Making video tutorials - process?

bobgroh

I am intrigued by the idea of making some video tutorials on using Sketchup - i.e. a video tutorial where you see what is happening on your computer screen along with a narrated audio. What software is (generally) being used to provide this capability? Those of you who are actually doing this - do you have any hints to pass along? Thanks.

Rich O Brien

try http://www.jingproject.com/

Rich O Brien

oh and welcome to SCF

Gaieus

Well, Rich beat me (but I also included Jing)

There are a bunch of good screen capturing applications - some are free, others are rather costy but can do wonderful things. Google these apps like Jing, Camstudio, Camtasia...

I used to have a Camtasia license but lost it with a HD crash so I use Camstudio now along with a nifty app called "Sizer" with which I can set my window size to any pre-defined size and in Camstudio, you can also set which part of the screen (my full window or just the model area in this case) I record.

Look at the Ruby forum and find plugins posted by Chris Fullmer and listen to his wife doing the dishes in the background.

Ecuadorian

Well, I use CamStudio, but I turn off audio recording, so I haven't tested audio. I use it with the DivX Pro codec, but I believe XviD is an alternative. Just make sure to set capture framerate to 30 and set your encoder to max speed.

If you plan to provide direct download for your videos, make them fullscreen.
If you're going to post them to Youtube, Vimeo or Dailymotion, make them 1280x720 pixels, and lower the framerate to 24 or 25. If your tutorials might be of benefit to SketchUp users, Youtube seems to be the best option, as you can later add subtitles in multiple languages.

Bert

Hi,

I use BB FlashBack 2 recorder. It was less expensive than CamStudio but does less.

I have made some french vidéos on SU for the french community.
They are hosted on Viddler.com

Gaieus

Hi Bert,

CamStudio is free - Camtasia is the one that's rather pricy (although indeed is a powerful application).

Edit - well, lots of videos!
(I'm not going to watch many of them as my French is limited to what I've picked up after Latin )

Ecuadorian

@gaieus said:

along with a nifty app called "Sizer" with which I can set my window size to any pre-defined size

Thank you, Csaba!
This just made things a lot easier. Here it is in case someone needs it:
http://www.brianapps.net/sizer.html

Gaieus

Thanks Miguel - I seem to have forgotten to post the link