The File Formats


Okay, together we’ve explored the Production Wizard, and have basically gone start to finish on producing your first video. The stuff that’s been left out of the conversation thus far pertains to the individual file formats themselves. This section has two parts (or sub-sections, if you will). First, I’m going to give a quick summary of each of the nine file formats and why you might want to use each one. If you’re not sure which format you need at this point, this is where you should be looking first.

Then, I’ll go into much greater detail on each file type, giving you a play-by-play on all the various dialog options. Some of these dialogs can get pretty specific, and you won’t need to know most of it in order to effectively output to the file type in question. But I’ll take you through it all, anyway, so that those of you who wish to micro-tweak your settings can do so. Since my assumption is that you’ll be flipping straight to the file format that interests you and bypassing the rest, bear in mind that there is a fair amount of redundant information in this section.

File Formats: The Condensed Version

Before diving into the minutiae of each format’s compression settings, I felt it best to give you a high-level overview of all of them so that you can do a quick comparison without needing to flip pages until your fingers fall off.

Macromedia Flash (SWF/FLV)

Flash is a cross-platform video format that plays with the Flash Player, currently installed on the vast majority of the world’s computers because of its ubiquity as an animation format.

  • The good. Enjoys extremely wide distribution. Supports interactivity with the user. The introduction of Flash video (FLV) makes high-quality, high-motion video a reality. Fans of the picture-in-picture feature can now enjoy side-by-side video.

  • The bad. The Flash Player’s lack of keyboard control makes it a poor choice for visually impaired users, but beyond that, not much.…

  • The bottom line. Its universal presence in your users’ browser windows plus its interactive features (hot spots, quizzes) make this format king of the web.

Windows Media Video (WMV)

Windows Media Video is the current video streaming format from Microsoft. Camtasia Studio produces picture-in-picture files in this format. Files can be streamed over the web or played locally with Windows Media Player.

  • The good. Excellent for high-motion video, and its ubiquity as a Microsoft format means that everyone (in the Windows world, at least) can access it. Small file sizes.

  • The bad. Quality, while decent, can’t compare to a lossless format like TSCC. Tweaking its settings requires an understanding of the concept of bandwidth. Its file type cannot be readily converted.

  • The bottom line. Small size and universal availability make this format ideal for conservative, locked-down corporate settings where user-installed software is strictly forbidden.

QuickTime (MOV)

Apple QuickTime is a cross-platform media format capable of high- quality video. It plays on the QuickTime Player.

  • The good. This format is a good olive branch to extend to the Mac users in your audience, whose QuickTime player software cannot read TSCC-encoded AVI files without the aid of the TechSmith Ensharpen encoder. QuickTime codecs like TechSmith Ensharpen and H.264 offer excellent quality.

  • The bad. Not all Windows users have QuickTime installed, and your audience may skip the video altogether rather than download yet another media player[*].

  • The bottom line. QuickTime’s Mac-centric history makes it the ideal method for cross-platform delivery, and the newer H.264 codec gives you the best of both worlds in terms of high motion and screen detail, all at a very reasonable file size cost.

AVI

AVI (short for Audio Video Interleave) files are produced natively by the Camtasia Recorder. These files can play back in almost all media players, including Windows Media Player and the Camtasia Player (discussed in Chapter 15, “Other Output Options”).

  • The good. AVIs encoded with the TechSmith Screen Capture Codec are completely lossless. AVI is also pretty much the industry standard, so if you ever need to import your video into a high- end editing application or DVD authoring tool, you could do so.

  • The bad. There are distribution issues with AVI, as the TSCC codec is not installed on most people’s machines. Other codecs are universally available, but then the quality suffers. The TSCC codec also chokes on copious amounts of high-motion video, such as real-world camera video.

  • The bottom line. AVI, while not at all suited for the web, is still the way to go for showing videos on CD-ROM and DVD in all their lossless glory.

iPod/iTunes (M4V)

Starting with version 4, Camtasia Studio can now produce video content in M4V format, which can play in iTunes as well as on the video iPod.

  • The good. Camtasia Studio videos can finally fit in your pocket! Portability and excellent quality combine to give your users a viable option for enjoying your content on the go.

  • The bad. The small resolution of the iPod at 320 x 240 pixels necessitates a lot of zooming and panning in order to attain good quality.

  • The bottom line. While MOV videos are better suited when dealing with iTunes alone, for video iPod compatibility, this is the format you should be choosing.

MP3 Audio

This is an audio-only format. In the last 10 years, MP3 has come to be synonymous with highly compressed, yet high quality, sound files. It can be credited with bringing about the digital download revolution, opening up a whole new world of music distribution.

