Product Pipeline

From expensive and feature-rich software to free online tools, screen capture has come a long way in the past few years. In this first of a two-part series, we'll look at how some of the very best free options stack up against one another.

Screencasting, or the distribution of video based on screen capture, is an extremely effective way for libraries to help staff and patrons. It's perfect for demonstrating applications, showing off the library web site, and teaching about tools and techniques where visual explanations are faster and less complicated than written directions. For visual and auditory learners, screencasts can't be beat.

What should libraries look for in a screen capture tool? Each library will have different needs and uses, but here are the major areas (for ratings given in the following categories, score is out of five possible stars, with five being best):

System Requirements: The non-web-based tools below are available for Windows (XP and Vista), Mac OS X (10.4 and 10.5), or both. For those using other systems like Linux, the browser-based tools should work.

Usability: One of the most important features for a newbie to any technology tool, usability makes a big impact in working with screen-capture software. The most feature-rich tools tend to be difficult to learn or even navigate, often giving the novice far too many options and overwhelming displays. The lighter-weight tools aren't necessarily more user-friendly, however.

Flexibility: What kind of options does the tool have for recording and editing? Flexibility might not matter much for libraries needing a very simple recording, but it is where the differences among the tools are the most clear.

Audio: All but one of the tools reviewed here allow audio to be recorded simultaneously with the screen capture, but not all of them offer multiple compression formats or options for recording and compressing at different quality levels. The ability to upload audio or record system audio varies significantly across the tools.

Video: All of the tools but one allow users to save their files in multiple compression formats. Many tools also let users select from a variety of video codecs (software that encodes and decodes digital video data). How the video is compressed greatly affects video quality and size, as does postproduction scaling.

Max video length: All tools were reviewed by creating a three- to four-minute video tutorial with audio. Some tools restrict video length, however, so it's necessary to realize there may be limitations when choosing which tool to use.

With the free tools reviewed in this installment of the screencasting series, what you record is what you get. Be prepared to spend some quality time rehearsing your cast beforehand or be willing to live with imperfections.

ScreenToaster by Iteria

ScreenToaster is a beta online screen-capture tool by Iteria. To test it out, users have to request an invitation key. After using ScreenToaster a few times on three different platforms (Windows Vista, Windows XP, and Mac OS X 10.4), it's clear why the product is still in beta. Each test using Windows XP failed, and using Windows Vista, the complete desktop wasn't captured as it appeared. Tests using Mac OS X were far more successful, producing a relatively clear video very quickly. ScreenToaster uses Java for its screen-capture utility and requires Internet connectivity.

To begin a recording with ScreenToaster, users must log into the web site and start their recording. As with the other online screen-capture tools, no extra software is downloaded onto one's computer, meaning that staff and patrons at libraries with locked-down computers can use this tool easily. It's possible to capture the full screen or to select a small area. The area selector tool is nice but doesn't give size indicators, so users can't tell exactly how large the capture area is. This matters, because ScreenToaster will automatically scale the screen capture, producing fuzzy, low-quality video for large capture areas. When selecting a small area (say 600x400), the video quality is quite clear, though there is some obvious delay and lagging.

ScreenToaster is the only tool reviewed that doesn't have simultaneous audio capture. An audio track can be added later (a complete track or small chunks throughout the recording), but it's not possible to add system audio or audio files. Videos can be annotated with subtitles. No options are available for highlighting the mouse or mouse clicks. Finished screencasts reside on the ScreenToaster site and can't be saved or exported to any format. Videos render extremely quickly, even with audio and subtitles added. Though the videos themselves are not branded with a ScreenToaster logo, the lack of export options means there is de facto branding involved. Though the feature set is extremely limited at present, there are plans to incorporate web cam recordings, simultaneous audio, downloading, and conversion to additional file formats.

The only real usability problems encountered related to using Windows XP: users have to remember hot keys to get the recording to pause or stop, which is frustrating.

For libraries: This tool is incredibly simple to use, which makes it very appealing for some libraries. Watch ScreenToaster's progress—this may turn out to be a good tool for recording short videos, though it probably isn't ready for wholesale adoption yet.

Screencast-O-Matic by Big Nerd Software

Screencast-O-Matic is another Java-based screen-capture tool. Like ScreenToaster, it requires Internet connectivity but doesn't require a login unless hosting the finished product at Screencast-O-Matic. It's very easy to use, offering a small set of options and user-friendly navigation. It captures video in four different sizes (640x480, 800x600, 1024x768, and full screen), though it will automatically scale down the largest capture sizes to 800x600 when uploaded. Using a smaller capture size produces good quality video—not particularly sharp but very readable. Users can upload their results directly to Screencast-O-Matic or download a Quicktime .mov file. For a 3:23 video, the .mov file size was 42.8 MB and took approximately a minute to render.

There are no options for editing audio or video post recording, and it automatically includes a Screencast-O-Matic logo at the very beginning of the recording. There are a few features and options, however, that set this tool apart. Unlike many of the other tools, it highlights mouse clicks with a splash effect by default. This can be turned off, and, in fact, the cursor can be removed altogether. When recording, the capture area is surrounded by a box with standard controls (stop, pause, etc.) and a timer so that it's easy to see exactly how much time has elapsed. This recording area can be moved during the recording, an extremely nice feature for more complicated demonstrations.

For libraries: If you can live with the watermark and slightly lower video quality, Screencast-O-Matic is an excellent tool for creating quick screencasts that can be shared on the site or downloaded. The file size of the .mov output is on the large size, however, and thus may not be appropriate for web use without a Quicktime Streaming Server at one's disposal.

