Camtasia Studio 4: The Definitive Guide (Wordware Applications Library)

Okay, together we’ve explored the Production Wizard, and have basically gone start to finish on producing your first video. The stuff that’s been left out of the conversation thus far pertains to the individual file formats themselves. This section has two parts (or sub-sections, if you will). First, I’m going to give a quick summary of each of the nine file formats and why you might want to use each one. If you’re not sure which format you need at this point, this is where you should be looking first.

Then, I’ll go into much greater detail on each file type, giving you a play-by-play on all the various dialog options. Some of these dialogs can get pretty specific, and you won’t need to know most of it in order to effectively output to the file type in question. But I’ll take you through it all, anyway, so that those of you who wish to micro-tweak your settings can do so. Since my assumption is that you’ll be flipping straight to the file format that interests you and bypassing the rest, bear in mind that there is a fair amount of redundant information in this section.

File Formats: The Condensed Version

Before diving into the minutiae of each format’s compression settings, I felt it best to give you a high-level overview of all of them so that you can do a quick comparison without needing to flip pages until your fingers fall off.

Macromedia Flash (SWF/FLV)

Flash is a cross-platform video format that plays with the Flash Player, currently installed on the vast majority of the world’s computers because of its ubiquity as an animation format.

Windows Media Video (WMV)

Windows Media Video is the current video streaming format from Microsoft. Camtasia Studio produces picture-in-picture files in this format. Files can be streamed over the web or played locally with Windows Media Player.

QuickTime (MOV)

Apple QuickTime is a cross-platform media format capable of high- quality video. It plays on the QuickTime Player.

AVI

AVI (short for Audio Video Interleave) files are produced natively by the Camtasia Recorder. These files can play back in almost all media players, including Windows Media Player and the Camtasia Player (discussed in Chapter 15, “Other Output Options”).

iPod/iTunes (M4V)

Starting with version 4, Camtasia Studio can now produce video content in M4V format, which can play in iTunes as well as on the video iPod.

MP3 Audio

This is an audio-only format. In the last 10 years, MP3 has come to be synonymous with highly compressed, yet high quality, sound files. It can be credited with bringing about the digital download revolution, opening up a whole new world of music distribution.

RealMedia (RM)

This streaming media format from Real plays in the RealPlayer media player (and in web pages with the Real plug-in).

Camtasia for RealPlayer (CAMV)

These special Camtasia-specific RealPlayer files can be streamed over the web or played back locally. It is better suited for the latter.

Animated GIF Image (GIF)

It’s the standard animated GIF you see as banner links in web page headers.

Macromedia Flash (SWF/FLV)

Now that you’ve gotten the quickie file type fly-by, it’s time to dig into the details of each file type, starting with Flash. Back in December of 1996, a small six-person company named FutureWave sold their animation software (then called FutureSplash Animator) to Macromedia, Inc. In the decade that followed, that little animation utility became a juggernaut, and the Flash Player is now installed on over 500 million PCs. It is one of the most widely distributed pieces of software in the world. Its SWF format (originally meaning “Shockwave Flash,” and then “reassigned” to mean “small web file”) is employed by animators around the world to bring web banners, slide shows, and cartoons to life. Utilizing predominantly vector-based artwork, you could use their tool to concoct a pretty snazzy online presentation weighing in at under 50 K. In addition to the Flash authoring system, other third- party tools began to offer exporting to SWF as a means to leverage the ubiquity of the Flash Player. Nowadays, many applications can create Flash[*] content files.

With the introduction of Macromedia Flash MX, the authoring system began to support real-world video, an Achilles’ heel of the SWF format. While not (potentially) lossless like SWF, the FLV (short for “Flash Video”) file format provides exceptional quality even at lower bandwidths, and takes advantage of the omnipresent Flash Player.

Additionally, both SWF and FLV offer one major advantage over all the other formats currently supported by Camtasia Studio, namely interactivity. Since Flash videos are designed to accept feedback from the user in the form of buttons, text fields, and the like, TechSmith is increasingly incorporating these interactive elements into Camtasia Studio. In Unit IV, “Editing within Camtasia Studio,” you learned about creating clickable Flash hot spots as well as soliciting feedback from your users by way of the Quiz and Survey feature. Further layers of interactivity are likely to be added as the product matures.

In addition to the interactive elements, Flash production also offers increased flexibility over other outputs, such as the side-by-side PIP layout, multiple encoding options for different kinds of content, custom loading screens, and more direct control over the aesthetics of your control bar. We’ll be discussing all these things in this section.

Flash Templates

The Flash Templates screen is your first set of options after choosing Flash (SWF/FLV) in the Production Wizard. It allows you to select a layout (thus choosing which media streams are included in your final video). This is done by picking a Template. You may have as many as seven templates available, depending on whether there are any markers or PIP content on your Timeline.

The Flash Templates screen. The chosen template will determine the presence of the various media elements as well as the layout of those elements.

Additionally, you have the ability to affect the aesthetics of your controller bar from this screen. In the Theme drop-down list, you currently have three different display options for your controller. The Preview will change to reflect your choice. Functionally, these three are the same; just pick the one you think looks best.

Notice that the Production Wizard has placed a plethora of size information at your fingertips, including the proposed size of the video and PIP window (if applicable), the control bar, and finally, the total dimensions. In the Fit in drop-down list, you can choose from the video’s original size, the most recently chosen custom size, or a series of standard sizes. If you desire even greater control, click Change Dimensions…, which will bring up the Video Dimensions - Preview dialog.

The Video Dimensions Preview provides much better control over your video’s dimensions, and is particularly recommended if you’re dealing with a TOC or side-by-side PIP content.

You can choose the Fit in option, specifying the maximum total width and height. It’s useful if you plan on having other content on the same web page, and you absolutely must squish the video media to fit within a designated amount of space. Just enter a value (in pixels) into one or both of the fields. For Side-by-Side templates, there’s even a Ratio slider bar for quickly setting the distribution between the two sides. I prefer the Custom option, as it allows you to exactly specify the width and height of your screen video (and your side-by-side PIP window, if applicable). The Keep aspect ratio button is checked by default, so the Width will automatically self-adjust if you enter a new value into the Height field, and vice versa.