  • The good. For content where the visuals aren’t of much importance, going audio-only can yield a substantial file size savings.

  • The bad. Um, well… there’s no video stream. So if you’re into that sort of thing, this is a bad choice.

  • The bottom line. An excellent add-on option for taking your lectures on the road. Only a small fraction of portable media devices out there are video iPods, and thus by offering an MP3 in addition to your video, your content is assured a much broader distribution.

RealMedia (RM)

This streaming media format from Real plays in the RealPlayer media player (and in web pages with the Real plug-in).

  • The good. Small file sizes. Particularly good audio compression. Its SureStream technology lets you create a single file for several connection speeds.

  • The bad. A bloated, advertising-laden footprint and some questionable marketing practices have turned off many users to the RealPlayer media player.

  • The bottom line. A solid choice for streaming web videos, though some users may refuse to install the player in order to view your content.

Camtasia for RealPlayer (CAMV)

These special Camtasia-specific RealPlayer files can be streamed over the web or played back locally. It is better suited for the latter.

  • The good. Completely lossless video quality.

  • The bad. Requires both the RealPlayer media player and an Internet connection, as the Camtasia for RealPlayer plug-in will need to be downloaded upon first use. Compression carries the same disadvantages regarding high-motion video as a TSCC- encoded AVI.

  • The bottom line. A reasonable solution if your goal is to stream lossless content.

Animated GIF Image (GIF)

It’s the standard animated GIF you see as banner links in web page headers.

  • The good. Small file size. It’s also completely ubiquitous (anyone with a web browser can play it).

  • The bad. You’re limited to 256 colors, small dimensions, and a limited running time (usually no longer than 20 to 30 seconds).

  • The bottom line. It’s a neat option for efficiently creating eyecatching web banner graphics. I also use it for inserting quick screen animations into my PowerPoint presentations.

Macromedia Flash (SWF/FLV)

Now that you’ve gotten the quickie file type fly-by, it’s time to dig into the details of each file type, starting with Flash. Back in December of 1996, a small six-person company named FutureWave sold their animation software (then called FutureSplash Animator) to Macromedia, Inc. In the decade that followed, that little animation utility became a juggernaut, and the Flash Player is now installed on over 500 million PCs. It is one of the most widely distributed pieces of software in the world. Its SWF format (originally meaning “Shockwave Flash,” and then “reassigned” to mean “small web file”) is employed by animators around the world to bring web banners, slide shows, and cartoons to life. Utilizing predominantly vector-based artwork, you could use their tool to concoct a pretty snazzy online presentation weighing in at under 50 K. In addition to the Flash authoring system, other third- party tools began to offer exporting to SWF as a means to leverage the ubiquity of the Flash Player. Nowadays, many applications can create Flash[*] content files.

With the introduction of Macromedia Flash MX, the authoring system began to support real-world video, an Achilles’ heel of the SWF format. While not (potentially) lossless like SWF, the FLV (short for “Flash Video”) file format provides exceptional quality even at lower bandwidths, and takes advantage of the omnipresent Flash Player.

Additionally, both SWF and FLV offer one major advantage over all the other formats currently supported by Camtasia Studio, namely interactivity. Since Flash videos are designed to accept feedback from the user in the form of buttons, text fields, and the like, TechSmith is increasingly incorporating these interactive elements into Camtasia Studio. In Unit IV, “Editing within Camtasia Studio,” you learned about creating clickable Flash hot spots as well as soliciting feedback from your users by way of the Quiz and Survey feature. Further layers of interactivity are likely to be added as the product matures.

In addition to the interactive elements, Flash production also offers increased flexibility over other outputs, such as the side-by-side PIP layout, multiple encoding options for different kinds of content, custom loading screens, and more direct control over the aesthetics of your control bar. We’ll be discussing all these things in this section.

Flash Templates

The Flash Templates screen is your first set of options after choosing Flash (SWF/FLV) in the Production Wizard. It allows you to select a layout (thus choosing which media streams are included in your final video). This is done by picking a Template. You may have as many as seven templates available, depending on whether there are any markers or PIP content on your Timeline.

image from book

The Flash Templates screen. The chosen template will determine the presence of the various media elements as well as the layout of those elements.

Additionally, you have the ability to affect the aesthetics of your controller bar from this screen. In the Theme drop-down list, you currently have three different display options for your controller. The Preview will change to reflect your choice. Functionally, these three are the same; just pick the one you think looks best.

