CamStudio Review

CAMSTUDIO

What do you think CamStudio is?

CamStudio is a software program that you download off the internet if you want to record short videos for personal or business use. 

CamStudio is able to record all of the screen and also the audio information within your computer and also create the industry-standard AVI video files by using its built-in SWF producer.  The AVI turns into a skinny, aggressive, bandwidth-friendly Streaming Flash video that abbreviates to SWFs.  Using the CamStudio provides an easy and user friendly product for basic video capturing needs.

The software program can be used by creating any of your demonstration videos. Using videos has been very popular, especially for the animal videos.  Also this product can be a great resource for school and college classes to set up and create video tutorials.  The video-based side can be created to sell your products easier.  People love images and videos so they know what they're how their purchase can be applied to their own needs. With your favorite software program you record new ideas and solutions so they're never forgotten.

If the sound is bad or just you don't like it, that will never be a problem. Like I mentioned before CamStudio is a high quality, anti-aliased with no jagged edges screen caption to the recording that you can set up in a few seconds.  One of the best microphones to use with the CamStudio is the Samson C03U. It's a very high quality microphone.  And also another high quality microphone is the Blue Snowball which gives very clear audio at an affordable price.  It's important to note that CamStudio does not record your microphone audio as a default setting. You need to turn on this setting for your voice to be recorded. Simply choose that setting and you'll see the check mark appear. Make sure when recording it's a quiet setting.  Better quality audio can be obtained by using a USB microphone such as the Logitech ClearChat USB headset.

Another feature that's really nice is the interesting Video Annotation. This feature can be personalized with your videos by adding a webcam movie of yourself.  This would be the picture in picture on your desktop. Wait, there's more, CamStudio comes with its own Lossless Codec that will produce very clear results with a much smaller file size that can be compared to the popular codecs, like the Microsoft Video 1.  No worries, you will have total control with the output of all your videos.  Custom cursors are used to record the entire screen or even just a section of the screen.  Also featured would be reducing and increasing the quality of the recording.  You can use smaller videos for emailing people and also, like I mentioned before, with the best quality for burning onto CD/DVD. All these features with CamStudio can be taught in minutes and if you need help there is a built-in helpfile at your disposal. All that needs to be done if this occurs is to click HELP, and you will get the answers you need.

So now you're probably asking yourself where do I get this great product and how much will it cost?  All you need to do is download the CamStudio because it's 100% free for your personal needs.  And also, if you need it for a commercial project, it can be used for that as well. The Codec for CamStudio is released under GPL. The best part for you is that there is no out of pocket expense for you.

CamStudio's History:

RenderSoft is the company that originally released the CamStudio product. RenderSoft was bought out by a company called eHelp. Some of the technology that eHelp used was in the program that was called RoboDemo. Later down the road eHelp was bought out by Macromedia who wanted the rights to RoboDemo. CamStudio was already doing some of the same things that RoboDemo was doing but offered the features for free, mainly export to streaming Flash. Then CamStudio released a newer and improved version to fix some of the bugs but most of all it had to retain certain features that were needed to advance the product to the next stage to remain better than the rest. SWF's were not created anymore. It was a good thing not to use the SWFs because now you don’t have to register for the use of the product anymore. 

CamStudio Updates:

It’s always good to have updates since technology changes at an alarming rate. The way this is done is to go to the forum and sign up and then a link will open a new window.  Then you're part of the CamStudio forum. 

The bottom line is that CamStudio is user friendly and simple to understand.  And what’s better than FREE?  You'll get through help in the HTML format.

With the CamStudio you have the option to set the program to record activity to AVI or SWF format.  Also the audio can be recorded through your speakers or microphone.  The screen annotations will allow you to add custom text captions and also callout to your movies.  Make sure that the  annotations are saved as a layout before recording.  And also that it can be called up with a hotkey during every recording process.  No editing capabilities are offered because your movie and annotations must be

very carefully planned prior to beginning your recording. When doing AVI movies they can be quite large.  But you can convert the AVI files to Flash format that will reduce a much smaller size than you need to play back your video. This process does tend to take some time but you should be happy with the final results. 

When you go onto other blogs and review them you will find that CamStudiohttp://www.camstudio.org is a very popular product and has several great reviews for being a good product.  Reviews include that they have good upgraded versions every once in a while to fill the consumers needs.  Since video sharing is the way of the future,CamStudio is the way to go.

