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Subject:RE: video screen capture with dynamic text From:"David Demyan" <dbdemyan -at- worldnet -dot- att -dot- net> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Fri, 19 Jan 2001 22:12:08 -0500
Denise asked:
>I'm looking for an application that will allow me to capture input
>into a screen (mouse movements, menu pull-down, etc.) and add dynamic
>text on top of it. The text would provide the instructions, and
>the video clip of the screen would show you how to do it. The
>text would have to change with the video clip to provide the next
>step of instructions
>I see a few applications out there (that I found in the Techwhirler
>archives) that allow me to add audio on top of the video screen
>capture (like Camtasia), but none that allow me to create text
>boxes that change with the video.
Denise, I think you're on the right track. There are two ways to do what
you want: the cheap and simple way and the expensive and difficult way.
The cheap way is really only appropriate for low volume work, but it
does a fine job. Use Camtasia Recorder and put the annotations
in during recording of individual clips (Effects > Annotation >
Add Caption). You can select the appearance and position of the captions
using Effects > Settings. These captions stay in place for the length
of the recording. This will mean that your individual recording clips
will be short--in fact, they should be no longer than the length of
the annotation. Unfortunately, there is no easy way to add captions
and set timing of them in Camtasia Producer, the companion product.
If the caption effect was added in Recorder for a single clip, you
can adjust the length and timing of that individual clip using the
trim window. It can also be accomplished using the Watermark feature
in final production in Camtasia Producer, but that applies the
"Watermark" (which can be a caption) to the entire edited sequence.
This feature is really better suited for placing a trademark in a
corner of the captured video, just like the networks do. You can make
it transparent or opaque and adjust the position and size.
The expensive and difficult way is to get into computer video editing
big time. Some of the applications I have used to accomplish what you
want are Adobe Premiere 5.1 and After Effects. These are expensive to
buy and have a lengthy learning curve, but give you the ultimate
flexibility in adding titles and captions to any type of computer
based video content (captured video from cameras or the Windows
desktop).
Let me know if you need more help with this. I write the help systems
for TechSmith's products, including Camtasia and SnagIt.
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