OK, there will only be one more post referencing my SirsiDynix Institute presentation on Screencasting; I'll let you know when the actual session recording is available to both watch and hear. Right now the mp3 is available; of course you'll be missing the demos I showed.
The real purpose of this post is to wrap-up with the Q&A session. At the end I was only able to answer about three of the questions before running out of time. I promised I'd answer the rest on my blog, and I've finally gotten around to that. Here you go. Feel free to chime in with clarifications and corrections if you've got 'em!
Q: How would doing screencasts differ from a PowerPoint series of screen captures?
A: There are a number of ways the two differ, but it also depends on what you're trying to show, IMHO. The primary advantages of screencasts include: inclusion of audio, ability to output to a web-friendly format, ease of creation (turn on the software and let it capture everything you do), ability to make the product interactive with click zones and quizzes, and of course the ability to capture something happening with live motion. Can a PPT get the job done? Of course, just as a static web page with screen shots can get the job done. I believe screencasts can better demonstrate many features, and basically make for a more dynamic and engaging viewing/learning experience. There are plenty of software packages that will allow ppt to be output to flash, including narration. I just don't find them as flexible as the screencasting packages.
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Q: How does screencasting differ from, for example, a recorded session in the WebEx software?
A: Screencasting allows you a lot more control over what you're going to show, while WebEx, or Elluminate, or LiveMeeting (which is what the SirsiDynix Institute uses) is great for capturing a group meeting. The meeting packages record everything that happens, with no chance for editing. They also, as far as I know, output to one format only, while screencasts can be output to flash, or to formats more suitable for other devices/platforms. Screencasting allows one to correct mistakes, to add examples after the initial capture, and to include interactivity to better engage the audience.
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Q: These tutorials take a fair amount of time to create and update (thanks to constant vendor screen changes) - does he find people actually watch them - without being forced to do so by teachers
A: Yes, I do, though my server doesn't provide any statistics. I point out the tutorials during orientation sessions, and as mentioned, provide links to them when answering student questions. If you keep them short enough, they really don't take that long to update.
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Q: What format are the movies in? Mpegs? Swf?
A: All the movies I showed (which I understand several participants were unable to see through LiveMeeting) were SWF flash files. This is what I highly recommend for web-delivery.
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Q: What is 'scram(?)' compliance (discussed w/slide on interactivity)
A: SCORM stands for Sharable Content Object Reference Mode, and it's mostly over my head. The reason I mentioned it is that it appears to be an important requirement in US-based Distance Education programs. According to Wikipedia, "in 2004 the US Dept. of Defense mandated that all its e-learning purchases must conform to SCORM standards." Here's a "one-minute SCORM overview for anyone". Still over my head ;-)
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Q: Will the slides from this presentation be archived? I'd like to share them with a colleague who deals with distance education.
A: yes, the slides themselves appear at the end of my links post.
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Q: Isn't use of audio disruptive when played in library environments? (We have enough trouble with cell phones...)
A: I suppose it might be, but you could allow folks to use their own headphones, or provide a set for them.
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Q: Two questions: how long does it usually take to learn one of these programs...How long does it take to create one of these screencasts..about how long?
A: That depends, of course, on how technically proficient one is, and how much detail one wants to put in to a production. In ascending order, easiest to hardest to learn, I would say Camtasia Studio, Qarbon ViewletBuilder, Adobe Captivate. If you're at all comfortable messing around, I think you should be able to produce a quality short screencast after about 30-45 minutes of exploring the software for the very first time. That assumes you're simply capturing (with or without audio) and producing the resulting screencast. If you want to add more features, such as annotations, highlights, etc, you'll have to budget more time to learning how these features work in your product of choice. As for how long it takes to create one - I'm going to say it's about a 10:1 ratio. If you know your software and have a good idea what you want to demonstrate, you should be able to whip out a 3-minute screencast in about 30 minutes. Probably less. I originally put 5:1 ratio, but thought 15 minutes sounded too short. I usually screw around trying out new ideas, so it's hard to say. Definitely no more than 10:1. I'm rambling. I'll stop.
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Q: I've had problems with resolution - often the screen capture (using Camtasia) is not very clear. What do you recommend?
