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

In this chapter, I showed you two very different methods of producing your edited project into a form that could be viewed by others. Recommend my production settings chooses the file format and settings based on the project’s content and its desired output medium. Your other option is to choose all format and options settings manually.

If you’d rather specify everything manually, you need to consider the following:

• How do you want to distribute the video? CD-ROM? E-mail? Web? If delivering over the Internet, would you rather have the content streamed or downloaded?

• Does your video have high-color, high-motion components, or is it mostly screen video? This will have an effect on the compression method you choose.

• What are the constraints of your audience in terms of connection speeds and the kinds of media players they can use?

• How should you size your video for best visibility? Make sure you consider those members of your target audience with low-resolution monitors.

• Would your audience benefit by the inclusion of interactive components, such as quizzes and hot spots?

Once you have your settings chosen, don’t forget to create a custom preset if you plan on using those settings often. This will not only be a boon to the internal consistency of your projects, but it’s a real time- saver as well.