Summary

Recording PowerPoint presentations is a common use of the Camtasia Recorder. Its ability to better capture the “live” aspects of the presentation, such as audio narration, camera video, animated drawings, etc., can really give an extended afterlife to a presentation you’ve already done before an audience. With Camtasia Studio’s Flash output, you can then offer additional interactive features such as custom navigation, clickable hot spots, and quizzing.

Here is a summarized version of turning your PowerPoint presentation into a first-rate video experience:

1. Launch PowerPoint, and then open your presentation.

2. On the add-in’s toolbar, select the Camtasia Studio Recording Options button, and set your preferences in the dialog that appears.

3. Choose whether you wish to record the presentation in full-screen mode (with either the current resolution or a different one) or inside a window. Make the appropriate adjustments in the Set Up Show… dialog, available from the Slide Show menu.

4. Click Record. You may toggle between record and paused modes by pressing Ctrl+Shift-F9 (or whatever hotkey you selected in the Recording Options dialog). Press Esc to finish recording and exit Slide Show view.

5. Save your files. The project file will open automatically in Camtasia Studio, where you can then edit out segments, adjust marker names, time your captions, and otherwise prepare the file for output to a shareable format.

And speaking of Camtasia Studio, the next chapter begins our unit on the main Camtasia Studio application, where we take all the wonderful footage we produced in this unit, and then put it through the rigors of editing and production. Congratulations! You’re ready for the next step.