Summary

The main Camtasia Studio application is where you can edit your base video footage, combining your individual clips into an overall presentation. The interface contains the Clip Bin, for storing your clips until you’re ready to include them in your video; the Video Preview area, for getting a sense of what your video will look like; the Task List, for executing commands such as importing clips, adding special effects, and producing your content; and the Timeline/Storyboard, where you can rearrange and otherwise edit your video content.

Here’s a (very) condensed version of how to import and edit your clips in Camtasia Studio:

1. Launch Camtasia Studio.

2. Execute the Import Media command, bringing in all the files you think you’ll need on the project. These files will appear in the Clip Bin.

3. To add clips to your final video, drag them from the Clip Bin down onto your Timeline. You can alter their order by clicking and dragging them around the Timeline.

4. You can edit out content from these clips by selecting a portion (using the mouse or keyboard) and choosing Cut Selection. Alternatively, you can trim the beginnings and endings of clips by clicking and dragging their left- and right-hand borders.

5. More advanced editing techniques, such as splitting the clip into two parts, extending the current frame, altering the speed of a clip, or changing the duration of an image, can be done by placing the seek bar in the appropriate spot and then executing the command.

6. If desired, markers can be added to your project for help in editing or to set up a table of contents. Simply place the seek bar in the right spot and then press Ctrl+Shift-M. Markers can be moved, renamed, or deleted as needed.

7. Don’t forget to save your project frequently. Should you ever need to move your project to another computer, you may do so by using the export and import commands. You may also save a frame of video as a still image or save the audio in your project as a WAV or MP3 file.

Now that we have a handle on basic editing, let’s lay in some additional streams of content, such as camera video as well as one or more audio streams, all of which is covered in the next chapter.