Since so many people have computers today it's easy to access the CamStudio product, and be able to use it for so many of your needs ever day.  If you don't know how to use the product and need it for school, your job, or just around the house for fun there are plenty of resources on the web to follow along with videos to play and listen to.  I like the fact that the pause/play option is so much easier now compared to when I used to get frustrated with the VCR's.  They were so much harder to operate.  You're also able to download the video you choose and save it on a folder in your computer to go back to it when you have more time at a later date. Once you’re ready to use the video that explains how to use the CamStudio all  you have to do is find it on your computer instead of searching the web again.

If you're not a heavy user for converting videos and your needs are fairly basic, CamStudio will be a very handy tool for recording the screen activity. And also for the audio in AVI and SWF format as well. For the price of free you can't beat that.

CamStudio has a screencast feature that narrates and explains all activity on your computer screen.  It will help with explaining how to accomplish and perform a particular task on a computer program or on a website.  You have many software tools and web services to create a screencast.  The best part is that Windows offers the CamStudio for free.

Once you get a hang of the Screencasting it's like a piece of fine art. It's done to perfection.  The screencast was created by two graduate students, Ms. Shuer and Ms. Johnson.  They both attended an educational technology class at the American University, in Washington DC.  Both are also High School math teachers at the District of Columbia public schools.  This was the first screencast they ever made and was used with theCamStudio product. 

With CamStudio you can record all of your screen or just a certain region defined by a window.  The video that's made with CamStudio can have a timestamp, caption and a watermark.  All recordings can be preset for a certain amount of time.  Like I said before, the movies that are recorded in AVI format can be converted into Streaming Flash - SWF - file format.

The application can be highlighted from left to right with a mouse click.

Different settings can be adjusted like the playback rate or define the milliseconds for the  way your frames should be captured.  With the compression algorithms you have the option of LZO and GZIP; they would come as a natural choice.  In the tools menu, you can use the screen and video annotations.  There is plenty of play within here.  Editing of the transparency can be done through the window, and the resolution, the pixel depth and also the compression of the digital image format.  You can also create cutouts with predefined shapes and adding a border to them.  The cutouts can be user-defined size and color.  If you need to, the refresh rate of the video device can be arranged accordingly from 1 to 60 FPS (Frames per second).  That would give you a better quality to what you've captured. By editing the text you can select the font, its positioning, and also even the Language or Encoding. 

CamStudio is a useful application for all your quick demos and screen casts on your computer; especially for tutorials with classroom assignments.  You have a lot of customized options to work with.  Many choices can be made, like preset the recording timer of user-defined screen region.  Some other features that are included are the option to highlight the cursor path during a recording session, automatic panning, and the ability to record with sound.  With the menu option it lets you annotate and append videos with comments, plus add a time stamp or watermark.  CamStudio lets you also capture screenshots if you set the frame rate, drag the mouse over the area for capture, and tap on the coordinates with the ease of converting AVI files into MP4's.  Overall, CamStudio is a great way to take advantage of open source software  to produce both the instructional videos and screen captures and share them with the world!

Although the CamStudio is a compact program it does have nice features to maximize its high points.  The installation is very easy to do.  Be careful and read everything because it might try to add something you don't need. So again, read everything.  That seems to happen with most products today.  Once your CamStudio is downloaded and launched, you will find several helpful features to make your screen recording experience a good one.  You’ll be using this for quite a long time. The features that are included are; controls to record an entire screen or a portion of the screen, the sound options, and the ability to add any comments that might be needed to help others to use this product.  That would be for the

videos and screen captures.  The CamStudio and its codec are released under GPL license.

The Breakdown of Product Details are as Follows:

-Records your screen and audio to AVI files

-Converts AVI into Flash

-Highlights your cursor path for clarity

-Automatically pans

-Records with sound

-Lets you add text comments to videos

Pros

CamStudio lets you create training tutorials and has a nice selection of video styling features.

Cons

CamStudio outputs only to AVI with a conversion to Flash.

Quick Specs

-Version 2.7.2

Date added: October 19,2013

-Operating system: Window

CamStudio is a great way to operate within a world of video tutorials.

