RE: Recording a discovery section

["Chris McQueen" <chrism -at- docutechcorp -dot- com>]

Lorraine:

If you're trying to record an entire room, you probably should use a
video camera.  Most webcams have a narrow field of view.  I also use a
wide angle lens (nothing fancy, $15.00) that allows me to record most
rooms much more easily than with the standard lens video cameras offer.

I mentioned Camtasia before, which allows you to record a screen.  Well,
it also lets you record a webcam or a video camera feed at the same
time.  So, you could have the user's screen recorded and video of the
room. Once you record both you can save the room's video recording as a
Picture-in-Picture view within the screen capture video.

But, if you want to use a webcam, (i.e. one you already own) a good
piece of software that records audio well is Audacity
(http://audacity.sourceforge.net/).  It's free and simple to use.

- Chris



-----Original Message-----
From: lorraine -at- lorraineflynn -dot- com [mailto:lorraine -at- lorraineflynn -dot- com] 
Sent: Friday, October 27, 2006 10:37 AM
To: Chris McQueen
Cc: lorraine -at- lorraineflynn -dot- com; techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: RE: Recording a discovery section

Hi Chris

Thanks for the tips. Yes, the users will watch a projected computer
monitor as well as get on their soap boxes, so I guess I will need to
run
some sort of screen capture software in the background while I tape the
room.

Can I really use a webcam to tape the room? I didn't know they had that
kind of power. I was thinking of getting a camcorder with a built in
hard
drive. The shotgun mike sounds like a must either way. If I went the
webcam and shotgun route what kind of software would I use to capture
the
sound? Could you recommend a webcam?

Thanks a lot for your help.

Lorraine

> Lorraine:
>
> I've done a couple of these a few different ways and found that sound
is
> the most import and the most difficult.  Video can be easily supported
> with pictures or images later, but sound is had to re-do.
>
> If video is import, get a DV camera with an external lapel (lavalier)
> microphone to record one person or a shotgun (directional) microphone
to
> record a group.  If video isn't important, use the webcam, but get an
> external lapel mic or a shotgun mic.  I got my lapel mic for $25 and
my
> shotgun mic for $50 from Amazon.com and it was well worth the
> investment.  Missing a comment is so frustrating when you try to
review
> the material with a group.
>
> As a note, most DV video cameras record sound very well, so well that
> some of them record the hum of the tape and motors in the camera.  I
> haven't experienced this a lot, but it's another reason to get an
> external microphone.
>
> The nice thing about webcams is they are portable; video cameras may
> require plugging into an electric socket if you're going to record for
> longer periods than the battery allows for.
>
> A couple questions, are the users in the discovery session going to be
> reviewing content on-line or on a computer screen?  Or are these
> tangible items?  A DV video camera or webcam will struggle to record
> monitors, you'll want to use a screen capture program like Camtasia.
> (www.techsmith.com)
>
> - Chris
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: techwr-l-bounces+chrism=docutechcorp -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> [mailto:techwr-l-bounces+chrism=docutechcorp -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com]
On
> Behalf Of lorraine -at- lorraineflynn -dot- com
> Sent: Thursday, October 26, 2006 12:03 PM
> To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> Subject: Recording a discovery section
>
> Hello
>
> Can anybody recommend a good way to record a user discovery session?
Are
> webcams useless and should we spring for a video camera? Will it pick
up
> sound ok? I have to run some user sessions for a lessons learned type
> document but am quite inexperienced in this area.
>
> Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
>
> L.
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