Tip 

Remember that screen video content, especially text, doesn’t size down particularly well. So, if at all possible, try to keep the dimensions of your screen video at their original size. If you recorded a full-screen video, you may want to consider Zoom-n-Pan as an option rather than scaling everything down. You’ll only see a small window of the video’s original content at any one time, but you’ll be able to view that small window with perfect clarity. Just keep in mind that this can really bloat the file size, especially when producing to SWF.

Once you have the sizes adjusted to your liking, clicking OK will lock in your choice and remember these dimensions in the Fit in drop- down list as your most recent user-defined setting.

Based on the template chosen, you will have options for controlling up to five media elements, namely your screen video, your control bar, your audio, your table of contents (TOC), and any picture-in-picture (PIP) elements. Clicking the Flash Options… button opens a special dialog that contains a tab for each of the included media elements. You can also open each tab directly by clicking the corresponding link in the Preview area of the Flash Templates dialog:

Clicking here will directly open my PIP tab so that I can adjust its options.

Let’s discuss each of these in turn.

Video Options

The Video tab is all about the compression of your screen video. You can choose the format, frame rate, and other options. Take a peek:

The $10,000 question on this tab is: SWF or FLV? Simply click the radio button of your desired format, and the section of the tab that corresponds to that format will then be accessible. Here are a few key points in helping you decide between the two:

There are no hard-and-fast rules here, particularly with PowerPoint files. If there’s a doubt in your mind as to which format to choose, you may want to try using that Preview command to create three individual snippets of your project (in FLV, lossless SWF, and lossy SWF). Look at them individually, and then choose the best combination of file size and quality. I’m often surprised at the results.

No matter which file format you go with, you’ll still have some choices to make regarding how that format is compressed. Let’s start with SWF. There are a few controls with which you’ll want to familiarize yourself:

Moving on to the FLV format, you will note that the controls are somewhat different. You still have the ability to choose a Frame rate, but there are some other options requiring further explanation:

PIP Options

This tab lets you stipulate how your PIP video is going to be compressed. You may or may not actually see the PIP tab. Two conditions must first be met:

  1. You have to have at least one clip on the PIP track of your Timeline.

  2. In the Flash Templates dialog, you will need to have chosen one of the two templates that include side-by-side video.

If you’re doing a standard (“overlay”) PIP video, these options do not apply, and are not available to you. This is because Camtasia Studio automatically produces the screen video and overlay PIP content as one video, and hence only one set of compression settings is needed.

When doing a side-by-side video, however, you can actually choose different compression settings for each component, since they’ll remain two separate files. Have a look at the options here:

Now, considering that we’ve already visited the Video tab, the options at the top of this tab (labeled FLV) should already look very familiar to you. Yep, the side-by-side PIP window always gets compressed as an FLV, and you have the same compression options as with an FLV screen video.

The one other option you have is called Background Image. Predictably, this option shows a chosen background image wherever you have hidden chunks of the PIP video (see the previous chapter for more info on showing/hiding PIP content). Just enter a file path or click the Browse button to open the Select Image File dialog. You can choose from the standard supported image formats (BMP, GIF, JPG, PNG). The image will be scaled automatically, but you might want to make sure that its aspect ratio is more or less comparable to that of your PIP image. If you choose to have no background image, then the side-by-side PIP window will simply go black when the PIP video is hidden.

Audio Options

Compared with the various video options, the Audio tab is relatively simple. This tab is available to you only if there’s something on any of your Timeline’s audio tracks (Audio 1, Audio 2, PIP Audio).

As you can see, you’ve got three settings. First, there’s the check box to Encode audio. You’re free to uncheck it if you do not wish your recorded audio to be part of your final presentation. However, assuming that you knew what you were doing when you placed that audio on the Timeline, I’m figuring you probably do want to include said audio, so let’s talk about how we can compress it.

So, next you’ll need to choose an Audio format. You’ve got two or three choices:

Finally, for the format you’ve selected, open the Audio attributes drop-down list to select the level of compression. The attributes are discussed in detail in Chapter 7, but here’s a quick summary:

The attributes settings will also give you a sense of how much bandwidth one second of audio will take up, measured in either kilobits (1,000 bits) or kilobytes (1,000 bytes, or 8,000 bits).

Table of Contents Options

The Table of Contents tab is where you select the markers for inclusion in your video’s menu navigation. It is only visible if you’ve selected one of the three templates that make use of a TOC. If you’ve already produced a video in any format other than Flash, you’ll notice that the options are similar to part of the Production Wizard’s Marker Options screen. The Table of Contents tab looks like this:

Your marker names are listed in the box on the left-hand side of the dialog, and on the right is a thumbnail image of the video content appearing at the selected marker’s location. If there are certain mark- ers you’d rather not include in the TOC, such as miscellaneous note markers, simply uncheck them in your marker list, and they will not appear in your menu navigation.

If the length of your video is unwieldy, it may be useful to split your file into small chunks so that the viewer isn’t faced with preloading a large portion of it at once. In that event, choose Produce multiple files based on my Markers. You’ll end up with a series of Flash videos instead of one long one. In addition to more evenly distributing the preload times, it’s also a handy way of circumventing the SWF format’s 16,000-frame limit. Additionally, if the sequential order of your TOC items is important, you can have those items automatically numbered by clicking Number marker entries.

Just as with the Marker Options screen, you have buttons to help you assemble your navigation. Rename lets you assign a new name (and hence new link text) to the currently selected marker. In addition, you can utilize the Move Left and Move Right buttons to nest topics inside one another to create subtopics (again, the left and right arrow keys will work just as well). The cool thing about nested lists in the Flash Player is that the user can expand/contract main topic headings (by clicking the accompanying +/– symbol) so that they don’t have to view the entire list at once. This can be a major advantage, particularly for PowerPoint recordings, where there may be 100 or more markers (presuming one for every slide).

Controls Options

Finally, the Controls tab is your personal space for altering the aesthetics and functionality of your video’s control bar. As you can see, we’ve got a ton of choices to make:

Let’s first talk about how the control bar looks. These tools are all in the Playback controls section of the tab. You have the ability to alter the following:

Enough about the aesthetics, though. Let’s get into tinkering with the functionality of the playback. All these options are corralled in the Flash actions part of the tab. Get a load of what you can do:

Here are the options you’ll have:

A Word about the Legacy SWF Template

In setting up support for high-motion video capabilities, callouts with hot spots, picture-in-picture, and quizzes and surveys, TechSmith was forced to make some pretty radical changes to its Flash output technology. Camtasia Theater, a special utility for combining multiple SWF videos (the details of which you’ll find out about in Chapter 14), does not yet support this new architecture. For those who really want to create SWFs that are compatible with Camtasia Theater, TechSmith has included a special template called Legacy SWF output.It adheres to the older technology standards, and as such, it works with earlier versions of the Flash Player as well as plays nice with Camtasia Theater.

