Wow! Camtasia Studio from TechSmith just released a new version of their screencasting software today, Camtasia Studio 4.0, that allows for users to publish videos and mp3 files for ipods and other portable mp3 players. I got the following video in an email announcing the new release.
What’s really cool is that you can produce multiple fomats simultaneously. Today I used the demo version to create a screencast for a podcasting presentation I did yesterday. When I was finished, I output it to flash for the screencast and then selected for it to output just the audio to mp3 for a podcast. I could have also selected for it to output to iPod format, but I didn’t think this type of presentation would be good for viewing in that small size.
But for large Powerpoint slide presentations, this will be perfect for creating enhanced podcasts where the slides line up to specific points in the audio and the slides will show on the iPod screen as a person listens. Before now, it was not possible to create enhanced podcasts on a PC (as far as I knew).
I’m excited about this new version, but I’m also disappointed that the upgrade price is so steep. I just purchased Camtasia Studio 3.0 bundled with SnagIt (Screen Capture software) two months ago for $169. The educational price is a real bargain compared to the regular price of over $300. But the present upgrade price is $89.50. Wow! That’s steep, especially since I just purchased two months ago out of my own pocket.
I wish the district would consider buying a site license for the whole district. This is a great teaching tool that I’m sure faculty could find many uses for. I’m finding myself using Camtasia more than I do Softchalk these days, even though they have different intended uses.
Filed under: Presentations, Screencasts, iPod, podcasting
Too bad people are jumping all over the bandwagon and creating these proprietary $$ solutions. Why can’t someone author something simple, sweet and free??