Poderosa Ranch

Fred Grover | September 14, 2010

Howdy Ya’All,

Just wanted to share the good news with users from other countries or who want a German or French Version of SnagIt 10. TechSmith is stepping up the game and offering it in these two languages for reaching out to the users in other countries. Anton Bollen (He is the newest member of the TechSmith evangelist team based in Berlin) and has a blog for the German version of SnagIt 10 and if you want to read it in that language just click here. If you would like to learn more about Anton then just click here.

Here is the links for the German 30-Day Trial Download of SnagIt 10.

And Here is the link for the French 30-Day Trial Download of SnagIt 10.

Well, I hope you all enjoy this post.

Thanks from your Ranch Hand Tour Guide

Fred Grover

Ya’All Come Back Now Ya’Hear !

Category: General Roundup Posts | No Comments »
Tags: French, German, SnagIt 10 Versions

Jason Clemens | September 12, 2010

Audio issues are probably the biggest questions we get on Techsmith’s User to User Forum. Unfortunately there are so many variables to getting great sound it is hard to answer each questions. Here are the things I know that create bad sound:

1. If you are using a laptop your microphone, whether using a headset or not, will pick up the computer’s fan and processor noise. It can only be avoided if you use a long cord and move the computer across the room. Not workable for most.
2. The mic itself. USB mics tend to work better than ones with 3m jacks.
3. Computer sound cards. Unless you built your own computer or purchased a high end computer for recording video and audio your sound card is probably very basic.
4. The lack of using a pop filter. You know that filter that hangs in front of your microphone to stop the bad S and P sounds.
5. Running to many programs at once can slow down the recording process.
6. Your operating system. Vista seems to have the worst audio problems, because Vista is where Microsoft started changing how the audio is listened to and recorded. I don’t have a computer with Vista so I don’t know all of the ins and outs of those problem, I just know I have seen a lot of problems in the forum.
7. The room you record in can affect your audio quality. Does sound bounce around the room? Are there other sounds your mic is picking up?

Now that I have listed some of the problems now for somethings that can help:

1. Ensure all setting for your mic are set the same. I mean the settings in Camtasia Studio, Camtasia Recorder, and your operating systems audio settings.
2. Use a USB mic over a 3m to avoid using the poor sound cards.
3. Record your audio separate from the video if possible.
4. Look at using a digital recorder rather than the computer itself and then import the audio into Camtasia Studio. Adding a mixer and sound gate can also help.
5. Use a pop filter or take an old foam ear piece from a set of head phone and wrap that around your headset’s boom mic. Also ensure the mic is not right in front of your mouth.
6. Hang items on the walls of your room that will absorb sounds like blankets or acoustic foam.
7. Before you start talking let the mic record the room sound for 3-5 seconds. This will allow you to use audio editing software to better clean up the bad sounds. By recording the room sounds you can then isolate them better.

I hope that helps. Of course look around for more helpful information on audio recording.

Category: Audio Recording, Camtasia Studio | No Comments »
Tags: audio recording, Camtasia Studio

Jason Clemens | September 4, 2010

A lot of Camtasia Studio users have expressed the need to record video interviews.  They usually want the participants video window to be side by side.  Some want to be able to interview multiple people on video at the same time.  Well, Skype announced in May 2010 it is working on its latest version, which focuses on video chat.  Skype 5 will allow video conferencing for up to 5 people.  That is a great improvement.  Currently, you would have to use a Webinar system to do this at a great cost.

Here are the improvements made:

New Features:
* Up to 5-way group video call
* Redesigned calling experience
* Improved video snapshots gallery
* Improved browser plugins performance on some websites.
* Reduced false positives on browser plugin phone number recognition.

Changes:
* Call host is not displayed anymore in the user interface
* Windows 2000 is not supported in this Beta version

It is unclear whether you will have to pay to use the video conferencing or not.  I will say from reading the comments posted there are a lot of unhappy people.  Mostly, they seem to be unhappy about the voice and chat side of the program.  The new version hides this area to streamline the video experience.

I have yet to test Skype 5 Beta, but if you would like to visit the Skype Garage Blog.  I know one thing, I am looking forward to a Skype that is more video conferencing savvy.  The thought of being able to record multiple video chats using Camtasia Studio excites me.  Now, if PowerGramo can catch up so it can record Skype 5 we will really be in business.

Category: General Roundup Posts | 1 Comment »
Tags: skype