CamStudio

CamStudio is an easy-to-use, lightweight screen-capture tool with more audio and video capture and exporting options than web-based tools. It produces moderate quality video and audio in AVI (Audio Video Interleave) or SWF (Shockwave Flash) formats using the default options. A 3:30 SWF video was 16.4 MB and took a few minutes to compress and render.

Though recording a basic screen capture is simple, CamStudio offers enough options to keep audiophiles and video mavens happy. Users can set frame capture rate, key frame capture rate, and general quality level. Audio is recordable from a microphone or speakers. CamStudio records audio at 22.05 kHz (sample rate), in stereo, and using 16-bit depth. Audio will compress to MP3 by default, but users can also choose Windows Media Audio, PCM (Pulse Code Modulation), and a few others. The standard for video compression is Microsoft Video 1 format, but there are other options as well, including TechSmith Screen Capture Codec, ffdshow codec, and XviD MPEG-4 codec. Sadly, there is no postrecording video or audio editing available.

Users can capture a panning region, a fixed region, or the full screen. For the first option, the recording actually follows the mouse. The region for fixed recording can be moved around the screen by clicking and dragging the corners of the capture area. The mouse can be hidden or jazzed up using a custom cursor icon or customizable highlighting, including user-defined size, shape, and color. Mouse clicks are also customizable. Though CamStudio claims it can record from a web cam for picture in picture video, it crashed when using an iSight camera and Windows XP.

The other main feature of CamStudio is video annotation. This is where CamStudio's usability falters. To add annotations, it's necessary to prepare them ahead of time and then cycle through them while recording using hot keys. The flashing green “live” indicator around the recording region is extremely distracting as well.

For libraries: With CamStudio, we're starting to get into tools where the number of options may make new users wary, particularly in terms of audio and video codecs. Though it's quite simple to record a video, advance planning is needed for including annotations. Because this is a free tool, it's still worth a look, particularly for installation on patron computers. Because users can change the frame rate settings, it may be a good tool for patrons to record their gaming sessions on, though likely wouldn't be as good as FRAPS ($37, fraps.com) or Taski (Free, taski.sourceforge.net), two programs designed just for capturing 3-D gaming video.

Capture Fox

From a pure usability standpoint, Capture Fox is hands-down the easiest-to-use, simplest tool out there. It's a Firefox add-on, so those without Firefox are going to be out of luck. But although Capture Fox is browser-based, a user doesn't have to be online to use it. It will record the full screen or a Firefox window. To record, just click on the camera in the Firefox status bar.

Where Capture Fox falls short is flexibility (no audio or video editing is possible, no customizable features) and output. Capture Fox will only produce AVI files, which is one of the better formats to output, but the files automatically scale down in size. This distorts the image quality, especially if it is a full-screen capture. If the Firefox window capture option is used and the Firefox window kept quite small, the video quality is much improved but still not great. More than this, though, is the huge file size. For a 1:58 video (Capture Fox nicely tracks your recording length in the Firefox status bar), the AVI file was 39.7 MB. It's not clear what compression formats are being used for either the video or audio, but the video does render extremely quickly, so time from recording to viewing the production is a second or two.

For libraries: This free tool, while user friendly, would really require using a secondary tool for postproduction editing, primarily for reducing video size. Because it doesn't capture particularly high-quality video, it wouldn't be good for screencasts designed to be around for a long time. It's free, however, and so easy to use that it might be worth it for a quick project or two.

Jing by TechSmith

Jing is a new screen-capture tool already receiving accolades in the library community. It's simple to create videos with Jing, and because it is a TechSmith product (makers of Camtasia Studio 6 and Screencast.com), it is designed specifically for users to create short, high-quality tutorials to post on Screencast.com. After installing Jing, a small “sun” icon will float on the top of the screen enabling a user to access past videos or create a new one easily.

Jing doesn't offer many options, so is well designed for novice use. It's also clearly new, featuring much of the style aesthetic of Web 2.0 design. Capture size is customizable (full screen, region, or window), but it's not entirely obvious what's being captured, particularly with a custom size. It's also not possible to edit the finished audio or video, but the quality of the produced video is outstanding. TechSmith's Screen Capture Codec (TSCC) is lossless, meaning the video Jing produces looks exactly like it did when recorded.

Though Jing really is meant to be a tool for posting content to Screencast.com (users can get 2 GB of storage and 2 GB of bandwidth per month free), it also will export videos as SWF. Rendering is instant and produces a video with surprisingly low file size for the quality. A 3:21 video was 14.5 MB.

There are a few parts of Jing that may cause some potential users to hesitate. For one, though the image capture and rendering are wonderful, the audio is only mid-range. The biggest objection may be that Jing puts a watermark on the beginning of the video (before it begins) and ends the video with a notice that the video was produced using Jing, along with a link to the Jing Project. The five-minute time restriction may make some videos tricky to create, but what's nice is that there is a timer displayed to help users keep on task.

For libraries: Jing is a perfect tool for recording high-quality screencasts, if the branding stuck onto the finished file isn't a problem. The length limitation on recordings means it would be a good idea to plan out a screencast before beginning a recording. Jing would also be a great tool to install on patron computers. It creates easily sharable files on Screencast.com, renders nearly instantaneously, and is easy to use. Though it wasn't tested on 3-D animation (e.g., World of Warcraft) for this article, user forums show it might be a tool for gamers to capture their exploits.