Here are a few details about this output to bear in mind:

In the future, Camtasia Theater will likely be updated to overcome these stark limitations. Even after that happens, Legacy SWF output will still serve as a viable means of reaching those audiences that use an iteration of Flash Player prior to version 7.

Quiz and Survey Reporting Options

If you’ve been paying attention, then you know that one of the main advantages of the Flash format is its interactivity. One manifestation of this interactivity in Camtasia Studio is the ability to add quizzing/survey content and have the results reported back to you. When looking at the Video Options screen within the Production Wizard, you can click a special Options… button to specify exactly how you’d like those results delivered:

The options in the Quiz Reporting Options dialog are as follows:

Flash File Structure

Due to the modular components of the two Flash output formats, their file structure is a bit more complex than Camtasia Studio’s other output formats. I’ll first clarify the various components that make up your video, and I’ll conclude by discussing the output’s XML file, and how that file can be edited to make superficial changes to a project you’ve already produced.

Depending on your project and the production options you’ve chosen, you’ll potentially see a multitude of production files. Since you could have as many as five SWF files alone in a given production, here’s a quick list just to give you a sense of which file does what as well as how they interact:

If you opted to produce an iPod video (M4V)or MP3 file, you’ll see these in the production directory as well, along with the Flash and graphic files that make up the download front-end menu for those materials.

Finally, you’ve got the Configuration file (*_config.xml). This file is the glue that holds the rest of it together. It is a central repository of information that contains most of the options you set while traversing the Production Wizard. When loading all the files, this config file passes information to the other components. What kind of information, you might ask? Here are a few examples:

And a lot more. The cool thing about having all this info in one place is that if you’re careful, you can make minor edits to your project after production is complete without having to produce again. Particularly if this is a long, involved project that takes considerable time to produce, sometimes it’s just easier to go in and edit the XML file if you suddenly caught a typo in one of your quiz questions. Or if you’d like to alter the size of your TOC text. Or if you want to change the URL of one of your hot spots. The possibilities are limitless.

You can get the basics of what an XML file is and how to edit it at the end of Chapter 14, “Web-based Videos with Camtasia Theater.” The structure of Theater’s config file is different, but it will still give you some solid guidelines by which to abide if you really want to tinker with the XML.

To give you a sense of the possibilities, here are a few of the more useful tags in the config file that affect the aesthetics and functionality of your video, and that cannot be controlled from the Production Wizard. These are features that, for one reason or another, have not yet been implemented in the program’s interface, and yet you as a savvy, XML-editing Camtasia Studio guru can now use them in your projects.

Remember, always make a backup copy of your config file before you do any editing.

Windows Media Streaming Video (WMV)

Windows Media Video is the proprietary streaming video format partially developed by Microsoft. As such, these files can be read by Microsoft’s universally available Windows Media Player (Windows and Macintosh), as well as by some third-party media players that support other platforms. This format can be read natively by Pocket PC devices, and is the sole output format for Windows Movie Maker, Microsoft’s consumer-level video editing application. While not a very editing-friendly format, Camtasia Studio can import WMV files for inclusion in a project.

The obvious advantage to carrying the Microsoft name is the fact that everything needed to play back these videos (at least for Windows users) is included in the operating system. This makes WMV the ideal format when producing videos in a “locked-down” corporate environment where the IT department doesn’t trust the rest of the staff to manage their computers effectively. In these settings, the ability to install software is disabled, and users have to make do with what they’ve been provided by IT. Since Windows Media Player is a part of Windows, there are fewer distribution problems with WMV, provided of course that all your users are on Windows-based machines.

Another reason “big corporate” likes WMV is that this distribution can be a bit better controlled when used in conjunction with Windows Media Server. Because it’s a streaming format, a copy of the video is not downloaded locally when viewed online from a streaming server. While not bulletproof, this is a bit more secure than non-streaming formats. Of course, when placed on a regular web server, WMV files offer what is known as progressive download. This carries most of the same advantages as actual streaming (easy, fast-starting online video), except that the content is actually downloaded. In short, WMV shines in locked-down environments, producing small, universally readable, and reasonably secure files at a good quality level.

And speaking of quality, another advantage of the WMV format is that the image quality is easily adjustable. First off, WMV tolerates high-motion video content extremely well. While its Windows Media Video Screen video codec carries many of the same drawbacks (and advantages) as the TSCC AVI codec, there are other, more flexible video codecs for WMV for handling the high-motion stuff. Additionally, you can create very small-sized (albeit low-quality) versions for users on a dial-up connection, and near-perfect quality versions for those with T1 broadband connections. And in this section, you’ll learn how to adapt your WMV output for any audience and content.

Windows Media Encoding Options

After choosing WMV in the Production Wizard, you’ll be presented with the Windows Media Encoding Options screen, which looks like this:

The level of encoding is chosen by picking a production profile from the Profiles drop-down list. If the Screen capture profiles only check box is enabled, then your choices will be limited to only those profiles that make use of the Windows Media Video 9 Screen codec. About half of these are likely to be profiles that were installed with Camtasia Studio. Unchecking the above option will inundate you with other profiles (including additional CS-installed profiles optimized for PowerPoint and full-motion video). Since Windows Media Video 9 or Windows Media Video 7 tend to produce better results than the Windows Media Video 9 Screen codec, I recommend keeping this option off.

However, one rather important option you’ll want to keep checked is Add index to file (to enable seeking within the file). If left unchecked, your users will not be able to navigate the video by means of the scrubber bar. If they click and drag the bar, it will simply snap right back to its original place like a rubber band the moment they release the mouse button. As people are now used to having seek functionality, keeping the option checked will save your users a lot of time and frustration.