A: I'm not sure, as I haven't run in to that problem. Make sure, if possible, that your output size matches the size of the screen you captured. Scaling up or down from the initial capture is likely to make the screen a little blurry. There are options you can fiddle with in the Production Wizard of Camtasia; assuming you're outputting to Flash, make sure you haven't set JPEG compression to low quality somehow. I believe I use the defaults, but that'd be a place to check.
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Q: Which software works on Apple?
A: Nothing as a 100% complete package I'm afraid, though see my links post for some suggestions.
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Q: Are you recommending the use of AVI and MOV files?
A: Not for web-delivery. I recommend SWF Flash files. This reduces file size, and ensures that almost nobody will have to worry about installing a plug-in player.
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Q: How do you ensure that the screencasts are visible to users at their point of need? I'm thinking about people actually being _inside_ the catalog or database when they run into trouble, beyond our actual websites. Any other ideas on advertisement/placement of screencasts?
A: Great question, to which there's no perfect answer. If you have a lot of control over your catalog, you may be able to insert links to screencasts in relevant locations, or at least include these links in the help pages. Even better would be to be able to provide the appropriate link on the relevant error page, so if a title search results in zero hits, you could show them a link to a tutorial that briefly explains how to do an effective title search. For the databases, unless the vendors inserted links for you, the only way I can think (and recommend) is to include the link(s) to the tutorials right next to the links to enter the database.
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Q: How would you choose between stop-motion or video? what is the diff and how do I know which I would want to use?
A: I can't think of a time when one option would always be superior over the other. In fact most applications go the full motion video capture route, and that, I think, is usually the way to go. It may be possible to use the stop-motion packages to create a screencast that is absolutely minimalist in file size; you'd simply choose to capture only the screens that must absolutely be shown, and allow the program to create the animation of the mouse cursor. That'd be an interesting experiment to see if the same project would be significantly smaller if created using the stop-motion approach. Otherwise, it's simply a matter of preference for the authoring package, I think.
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Q: Which one of the three software has audio/recording features?
A: All of them. ViewletBuilder only allows you to add it after the screen captures. Camtasia Studio and Captivate both give you the choice of recording audio while you capture your screens, or after the fact. With ViewletBuilder you'll be narrating each screen individually (imagine narrating individual ppt slides); with the other two the idea is to talk all the way through the movie (yet another reason for keeping them short!)
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Q: How large is the Fudd project in megabytes?
A: The brief demo I did of changing the language preference in Google to Elmer Fudd ended up being a 179KB SWF file. That's one of the things I love about Flash - nice compression!
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Q: Paul said that you can't do post-capture editing in CamStudio ... can you import a CamStudio screencast into the Windows video editor for editing?
A: CamStudio gives you the option to save your recording as SWF or AVI. You should indeed be able to import the latter into Windows Movie Maker. Jon Udell has some thoughts on this process here.
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Q: Any plans for Adobe to offer a full-featured Mac option?
A: I've heard rumors, but certainly nothing that makes me think this is imminent. Both Qarbon and Techsmith appear to be working on versions of their product for the Mac. I think Qarbon will be first to the table in early 2007.
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Q: Is screencasting part of Library 2.0?
A: Ehhh, I don't think it is. Library 2.0 appears to be more about the user being able to manipulate pages in a way that suits their need(s). Allowing the patron to interact with data and web pages and the like. I think screencasting is more a delivery mechanism.
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Q: Are there copyright concerns when recording demonstrations of databases or purchased software?
A: There were three questions in a row about this! Of course I have to start by pointing out that I'm not a lawyer. I can't find anything in a quick search that either expressly allows or prohibits this use, though I may be missing something. I fall back on the common sense rule, which I know is dangerous with legal issues, but I can't imaging a database vendor getting upset with a library for trying to promote the use of their product. That said, I have seen a very few number of screencasts that indicate that permission has been obtained from the vendor to create the tutorial, so if you're worried, I guess it would be best to contact the vendor for permission. I don't plan to.
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Q: Is there a clearing house type website for sharing screencasts with colleagues? The intention being that one need not create a brand new screen cast for something that is commonly used among patrons/students?
A: Why yes, there is! One that I'm involved in is called ANTS, the Animated Tutorial Sharing Project. You can learn more about it here. I know Chad Boeninger is also thinking along these lines.