| Making Screen Capture Movies with Camtasia and HyperCam | |
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By Tanya K. Metaksa
Producer is Camtasia's movie production component, while HyperCam bundles VFramer by FlickerFree. Both programs include the ability to add sound, mix .avi files, add transitions, record and import video, and edit the files. If one wishes to add single images to a longer .avi file, VFramer includes the ability within the program, while using Camtasia the same thing is accomplished through the use of the Dubit interface. The VFramer solution is more intuitive for longer storyboarding, while using Dubit for adding sound to stills as well as .avi files is useful for those that are just interested in making short .avi files of stills.
Camtasia
Producer
HyperCam
VFramer
Camtasia's
DubIt component
The main interface for both includes windows for visualizing the addition of the visual images. VFramer calls it the construction window, which is patterned after a standard video-editing format, while Producer names it the storyboard using a more graphic visualization.
Once the storyboard has been set up with the appropriate files, the user can add transitions such as zoom, wipe, dissolve, and many others. When inserting transitions in Camtasia it is necessary to have selected the clip to which the transition will be applied and then select transitions from the File menu. A window pops up -- a list of transitions is available, speed of the transition is selectable, and the user can view in the pop-up window how the transition works. VFramer includes transition in what it calls Plug-ins. Plugs-ins is found in a tab next to the files tab. You can either drag and drop the plug-in to the appropriate place in the construction window or you can double click the plug-in after you have placed your cursor where you wish it to go.
Camtasia transitions
Vframer-plug-ins
When it is finally time to make the movie, it is simple to click on make the movie and watch the computer work. This process may take some time depending on the size of the final movie.
Additionally Camtasia has a feature called Pack and Show which allows the user to package the movie and the TSCC Codec as a Windows-executable file (.exe). VFramer includes the ability to capture a video sequence if the user's computer has a Windows compatible video grabber card installed.