After selecting a profile from the list, some general info about the profile will probably appear in the Description box, and the Details box will contain all the technical details of your profile. If you’re in a tinkering sort of mood, these settings can be adjusted. Therefore, please allow me to take a minute to demystify a few of these items so that you’ll at least have a sense of what you’re doing:

Editing Your Profiles

But how do we actually change these settings? Just select a particular profile, and then click the Edit… button. Note that your Camtasia Studio profiles cannot be edited in this way - more on that in a minute. Since the dialog that opens is technically a Windows Media Encoder screen and is therefore not actually part of Camtasia Studio, I’m only going to gloss over it. One thing you’re apt to notice (at least with CBR profiles) is that the term “edit” is a misnomer, as you’re actually starting from scratch. After choosing the encoding mode and codec for your desired streams (video, audio, or both), click the Add… button to add a target bit rate. After doing so, a tab bearing that bit rate will appear, and you’ll be able to set the rest of your options on that tab.

If you don’t relish the idea of coming up with all new settings and would rather work from a “pattern,” you actually can make use of those Camtasia Studio profiles, tweaking them to your liking and storing them in a custom profile.

To do this, we’re going to have to import a profile’s settings, which is done thusly:

  1. Back on the Windows Media Encoding Options screen in the Camtasia Studio Production Wizard, click Manage….

  2. Choose New… to start a new custom profile.

  3. Click the Import… button.

  4. Browse to Camtasia Studio’s collection of Windows Media profiles. Unless you changed the default install directory, it is probably located here:

    C:\Program Files\TechSmith\Camtasia Studio 4\Windows Media Profiles.

  5. Select your desired Windows Media Encoder (.prx) profile, and then choose Open.

  6. Adjust your settings as desired. To avoid confusing it with the stock Camtasia Studio profile from whence it originated, I’d also recommend renaming the profile.

QuickTime (MOV)

QuickTime is a video and multimedia format introduced back in 1991 by Apple Computer, a full year before Microsoft launched Video for

Windows. This newfound ability to play video clips on the personal computer was a watershed moment in the history of computing. While

Apple did outsource the creation of a Windows version fairly early on to help fuel the acceptance of the format, QuickTime was traditionally a decidedly Mac-oriented technology. However, its adoption in the

Windows world was bolstered several years later by two major events:

As such, distribution in the QuickTime format is no longer the crap- shoot it once was. Additionally, thanks to the presence of several high-quality compression algorithms that are available for the QuickTime format (such as H.264 and TechSmith Ensharpen), you don’t have to compromise on your video’s quality either.

One other distinction is that the MOV file format was designed as a container of sorts for all manner of content and meta information. It can support things like multiple audio tracks, subtitle tracks, video effect filters, and video masking, among others. Camtasia Studio does not yet take full advantage of the format’s versatility, though you can currently apply effect filters, a feature that’s not available with any other file format. In a moment, I’ll show you how.

QuickTime Encoding Options

In order to produce QuickTime videos with Camtasia Studio, you will first need to have QuickTime installed. The Pro version costs $29.95, and while I can recommend this version heartily as an essential part of my video editing toolset, you’ll probably only need the Basic version, which is free. Make sure you specify to include the QuickTime Authoring component during installation. When it’s time to produce, select MOV - QuickTime movie, and click Next to specify your encoding options. You’ll actually find the QuickTime Encoding Options screen pretty bare compared to the other formats:

You’ve got the details of the current settings, all right, but if you want to actually change anything, you’ll need to click the QuickTime Options… button. Once you click this button, virtually all of the options are part of the Apple QuickTime software package, not Camtasia Studio. We’ll be talking about these settings only as they relate to your production capability in Camtasia Studio. Some settings will be covered in detail, others merely glossed over, and a few won’t be discussed at all. Please consult your Apple QuickTime documentation if you have further questions about any of these options. Additionally, keep in mind that this section was prepared based on the most current version of QuickTime at the time of writing (7.1.5). If you have an earlier (or later) version, your dialogs may look somewhat different. So, now that we have the disclaimer out of the way, let’s dig in.

The QuickTime Movie Settings dialog contains settings for the video, audio, and streaming capabilities of your project.

As you can see, there’s a check box next to each element that can be turned on or off. When on, you’ll see the details of the current settings, and some additional options buttons will appear. Starting with the Video section, a click of the Settings… button will get you to your actual compression settings:

At the top of the dialog, you’ll be able to choose the codec from the Compression Type drop-down list. There are many codecs supported by QuickTime, but there’s really no sense in covering them all, as most aren’t useful for our needs here. So allow me to save you some legwork and just give the skinny on the Camtasia Studio “top three”:

Below Compression Type, the dialog is divided into four sections. What you see here (particularly in the Compressor quarter) will vary based on the codec selected. The four sections of this dialog are as follows:

Wow, you’d think after all those adjustments that we’d be just about finished with the video end of things. Not quite, though. QuickTime offers a little-used feature called Filters that can do some pretty wacky stuff with your video. If you click on the Filter… button, you can choose from a series of Photoshop-style filters that apply to the entire video. Put old-style film noise on clips to give them a “vintage” feel. Sharpen the edges of your video picture. Or turn everything pink by adjusting the RGB balance. It’s well beyond the scope of this book (and apparently beyond the scope of QuickTime’s own documentation) to talk about all the filters and their various settings, but I encourage you to experiment to help you get a sense of the possibilities. The only real downer is that filter effects always apply to the entire video - you can’t target individual sections.

As for the Size… button that follows, I strongly suggest you leave it alone. The Video Size screen of the Camtasia Studio Production Wizard offers much more comprehensive sizing options, and adjusting the size in two different dialogs can only lead to problems.

Compared to the whirlwind of video options in QuickTime, your sound settings are pretty subdued:

Clicking the Settings… button under Sound gives you a few basic fields to fill in:

The quality of your sound is largely determined by the audio codec you use to compress the sound data. Here are the choices I would typically recommend:

Back in the Movie Settings dialog, your next option is Prepare for Internet Streaming. If you plan on delivering this file online, I recommend keeping this option checked. When enabled, you have two (well, technically three) options for delivery: progressive download and true streaming. Here’s how it breaks down:

AVI

AVI (Audio Video Interleave) is a video file format created by Microsoft. It combines video frames and waveform audio in alternating interleaved pieces. AVI files adhere to the Resource Interchange File Format (RIFF), which gives the file the ability to store meta-information about its own content, such as duration, video dimensions, etc. As such, it’s a stand-alone file that requires no other supplementary files in order to work (at most, you’ll get an HTML file if you checked Embed Video into HTML). This format has been around since 1992, and is still the most popular video file format in existence.

