Want to give your screen shots a little sparkle? Lend your recordings a little razzamatazz? Or would it be enough to give a presentation at work without your colleagues snickering at your video behind your back? Well, whether you're an average person in need of some guidance or a seasoned professional looking to wring all of the usefulness out of a program the following will take you to the level you need. From basic recording for training videos to editing effects that can blow your socks off, these three programs have it all, and they are at your fingertips.
Camtasia for Mac
A big step up from the typical screen capture software, Camtasia for Mac lets you record and import content using a small but powerful assortment of tools to make what you see on your screen available anywhere.
Use your screen, plug in a microphone and get cracking: Camtasia will make your video pop. Training videos, product demos, how-to-screencasts, and anything else you can capture on your screen, narrate and record through your speakers is made easier with this software. What sets Camtasia apart from other programs of its kind is its SmartFocus technology: it sees the size of the window you're in, where it is on your screen, you typing and mouse clicks, and automatically zooms in to follow the most important action. This can save you a ton of time, even when editing is as easy as it is in this program. Use the timeline to drag your media in and arrange it to your heart's content, and with the handfuls of ready made effects and the ability to modify them, your video will be polished, high quality, and ready to go in whatever market you're working in.
Once you're through, use the preview function to fine tune your performance by manipulating your video directly instead of ging back to the editor...then directly upload to YouTube or create web ready files...even send your masterpiece straight to iDVD.
www.techsmith.com/camtasiamac | Price: $99.00
iMovie
Just 'cause it comes pre-loaded in iLife doesn't mean it isn't fantastic; the last thing you should do is underestimate iMovie. While you can't record with the program, importing clips is simple and iMovie is compatible with tons of video formats like MPEG 4 and AVCHD so there's no worry there. Once you have your content in, editing is as simple or complex as you want it to be. All you have to do is drag and drop your video onto the project work area, but you can add markers, titles, pictures, even a soundtrack using your iTunes songs. If you want to go totally crazy on it, though, you absolutely can--the Precision Editor magnifies your footage so you can get the crispest, cleanest transitions possible. And with twenty "cinema quality" transitions to choose from, your home movies or business footage will be the slickest on the block.
iMovie doesn't stop there, either. Edit audio, organize your clips, animate title pages, or add any one of the nineteen video effects to a clip or the entire project...the options really seem endless. And the sleek Apple interface means you know the user experience is going to be ultra-friendly.
http://www.apple.com/ilife/imovie/ | Price: Free with iLife on your Mac
Ambrosia Snapz Pro X
A “digital video camera” for your screen, Snapz Pro X promises quick and easy digital capture in the QuickTime format for a range of projects from product demos to training videos to archiving streaming video. Version 2 has had a lot of love put into it in terms of upgrades and makes it easier than ever to say bye-bye to static screen shots—why bother with them when getting video is this simple?
Snapz Pro X’s upgrade functions a lot like Snow Leopard did: it didn’t completely overhaul the previous version. Instead, it streamlined and pared down features and added new functionality to an already successful platform. The main interface is so simple it’s scary—you have fewer than ten options for what you can do with this program, but there’s freedom in the simplicity as well. You know going in exactly what this program is capable of and that it is set up to deliver.
One of the few places with a tremendous amount of options is the save as feature; you can choose from eight supported formats and exert exacting control over the image compression. Editing your screenshots gives you a few extraneous choices as well, and you can crop, scale and dither the images as well as add borders, create thumbnails, even overlay watermarks and copyright notices. Wouldn’t want anyone trying to steal your company training secrets, now would we?
Snapz Pro X requires OS X 10.4 but like many other programs we’ve seen lately has already made the switch to 64-bit to be compatible with Snow Leopard. All in all this program is easy to use, quick to learn and produces a great product, being as it’s a full twenty times faster than any other video capture software currently on the market.
Snapz Pro X | Price: $69.00
