Screen Capture Just Became Free and Easy

Ok gang, I'll get back to talk some more about Pull Advertising/marketing in just a bit as I find it quite fascinating, and based on the number of emails I received from mailing list subscribers so do many people.  The tough part for many folks is coming up with good examples of pull concepts.  I've got some and I think once you see what they are you'll start to notice others all around you.

In the mean time though I wanted to share one of the cooler tools I've stumbled upon in a good while.

We all know, have read, have heard, have seen or are at least aware of the impact online video is having on the Internet world and almost more profoundly, on the offline world.

One of the more innovative tools that has helped contribute to the online video craze is Screen Capture Video.

Yes I agree that all too many of them are pretty poor examples of video, what with a voice um'ing and ah'ing its way through a tour of a product or site, but the fact remains they can be very useful and informative.

The issue to date has been what software to use.  I own a number of different applications ranging from the free Camstudio (on which Nick "The Geek" has been diligently working for some time) to Camtasia 5 which will run you about $300 as a first time buyer.  We've been waiting for a Camstudio 2.5 coming out (Nick please hurry!) and there are other alternatives as well (the new ScreenFlow for the Mac), but the fact remains that Camtasia is the top dog.  With their Camtasia 5 release came some pretty awesome enhancements for hot spots, sharing, and a variety of other elements.

Once folks get past the price, the next issue with Camtasia is that it does take some time and effort to learn how to properly output your videos and it also takes some time just to do it and get them up on line.

Well, I now have an alternative for you…

TechSmith (the company that puts out Camtasia and Snagit, both of which I highly recommend) has recently launched The Jing Project. 

This is an extremely easy-to-use screen capture system that enables you to capture live footage from your computer screen as easily as I am typing this in right now.  The next thing you do is tell the simple interface that you are done with the capture and, depending on the length of the video, you upload it to your own ftp site, get the code to embed it in a web page or upload it to screencast.com (you get a free account) and distribute the link to it in less than a minute.

I used Jing to grab their logo above.

Here is a link to the video I just shot as I typed this post:

This is a jing capture - without audio

Including audio with the capture above is as easy as hooking up your mic (I didn't want to do that here in the restaurant).

It's just too darned easy.

All you do is drag your pointer across your screen to establish your capture area (which you can then adjust) and then hit record.

Imagine communicating with a support staff via chat and being able to grab a video of your issue and provide them a link while you are chatting with them. 

How about doing a quick recording and IM'ing it to a programmer or friend.

The other cool aspect of this is you don't have to host the video.  You can host your clips at screencast.com which is TechSmith's video hosting service.

Basically by using this software you will be providing TechSmith data on the demand for a service such as this, frequency of use, band width demands and storage demands.  They will then use this to determine the viability of the service as a paid option.

Regardless the reason, it produces great quality videos, is free and is super easy to use.

Grab it an give it a spin.

Onward & Upward!

Sam Knoll