shooshie, You are getting great DP audio into Screenflow??? No conflicts with our beloved motu interface drivers?

It hasn't always been easy, but either they finally changed something or I figured out the magic settings in CueMix. I don't remember at the moment how I am doing it, but I think I am getting MOTU audio into Screenflow directly, along with my vocal mic for narration. It's been several months since i last used Screenflow, and I'd have to go make a video to remember exactly what I do to get the audio. I don't do this every day.

I think I'm just having Screenflow monitor the MOTU 896mk3. I run a DP output through there, along with a direct vocal mic, and the trick is in the output settings within CueMix itself. At least, that's what I'm currently remembering. Again, I'd have to go do it to tell you exactly, and I don't have time for that right now. But it does work very well, whatever the heck I'm doing!

Shooshie

[labman]

Text can be added in post-production onscreen, along with keystrokes, mouseclicks, large cursor, etc. (You don't have to set those up in advance. It records everything you do, so you can add mouse clicks after-the-fact.)
Shooshie

Great info Shoosh. Thanks.

Form the above snippet, I may be misunderstanding, does it not have an automatic 'print pressed hotkeys to screen' feature and those all have to be done in editing?

[bayswater]

Soundflower is, well..

What's with all the Soundflower abuse going on around here?

Seems to me it's nothing more than an interface for a load of functions built into CoreAudio. If you want to get audio to or from somewhere other than your interface, it's perfect. It works just like any CoreAudio device, except the sources and destinations are not fixed links to physical hardware. It's perfect with DP because of DP's ability to use multiple CoreAudio devices at once, and with the 64 channel version you aren't going to run out.

[Shooshie]

Text can be added in post-production onscreen, along with keystrokes, mouseclicks, large cursor, etc. (You don't have to set those up in advance. It records everything you do, so you can add mouse clicks after-the-fact.)
Shooshie

Great info Shoosh. Thanks.

Form the above snippet, I may be misunderstanding, does it not have an automatic 'print pressed hotkeys to screen' feature and those all have to be done in editing?

I'd have to check the manual to tell you definitively whether you can set it up in advance or ONLY do it during editing. Personally, I do that kind of thing after making the video, because when making the video I like to concentrate on the subject matter, not video setup. After it's made, I can then focus on Screenflow and do all the video tricks. I can tell you that for effects like displaying hotkeys, you set it for a range or for the entirety of the video. You don't have to do it for each key.

What I'm trying to say is that Screenflow is not only the most powerful of the screen-capture video apps that I've used, it's also the easiest with the most options, and the most forgiving. I never have to reshoot a section or a whole video because I forgot to do something. (I mean, technically that's POSSIBLE, like you forget to choose your audio source, but it's never happened to me.)

I have about 6 of these apps, or have had them in the past. I've also used iMovie, Final Cut Studio, Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premier, and various 3-D animation suites. This a subject with which I'm fairly familiar. I've had my hands on a lot of what's out there. I've forgotten more than I remember, because I tend to discard the stuff that I don't like. Plus, a lot of these apps were pre-Intel, so I don't have them all around anymore, but I still remember what it was like to use them.

Screenflow is a joy to use compared to pretty much all the above, though of course it's not made to compete with FCP, Premier, and so forth. But trying to use those to make demonstration videos or tutorials is a nightmare compared to Screenflow. I'm sure you get used to it and develop a workflow, but this is made for doing exactly what we're talking about. It's made to be easy, yet flexible and powerful. There may be better ones; I haven't found them. Just try it. I think you can demo it. Learn the commands, especially, so that your editing can be fast and fearless.

It doesn't matter to me what someone uses to make demos. As long as they are helpful, clear, and easy to follow, that's all that's important. I haven't been a very good tutorial maker, because I'm usually rushed for time, trying to do something in a few minutes that really needs a few hours, but this app has at least enabled me to get a decent final result in those few minutes with no script and often no planning at all; just fire up the app, set up the situation in DP, and start recording. "Hi, this is Shooshie, and today we're going to... um... what was it that I was going to do? Oh yeah, we're going to do... uh... THIS." Then I edit out all the uhs and ums and gaps and mistakes using a command or two while dragging over what I want to go away.

I'd be more specific if I could, but I don't remember commands and things in Screenflow the way I do in DP. I only use it a few times per year, though I'd like to do more.

Shooshie

[labman]

Thanks for the details Shooshie. Good info!

[labman]

Labman[/quote]

So Shooshie, You are getting great DP audio into Screenflow??? No conflicts with our beloved motu interface drivers?[/quote]

It hasn't always been easy, but either they finally changed something or I figured out the magic settings in CueMix. I don't remember at the moment how I am doing it, but I think I am getting MOTU audio into Screenflow directly, along with my vocal mic for narration. It's been several months since i last used Screenflow, and I'd have to go make a video to remember exactly what I do to get the audio. I don't do this every day.

I think I'm just having Screenflow monitor the MOTU 896mk3. I run a DP output through there, along with a direct vocal mic, and the trick is in the output settings within CueMix itself. At least, that's what I'm currently remembering. Again, I'd have to go do it to tell you exactly, and I don't have time for that right now. But it does work very well, whatever the heck I'm doing!

Shooshie[/quote]

Hey Shoosh. Have you been able to look at the details of all the DP -> screencast audio I/O flow since we discussed this? Need to know how to set up cuemix from some guru.

[stubbsonic]

Not sure if this is relevant to this topic, but Rogue Amoeba has released Loopback software which is an audio routing software package that seems to do what Soundflower does, but with other touches.

https://rogueamoeba.com/loopback/

Introductory price of $75, regularly $99. Kinda pricey, but they must know how useful it'll be. RA has had a good track recording of support and regular updates.