Because of their ubiquity, these files can play in almost any media player, including Windows Media Player and the Camtasia Player. These files can also be readily embedded into any HTML document for playback online using the Windows Media Player plug-in. Additionally, it’s the format of choice for video editing applications. In fact, AVI is the format in which Camtasia Recorder encodes all your captured screen video clips[*].

That said, AVI files that are encoded with the TechSmith Screen Capture Codec do have a distribution issue. Since Windows doesn’t come with TSCC installed, you can’t necessarily rely on your audience to have the codec on their end to decode your content. The codec is freely downloadable from the TechSmith web site, but if you’d rather not trouble your users with downloading and installing something prior to watching your video, there are a couple of other ways around it. Please see Chapter 15, “Other Output Options,” for a full discussion.

AVI Encoding Options

When producing to AVI in Camtasia Studio, the Encoding Options screen looks like this:

In terms of video encoding, you first have options for setting the number of Colors as well as the Frame rate. We discussed these items in detail back in Chapter 7, “Recorder Tools Options,” but here’s a quick recap: The color depth refers to the number of available colors in the video’s color palette. You can save a little file size (depending on the video codec) by ratcheting this down a bit. The frame rate is the number of frames per second at which the video displays. More frames per second equates to smoother video. Fewer frames per second takes up less file space.

Note 

Remember that cranking up the frame rate above the rate at which your clips were originally captured doesn’t buy you anything in terms of playback smoothness.

Both of these options default to Automatic, meaning that the program will find the highest color depth and frame rate of all the clips on your Timeline, and will produce the entire project at those settings. Note that Camtasia Studio will use the lowest settings possible without losing any color or frame information. For example, if you recorded all your clips in a combination of 8-bit and 16-bit color, the Automatic setting will produce everything at 16-bit, as opposed to 8-bit (some color information lost) or 32-bit (superfluous). You can, of course, manually set these options by choosing a value from their drop-down lists (or in the case of Frame rate, enter any integer from 1 to 30).

Video Compression

Back in Chapter 7, we discussed the merits and drawbacks of the default codec for capturing video, namely the TechSmith Screen Capture Codec (TSCC). In almost all recording situations (games and CAD applications being the general exceptions), TSCC is the only codec you need for capture. The codec playing field opens up tremendously on the production end. You may have photographic content or high-motion elements in your video, thus negating TSCC as an appropriate choice if you don’t want your video file to take up half your hard drive space.

To examine the list of codecs you have at your disposal, simply click the Video Compression… button. Open up the drop-down list labeled Compressor. Everyone’s list will be different depending on the codecs they have installed. Here’s the current state of mine:

At this point, the TechSmith Screen Capture Codec is already well- covered ground. Here are a few other video codecs you may find on your system.

Audio Compression

Now let’s move on to the audio side of the equation. As you’ll see, it’s a fairly important side, since audio can easily comprise up to 90% of your overall file size if you’re not careful. The first thing you need to do is decide whether you want to include an audio stream at all. If you have no narration or sound effects, then clear the check box for Encode audio. If you leave it checked, then you will effectively be encoding a long stretch of pure silence, which can consume up to 187 kilobytes per second of your video’s duration. That’s a rather hefty price to pay for “dead air,” so make sure this box is cleared if you have no audio in your project.

The next option determines whether you want the audio inter- leaved, that is, having the video and audio streams stored in alternating pieces in the file. Turning this option off can speed up the production time, but I don’t typically recommend it, especially if the file may end up getting stored on a slower storage device like CD-ROM or ZIP disk. To be on the safe side, I recommend leaving the Interleave audio every[…] box checked. The interleave rate determines how tightly the “strands” of your video and audio streams are woven together. It defaults to every second, and that’s quite acceptable for most playback devices. If you envision your videos being played on older, slower machines with legacy CD-ROM drives, you might want to crank the rate up to every frame (also called full interleave) to ensure smooth playback.

Now, let’s pick ourselves out an audio codec. If you click the Audio Format… button, you’ll be able to select a new Format (codec) as well as that codec’s Attributes from a drop-down list.

You may recall that I promoted capturing your audio with PCM (pulse code modulation, also known as “uncompressed”), at 44.1 kHz, 16-bit mono. Regardless of the codec chosen, you’ll have options for at least two of these three attributes.

While we discussed these in detail back in Chapter 7, here’s a quick rundown of these attributes:

Provided all your files will still fit, I encourage you to maintain the aforementioned audio settings when creating a “master” AVI for archival purposes, and when producing to CD- or DVD-ROM where file space isn’t at a premium. If producing an AVI for the web or e-mail, we will need to examine other codecs to help get the file size down. Here are the others I typically recommend:

This Audio Format dialog has an extra ability you may find handy. If you take a look at the Name drop-down list, you’ll see that you have several premade audio profiles available for your use. You can also create your own. This is extremely helpful if you utilize a particular set of audio options consistently. Just set up your Format and Attributes as desired, and then click Save As…. You’ll be prompted for a name, and when you click OK, the profile is saved and available for your use whenever you like. To get rid of one you don’t need, just choose the profile and then click Remove.

Prepping Your Videos for DVD Output

While all of the Camtasia Studio file formats are great for reaching a computer-savvy audience, you might find your users are better served by being able to pop a DVD into their players and watch your content on a television. If it’s your wish to export your video project for display on a standard DVD player, you’ll be able to do so, provided you have a separate DVD authoring program and a little know-how. This DVD mini-guide is designed to give you just that.

First off, understand that converting from a computer (digital, based on pixel resolution) to a television (analog, based on numbers of lines) standard has its share of quality issues. Most DVD authoring programs do a reasonably good job of converting digitized video into a color signal that can be read by the television standard of your target audience (NTSC for the U.S. and Japan; SECAM for France, Russia, and parts of Africa; and PAL for pretty much everywhere else).