Another perspective is going with the commercial end of this product, but it does cost you something.  But if you are serious and have a business this would be the right way to go.  Since the video landscape is always changing the updates are needed on a regular basis.  At this time CamStudio can only be saved to SWF (Flash) and AVI.  Like I said before CamStudio is a great product for around the home or if you need to share a video or a tutorial for an assignment, this is the way to go. A small webcam can be used with the screen to capture yourself while you demonstrate the workings of an application. There are other products that are similar but CamStudio makes it much easier to use and that's why this software was given a four star rating.

Some of the other uses for CamStudio are capturing your game action, record your web-based activity, and much more. It's very popular with the YouTube videos like short videos for tutorials.  CamStudio is one of the most popular video capturing applications out there now.  The CamStudio can capture videos for school, church meetings, and business conferences.

The videos can be voice-overs or used by putting in your text annotations.  When recording the quality, it would be 1280x720 HD depending on your computer. Usually you start with a AVI format and then convert to WMV format by using Windows Movie Maker to upload your video to YouTube, which is done quite often.  The Frame Rate can be customized by using

Options, and Video Options. Make sure that you capture the frame every time. The Playback Rate equals 1,000 milliseconds in order to maintain audio/video rhythm.  CamStudio will come with several Codecs, Compressor and Decompressor.  These help to reduce the size of the video output file that's been used at that time.  The cursor option is a useful feature that include various shapes, sizes, and cursor highlight.  The auto pan feature is used with the region video recording.  It allows the mouse to follow the area on the screen by using the region option.  If you're worried about downloading the software there is no problem.  It's been tested by an antivirus program like Norton.  When the CamStudio is downloaded and the Icon doesn't appear on your desktop check with your system tray.  It may be hidden and you have to click on the system tray to find the icon.  The older version of CamStudio would be the better way to go because it's the better product overall. The only thing that comes close to competition to CamStudio is Camtasia, but it costs about $300 and CamStudio is free.

Instructions on launching the CamStudio software

1. Launch the CamStudio. Click Options from the Cam Studio main menu, and then click Program Options.

2. Click the box next to Save Settings on Exit to disable it.

3. Close CamStudio and then Reopen the Software.

4. Click Options from the CamStudio main menu, and then click Program Options.

5. Click the box next to Save Settings on Exit to re-enable it.  Although no changes were made, you're resetting the Save Settings on Exit option. You're verifying that there was not a glitch in the system. If Cam Studio does not work as expected, go to the next step.

6. Click Options from the CamStudio main menu, and then click Video Options.

7. Check the Auto Adjust box. Move the slider all the way to Max Framerate on the far left.  Click OK If CamStudio does not work as expected, go to the next step to lower the hardware acceleration.

8. Click the Start button on your computer and Click Control Panel.  Click Appearance and Personalization then Adjust screen resolution and then click Advanced Settings

9. Click the Troubleshoot tab, then Change Settings and then Click Continue.

10. Drag the Hardware Acceleration slider to None Click OK

Just Some Tips and Warnings to Watch For:

Always verify if other programs options are enabled or disabled if the problem continues.  Start theCamStudio click Options and then click Program Options. Make sure you check the boxes next to the features you want disabled. Please note that the Capture translucent/layered windows and Record Thread Priority are just the few features that may be enabled or

3 Key Points to searching for software to download on your computer and everyday needs:

I found a website that gave CamStudio a 93% for its product.

The first category is for Popularity and it was four out of five stars.  The popularity rating indicates that how many visitors the website gets.  It's based on a compilation of indirect signs such as Alexa Rank, PageRank, number of backward links. The sites that are received a five star are the most visited sites in the world.  This would be a good reason to download a site that has been visited more often and that you can trust.

The second category is for Authority.

Authority score relies on the domain, age, links and mentions on authoritative sites and user reviews.  The rank was given a four and that meant that it's a good level of online trust for CamStudio.org The Domain name has a great age and history.

The third category would be for the Usability.

The Usability rank is a combination of performance score, page load time, and website markup validity metrics. The fast load time and correct display of the web pages within different browsers leads to a greater satisfaction and of course loyalty of users.  The five star rank that it was given indicates highly well-developed, fast, and easy to use design.  The only thing is that some of the performance of the product can use a little bit of improvements that can be applied to increase the usability.  Overall it's a great product for what it's used for ever day.

 

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