Camtasia Alternative….And It’s FREE!

For those of you who like to produce videos of your computer activity for such things as demonstrations, there are a few options. But making money online CAN be expensive, and your job is to help reduce the costs of running your business.

Paid Options

The first and best in my opinion, is to spend $300 and buy Camtasia Studio (currently on version 6).  This is great IF you have 300 bucks to spend.

Another paid choice is Captivate.  This is professional grade software by Adobe and will set you back a cool $800! ‘Nuff said about that.

So What IS Free?

However if you don’t, but you still want the option to make screen recordings, you can get Cam Studio.  This is free software, and though it doesn’t have the functions for editing the way that Camtasia Studio does, it will still give you pretty good recordings.

Online Service

There’s also a nice new free online service called ScreenToaster.  When you get to the site you have to join the service and then login with your username and password. After that you simply click the ‘Start Recording’ button, you will be required to download and install a small Java applet (applet = small application).  Once this is done, you’re ready to record.

Then What?

After this, you can simply click ‘Alt-S’ to start recording and ‘Alt-S’ again to stop.  After you’ve finished recording your actions on the screen, you can edit (to a degree) your file.  Then, once you’re happy with your work, you have choices.

You can upload the file directly to the ScreenToaster site, where you can direct others to go to see it, you can upload it to YouTube (or similar sites like Daily Motion) or you can download it to your local machine and email it to friends and colleagues.

What Else Can It Do?

The software also has a built-in web-cam recorder, so you can even record yourself (and your voice) while you are recording your screen.  This is great if you want to take the role of  the ‘teacher’ or ‘presenter’ in the video. It even has the ability to add subtitles and titles.

I haven’t yet figured-out what THEY get out of the deal, but it may become apparent to you after you’ve tried it yourself.

I’ve tried it, and while it’s not as good as the professional software like Camtasia, it’s FREE and as you know, FREE is my favorite price!  Reduce the cost of running your business wherever possible, and maximize your profits.

Luke.