The first thing to do, therefore, is to use Camtasia Studio to give that authoring program as “clean” (high quality) a source as we can, which means producing an AVI encoded with TSCC. We need AVI so that the authoring program can easily import it; we need TSCC because it’s lossless. Since 720 x 480 is the standard dimension for producing DVD content , those are the dimensions at which Camtasia Studio will ultimately produce in order to avoid distortion.

But there’s a snag. Keep in mind that many televisions tend to “trim” the outside edges of their content. If you’re not careful, this can mean that important content in your video won’t actually be visible on the user’s television if it strays too far from the center. So, you’ve got two choices when recording your videos:

The final stumbling block is that you’ll need a DVD authoring application of some kind to take your AVI file(s) and create a disc that’s actually playable on a console DVD player. Camtasia Studio won’t do this for you. Fortunately, there are a number of choices out there ranging from low-end consumer packages (CyberLink PowerProducer, Ulead DVD MovieFactory) to versatile prosumer/professional solutions (Adobe Encore DVD, Sonic Scenarist). Prices run from as low as $50 all the way to $20,000, so you’ll need to find the right mix of features, learning curve, and cost.

So, to make your content DVD-friendly, try the following:

  1. Record your videos at 558 x 440 (or similar), using TSCC for your video stream and master-quality PCM for the audio. Import them into Camtasia Studio.

  2. After editing, click the Produce video as… link to produce your final project as an AVI.

  3. On the Video Size screen in your Production Wizard, choose 720 x 480 (TV/DVD) from the Preset video sizes drop- down list if producing for a North American or Japanese audience (where the NTSC standard for DVD prevails).

    or

    If you live in a region where PAL is the supported standard for DVD, choose instead 720 x 576 from the Standard video size drop-down list.

  4. Make sure that Stretch to fit is disabled, and that the Background Color is black.

  5. Produce your final video, then import that video into the DVD authoring tool of your choice.

  6. Set the aesthetics and menu options as allowed by your authoring program. Produce and burn the DVD.

iPod/iTunes (M4V)

The Apple iPod is the most successful portable media player to date. It was introduced back in 2001, and at the time of this writing, over 90 million of these little devices have been sold to consumers worldwide. The iPod’s combination of style and usability won over legions of fans, including those well-entrenched in the PC camp. Today, well over half the portable media players on this planet bear the Apple logo. Not bad for a company that was fighting for its very survival just a decade ago.

The iPod began as an audio-only device. When color screens became cost-effective to produce, Apple introduced photo capability in its 2004 product line. In 2005, they rolled out the fifth-generation iPod, which brought video to the device. The latest iterations include support for video games and limited PDA-style functionality (calendar, contacts, etc.).

iPod/iTunes Encoding Options

Camtasia Studio supports M4V file output, encoding the video stream as H.264 and the audio stream as AAC (MPEG-4 audio). You can encode one of these little gems either as a stand-alone file or as an “accessory file,” to augment your main (full-sized) video. Whether on its own or with a friend, the iPod/iTunes encoding options here are simpler than for any other output type. Other than the ability to add metadata to your file in the form of the Video info dialog, you only have one setting with which to concern yourself: iPod bandwidth. This is a drop-down list for you to choose low, medium, or high quality for your file. Because MPEG-4 is a lossy codec, choosing low may introduce visual artifacts that are absent from the higher-quality versions, but you’ll end up with the smallest possible file size. The audio doesn’t change; its settings always remain AAC 44.1 kHz, 16-bit stereo. Truthfully, there’s not really much of a quality differential on the video side, either; the low setting still looks great.

The video size is automatically set to 320 x 240, which is the dimension of the iPod screen. For the reality of your video creation, this is going to mean one of two things:

As you can see, which technique you use depends heavily on the content. Also, please bear in mind that if you want to produce content that’s compatible with iTunes (and not necessarily the video iPod), then a QuickTime MOV file is always an available option. That way, you can produce your video at full size. You only really need the iPod/iTunes production option when you want your content to be portable. Speaking of which, if you want to reach a much broader audience-on-the-go, then it may be time to consider producing an audio-only file, which we’ll be talking about next.

MP3 Audio

Starting around 1995 (perhaps not coincidentally the same year the World Wide Web began to take off in popularity), MP3 files began circulating the ether in great numbers. The format’s appeal stemmed from its inherent ability to tightly compress large amounts of sound information into small files, yet retain fidelity by discarding only those portions that are less audible to the human ear. While the technology has since improved, with formats such as Ogg Vorbis and AAC offering higher quality sound at the same or lower bandwidth, MP3 remains the most popular digital audio standard in existence.

This new method of accessing music by download represented a substantial change in how music and other audio was distributed, and gave rise to the upheaval that accompanies any major paradigm shift (record stores closing, record companies up in arms, etc.). While initially the domain of illegal file swapping, digital downloads gained mainstream acceptance when the record companies finally got with the times and green-lighted various online music distributors, beginning with iTunes.

And what started as a music revolution gradually shifted to other audio presentations - lectures, panel discussions, and call-in radio shows could all be recorded to MP3 files for dissemination online. Thanks to the growing popularity of Real Simple Syndication (RSS), anyone with a mic, a computer, and a net connection could become a broadcaster, whose periodic musings would reach the ears of anyone who bothered to subscribe. Podcasting was born.

While iPod video represents the ideal in enjoying portable Camtasia Studio content, the reality is that the video iPod represents but a tiny fraction of portable media devices, most of which are audio-only. As a content creator, it stands to reason that you should try to reach these individuals. Of course, it’s ideally suited to certain kinds of content only. For example, software tutorials really need that video stream in order to make sense. But for other videos, such as university lectures and marketing demonstrations, the audio may be able to stand on its own. If you know you want to create an MP3 audio file from your video, try to be cognizant of that fact beforehand, when you’re writing your narration. Always ask yourself, “Can this be understood without the video portion to back it up?” This is actually a good exercise, anyway, as it will allow those with visual impairments to get the most out of your video material.

MP3 Audio Encoding Options

MP3, like the iPod/iTunes encoding, can be created either as a supplement to a video presentation or as a stand-alone main attraction. Either way, you’ll be able to adjust the meta-information (which is particularly important for podcasting) as well as choose the level of encoding by setting the Bit rate. Since MP3 is a lossy standard, you have a wide range of choices in attaining a target file size. Just choose an appropriate bit rate from the drop-down list. The exact setting will depend on the length of the material as well as where your disposition falls in the larger files vs. crappy quality debate. My recommendation (if going for quality over small size) is 44.1 kHz, mono (especially if there’s no music), and 96 kBits/second. That’s only 720 K (less than a megabyte) per minute of high-quality sound. This is obviously better suited to a five-minute demo than a 45-minute lecture. But with a little experimentation (don’t forget to make use of that Preview command!), you’ll find acceptable quality at a file size you can live with.

