TechSmith Camtasia Studio 6.0 Review by the Rich Sage

Ok, finally I am getting into videos.  I mentioned almost a year earlier that videos were part of my work to build traffic.  To date I haven’t posted a single credible video.  I have made several, but just didn’t feel good about the content.  Most of the time people tell me that my soothing voice puts them to sleep. Ouch!

Well, that tends to be because I venture into the technical side of things all too often.  I need to mix some real human drama in between to make it lively.  I will certainly try.

My Plan with Videos:

• Just get started presenting helpful content.
• Transition by the summer into video with my images, various locations and stills.  By that time my video & photo gallery should be live.
• Use Camtasia to make videos exclusively for my Member area.  Some Member videos will be public via YouTube. Others will be just for Members.
• Just for Member video will display video using the Camtasia player.
• I’ll maintain a make money online theme, but I will also add another theme that will be part of BiiG.COM and a special project that I plan to start this summer in micro-finance worldwide -to help Entrepreneurs.

My post today is all about videos and making them using Camtasia Studio 6.0 by TechSmith.  I have used the latest version a few weeks and it’s great!

My Camtasia Studio 6.0 Review Continues…

In the latest Camtasia Studio release — 6.0, TechSmith has made the best video editing software for Windows.  I run it on Win XP in a basic pc –nothing fancy.  I do plan to focus my next upgrade on a much better system to handle videos and take into account a video processor that can focus on high definition.  Ok, that’s a month or two away as the pc I use now is more than enough.

Video Setup Features:

So what does Camtasia Studio 6.0 Allow Me to Do?  I can…

• Take still images –usually jpeg and add them to my video.  That’s the “Import Media” link.  Media includes audio and other video, as well as photos.
• Add “Titles” that are written with a visual preview right next to the editor.
• Add “Voice Narration” via a mic or take recording, and add to it.
• Of course, add live or recorded video footage using a web cam.

Video Editing Features:

Once the basic elements of your video are brought to the working area, Camtasia presents several editing features to help assemble and make sense of the content.

As you can see from the “Edit” menue which is grayed out because I didn’t have a production video when I made the image.

Anyway, the “edit” area will allow you to add everything from Callouts (message areas within the video) and Transitions to making audio enhancements to adding a picture in a picture.  This is professional quality stuff that took thousands of dollars of production just a few years ago –Now you can do it on your desktop with a few hundred dollar program.  Actually, they have a 30-day trial to get you started.

Lastly, there is the “Produce” area where you take your creation to production based on your needs –which are quality based. For example, a YouTube video can be the standard quality or High Def.  Or you can make content for CD or DVD.  There are several formats you can end up with.

Camtasia Studio Timeline:

Below is an image of the timeline — all the images that you gathered, video clips, audio, etc from the edit area is “dumped” into the timeline where you assemble your video focusing on the video tracks’ timing and audio.

I posted my test video at the bottom of this post, which took me a grand total of about 5 min. to make and upload to YouTube.

I think the biggest strength of Camtasia is that the learning curve is very short – You can focus on getting your videos posted online than trying to learn what to do.  Learning the basic stuff is very easy –Just click on the Welcome screen, and it’s learning tutorial links and you’re on your way in 30 min. tops.

Below is the Welcome screen, which you will see when you start up Camtasia Studio 6.0.  Or you can access it via Camtasia Studio Menu >> Help >> Show Welcome Screen.

As you can see at the bottom right you’ll see Camtasia Tutorial Videos “Overview” to “Share” and viewing these tutorials is more than enough to get you started.

Learning “How To” with Camtasia Studio:

Below is my second video with Camtasia Studio 6.0:

In it I Did the Following:

• Add still image
• Import audio
• Edit audio
• Make High Def (HD) output
• Then uploaded to YouTube

Camtasia Studio 6.0 as I said has a 30-Day trial, which you can download from their TechSmith site.  See TechSmith.com >> Downloads >> Free Trials.

Once you download it, only activate it when you are ready to make videos.  I would read a bit about what you can do first and even try to see some of the tutorials.  Once you get started, you’ll have full access to all the features for 30 days, giving plenty of time to evaluate it and put it to great use.

Additionally, there is a Camtasia user community that can help you with just about anything related to video production.  See TechSmith.com >> Community >> User-to-User Forums.

All in all, Camtasia Studio 6.0 is perfect for making various types of videos.  You can make everything from high-quality YouTube or other online video content site material to “How To” videos that are exclusive to your membership site.

The Features that Make Camtasia Studio worthy of a Five Star Rich Sage Review:

• Ease of use.
• Well produced software that is updated and improved often.
• A fair price with a 30-day trial.
• A well balanced production layout that anyone can master.

You’ll find that Camtasia Studio 6.0 is straight forward. IF Word = writing, Camtasia = Video on Windows!  It’s straight forward and easy to learn and use.  Good luck with your videos.
Carpe Diem,
Rich Sage