RealMedia Streaming Video (RM)

Originally starting out as Progressive Networks in 1993 (and debuting its RealAudio tool in 1995), RealNetworks has been hailed as a leading force in the development of streaming technology as well as reviled for its shady marketing practices. Love ’em or hate ’em, the RealVideo component of their constantly updated media player suite has been a mainstay of video streaming since 1997.

RealVideo is typically joined to a RealAudio component, and packaged as a single RealMedia (.rm) file. RealMedia is a streaming technology, which means that it can be accessed in one of two ways:

RealMedia Encoding Options

So, let’s now talk about how we encode RealMedia content within Camtasia Studio. After choosing RM - RealMedia Streaming media as the desired output method in the Production Wizard, you’ll come to the RealMedia Encoding Options screen:

The first decision you have to make is whether you want your video produced as a SureStream or just a single-rate file. You may only choose the former if you’ll be uploading the file(s) to a RealServer G2 compatible streaming server (such as Helix Server). SureStream technology allows you to produce a single file that can be served at many different connection speeds. You see, when producing your content, you’ll choose a target audience. With this audience in mind, Camtasia Studio produces a media file at a given bitrate (number of kilobits per second), which is the rate that the data flows from server to client. The higher the bitrate, the better the video’s quality, although people on slower connections won’t be able to view your high-bitrate content. The video’s bitrate simply exceeds their connection speed, and as a result, they can’t view it.

This is where SureStream comes in. With it, you can select multiple target audiences, effectively producing several of the same video sequences (at different bitrates) and then packaging them into one file. When viewed online by the client, the server automatically selects the highest playback bitrate that the client can handle. Now, this technique can produce some very large files (depending on how many target audiences you select), but you will then be able to include users who wouldn’t have otherwise had the connection capacity to see your video.

With Single-rate video, you can only select one target audience, but you also have the advantage of playing back the content from any web server. A streaming server needn’t be installed. So, if you don’t have access to Helix Server (or if you’re not sure, which probably means you don’t), this is likely to be the best option for you.

Next, you’ll need to choose an Audio format. RealAudio actually makes use of several audio codecs. The codec and its attributes will be auto-selected for you based on the type of audio content you have. Just choose an option from the drop-down list. Note that you can also choose No Audio if there’s nothing in any of your audio tracks.

Now that the audio is taken care of, it’s time to choose the Video quality. RealMedia only uses a single video codec to encode its video stream. This codec used to be based on H.263, but RealNetworks has since moved to a proprietary encoder. Just as with the Audio format, you’ve got a list of descriptive options in the corresponding drop-down list. Just choose the option that best represents your content, and you’re good to go.

Before moving on, though, there are a couple of check boxes that have a dramatic effect on how your video is encoded. The 2-pass encoding option analyzes and encodes your data in two separate steps (as opposed to one). This both increases the quality and can also reduce the file size, but splitting the encoding into two steps comes at the cost of increased production time. It’s a recommended option unless you’re really running up against a deadline (or you’re just a generally impatient human being).

Finally, you have the option to encode your video with Variable bit rate (VBR) encoding. This means that all the little bits in your video will be parceled out intelligently, with more bits being dedicated to the complex portions of the video, and fewer bits going to the simpler sections where there’s not a lot of motion or change. While the default option, Constant bitrate (CBR) encoding, is generally better suited for streaming, VBR can produce better quality. Just keep in mind that VBR-encoded files may take longer to buffer before they can start playing, which means a disconcerting delay for the user. And for those who are broadcasting their content from a streaming server, a sudden spike in bitrate due to fast motion or scene changes could end up exceeding the user’s connection speed, thus resulting in an interruption in playback. You might want to forego this option if you’re streaming a video that has a lot of high-motion elements.

Camtasia Studio always remembers your most recently used settings. However, should you ever decide to return to the recommended “factory defaults,” just click the Default button.

As far as playback of your content is concerned, you can produce a lone .rm file and then link to it, so that the RealPlayer media player will open upon accessing it. Or you can embed the content into an HTML page (selectable from the wizard’s Video Options screen), although doing so creates a lot of files. You’ll have the .rm file itself as well as the HTML file, a web style sheet (.css), a JavaScript file (.js), and a number of image files that help to comprise the playback environment on the web page. Make sure you upload everything to ensure that the video displays correctly.

Camtasia for RealPlayer (CAMV)

Several years ago, TechSmith partnered with RealNetworks to deliver a lossless screen video solution to the RealMedia platform. Out of that partnership came the Camtasia for RealPlayer (CAMV) file format. These files are designed to play back pretty much exclusively in the RealPlayer media player. For the advantages and drawbacks of this media player, please view the previous section on the RealMedia (.rm) streaming format.

Like the RealMedia format, CAMV files can be either streamed or progressively downloaded. Streaming a file means that it’s broadcast, like a television or radio transmission. No files are left on the user’s machine after viewing. This is of great benefit to those who want to better control the distribution of the content, since videos can’t just be downloaded and otherwise disseminated to other people who have no business viewing them. You’ll need a streaming server, such as Helix Server, in order to deliver true streaming. With progressive download, you only require a garden-variety web server. And downloaded files still enjoy the “streaming” advantage of instant gratification, as the video will begin to play very quickly, usually just a few seconds after the user clicks the “watch video” link.

That said, CAMV files are typically better suited to local and intranet delivery than distribution on the web. You see, unlike the RealMedia format, CAMV files are completely lossless, meaning that there’s no loss in video quality whatsoever. In fact, the CAMV file format is really nothing more than an AVI encoded with the TechSmith Screen Capture Codec (TSCC) that subsequently had its extension renamed to “.camv.” Lossless encoding works best for content with stable backgrounds, not much motion, and no photographic elements or color gradients. Even if you adhere to those guidelines, AVI files are just not as suitable for the web as some of the other file formats like SWF, FLV, or WMV. The one advantage a web-bound CAMV file can offer over a pure AVI is that the CAMV decoder resides on Real’s servers, and should auto-download for your users the first time they try to access your content, thus reducing or eliminating any distribution problems. Even so, I’d be hard-pressed to recommend CAMV for Internet distribution.

Camtasia RealPlayer Plugin Encoding Options

If you choose CAMV - Camtasia for RealPlayer streaming media as your output method, you’ll next come to the Camtasia RealPlayer Plugin Encoding Options screen:

This will allow you to do things like choose a target audience as well as set video and audio options. Let’s begin with the Target audience section. Provided you’ve done your homework and know a little something about who’s actually accessing your content, then you probably have a reasonably good idea as to their average connection speed. Go ahead and choose a target audience from the options that are listed in the dialog (displayed in order from lowest to highest bitrate).

The bitrate is the number of bits per second that travel from the streaming server to the client (audience). Every target audience has a corresponding target bitrate. For example, if you ignored my advice about not putting CAMV files on the web, and want to optimize the content for viewing on a 56 K modem, then the content will typically be streamed at 34 Kbps (kilobits per second). You can also create higher bandwidth versions for those with speedier connections, and for local playback, you can probably get away with choosing the highest bandwidth settings. TechSmith has specified certain bitrate defaults for each target audience, but these can be adjusted by clicking the Target Bitrate Settings… button.

Simply select an audience from the Target Audience drop-down list, and its current Target Bitrate will appear. Keep in mind that this is the total bitrate for both your video and audio. You can adjust this field as desired, but I generally find it best to stick with the default values, which are all plainly visible just below the field. Clicking the Restore Defaults button sets all target audiences back to their default values. Click OK when finished.

Also, bear in mind that the bitrate for your audio can be adjusted separately. For example, if you’re willing to let the audio quality take a hit in order to secure a better picture at a particular bitrate, you can do so. Just click the Audio Target Settings… button. The dialog that appears is remarkably detailed:

For each target audience, you’ve got different compression settings for four different kinds of audio (Voice Only, Voice with Background Music, Music, and Stereo Music). For each one, select a bitrate setting from the drop-down list. To help you make a more educated choice, let me clarify a couple of the terms you’ll encounter:

Don’t forget that any bitrate you set gets subtracted from the total available bandwidth set in your Target Bitrate Settings dialog, so double-check to make sure you’ve got enough room left over for the video stream. And just as with the Target Bitrate Settings, you have a Restore Defaults button that takes everything back to the factory- installed settings.

Meanwhile, back on your Camtasia RealPlayer Plugin Encoding Options screen, you have a few more options to set before you can move on. In the section labeled Video options, you can adjust the following:

For the audio side of things, simply choose an audio type from one of the four Audio format listings (or select No Audio if your video doesn’t contain any). The compression options are taken from whatever is specified in the Target Audience Settings dialog’s Audio tab for that particular target audience and audio format.

Finally, you’ll need to specify a Preroll length, which is the number of seconds that RealPlayer will buffer your video before it begins to play. If you want to ratchet up the target bitrate a little to reduce the number of dropped frames, you can add to the preroll to help compensate. Just keep in mind that the higher your preroll, the more you’re testing the patience of your audience.

At this point, you’re probably thinking, “Wait a second. If I can produce a video for a 28 K modem target audience, how can that video possibly be lossless? There’s gotta be a catch.” Well, actually, there is. The Camtasia RealPlayer Plugin reduces the bandwidth by dropping frames, meaning that you won’t be seeing the fluid playback at lower bitrates that you would normally experience. Provided you check Show production results on the wizard’s Produce Video screen, you’ll be shown exactly how many frames were dropped. In extreme cases (like our 28 K modem example), the final output will probably end up looking more like a slide show of image stills rather than an actual motion picture, which is part of the reason CAMV files are ill-suited for the web.

Of course, if you absolutely must create CAMV content for a low- bandwidth audience, there are a number of things you can do. The biggest one is to be really careful not to include any high-motion, high-color video content in your project. Recording at smaller video dimensions helps a lot as well. Some additional techniques include:

Producing to this format creates a number of files. You’ll have a CAMV file for the video stream, an RM (RealMedia) file for the audio stream, and a SMIL (pronounced “smile”) file for synchronizing the two streams. This is the file that users will need to double-click (as opposed to CAMV or RM) to play back your video locally. And of course, you’ll get an HTML file if you opted to embed your video in a web page.

Animated GIF File (GIF)

The GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) file format was introduced in 1987 by CompuServe Corporation. Due to its excellent lossless compression, GIF quickly became a mainstay of the Internet, and has still not yet been replaced by PNG (Portable Network Graphics) as the most popular lossless image format on the web. The only caveat with GIF is that it’s limited to a palette of 256 colors.

Unlike most image formats, GIF also supports frame animation. Most of the advertising banners and other animated windows you see on the web these days are either SWF or animated GIF. As versatile as it is, GIF does have a few limitations:

If used appropriately, animated GIFs made with Camtasia Studio are wonderful. I’ve used Camtasia Studio to create web banners as well as brief animated segments for my PowerPoint presentations. Since embedded AVIs tend to have horrible scaling issues in PowerPoint, using animated GIFs instead can help overcome this limitation.

Animated GIF File Encoding Options

So, let’s get busy with the Animated GIF Encoding Options screen. Since we don’t have a lot of audio and compression options to contend with, this one is comparatively simple:

All the details of your current setup are plainly listed at the bottom of the dialog. The options available for you to adjust are:

[*]The term “Flash” has become homogenized to potentially mean the authoring system, the media player, the project file, or the produced content files. To eliminate confusion, I’ll do my best to be specific rather than referring to everything simply as “Flash.”

[*]Note that, depending on the web browser and the user’s current version of Flash Player, this upgrade will generally be downloaded and installed automatically upon the first attempt to access your content, with little or no interaction required on the part of the user.

[*]When assigning a bit rate, keep in mind that this represents the total maximum bit rate for the file, including audio.

[*]Even if you captured to the CAMREC format, the actual screen video file is still encoded as an AVI inside the CAMREC container file.

[*]720 x 480 is the digital standard resolution for DVDs in North America and Japan, which use the NTSC standard. If producing a DVD for a European audience, you should instead choose 720 x 576 to adhere to the PAL digital standard resolution.

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