Notice that the Production Wizard has placed a plethora of size information at your fingertips, including the proposed size of the video and PIP window (if applicable), the control bar, and finally, the total dimensions. In the Fit in drop-down list, you can choose from the video’s original size, the most recently chosen custom size, or a series of standard sizes. If you desire even greater control, click Change Dimensions…, which will bring up the Video Dimensions - Preview dialog.

image from book

The Video Dimensions Preview provides much better control over your video’s dimensions, and is particularly recommended if you’re dealing with a TOC or side-by-side PIP content.

You can choose the Fit in option, specifying the maximum total width and height. It’s useful if you plan on having other content on the same web page, and you absolutely must squish the video media to fit within a designated amount of space. Just enter a value (in pixels) into one or both of the fields. For Side-by-Side templates, there’s even a Ratio slider bar for quickly setting the distribution between the two sides. I prefer the Custom option, as it allows you to exactly specify the width and height of your screen video (and your side-by-side PIP window, if applicable). The Keep aspect ratio button is checked by default, so the Width will automatically self-adjust if you enter a new value into the Height field, and vice versa.

Tip 

Remember that screen video content, especially text, doesn’t size down particularly well. So, if at all possible, try to keep the dimensions of your screen video at their original size. If you recorded a full-screen video, you may want to consider Zoom-n-Pan as an option rather than scaling everything down. You’ll only see a small window of the video’s original content at any one time, but you’ll be able to view that small window with perfect clarity. Just keep in mind that this can really bloat the file size, especially when producing to SWF.

Once you have the sizes adjusted to your liking, clicking OK will lock in your choice and remember these dimensions in the Fit in drop- down list as your most recent user-defined setting.

Based on the template chosen, you will have options for controlling up to five media elements, namely your screen video, your control bar, your audio, your table of contents (TOC), and any picture-in-picture (PIP) elements. Clicking the Flash Options… button opens a special dialog that contains a tab for each of the included media elements. You can also open each tab directly by clicking the corresponding link in the Preview area of the Flash Templates dialog:

image from book

Clicking here will directly open my PIP tab so that I can adjust its options.

Let’s discuss each of these in turn.

Video Options

The Video tab is all about the compression of your screen video. You can choose the format, frame rate, and other options. Take a peek:

image from book

The $10,000 question on this tab is: SWF or FLV? Simply click the radio button of your desired format, and the section of the tab that corresponds to that format will then be accessible. Here are a few key points in helping you decide between the two:

  • SWF is mainly for videos that are shorter in length. Due to the way the format is structured, there can be audio/video syncing issues with longer videos. Additionally, the longer a video is, the more memory it consumes on the user’s system. If the user doesn’t have a lot of free memory to begin with, the video could stop playing entirely. Also, SWF does have a limit to the number of frames a single video can contain (16,000, in case you were wondering).

  • SWF offers a great degree of flexibility in terms of how it compresses information. Its default (PNG-based) compression mechanism is completely lossless. However, if there are some high-color elements in your video such as photographic or gradient content, you can switch to lossy (a mixture of PNG- and JPEG-based) compression to get a smaller file.

  • FLV is for longer videos that have a lot of motion. Real-world camera videos, PowerPoint files with lots of animation, and other high-motion clips look great and compress well in FLV. It isn’t lossless, but the quality is quite acceptable even at a reasonably low bitrate - even screen text looks crisp, with few if any artifacts (weird blurry sections in your video window).

  • Because of its ability to handle high-motion video, FLV is usually the format you should go with when creating a video with PIP. Well, at least with overlaid or “true” PIP it’s the way to go. Side-by-side PIP creates its own file for the PIP portion (which is always FLV), meaning that you’re free to choose SWF for the actual screen video, if that’s the appropriate choice for the content.

There are no hard-and-fast rules here, particularly with PowerPoint files. If there’s a doubt in your mind as to which format to choose, you may want to try using that Preview command to create three individual snippets of your project (in FLV, lossless SWF, and lossy SWF). Look at them individually, and then choose the best combination of file size and quality. I’m often surprised at the results.

No matter which file format you go with, you’ll still have some choices to make regarding how that format is compressed. Let’s start with SWF. There are a few controls with which you’ll want to familiarize yourself:

  • Colors. Choose either 16-bit or 32-bit color depth. The Automatic setting will choose the color depth of the original clips. If the color depth is mixed, it will opt for the higher number of colors so that no color information is lost.

  • Frame rate. Enter the desired frame rate of the finished output. You can take this number down to save on file size, although the resulting video may be choppier. Cranking up the frame rate above the level of the original will give you no additional quality. It’s akin to making a photocopy. The copy machine only has the material of the original page to work with, and as a result, the quality of the copy will never be better than the original.

  • Use JPEG compression. When unchecked, the frames used by Camtasia Studio to make up your SWF video are compiled using PNG compression, which is lossless, meaning that your video will retain perfect quality. If your video content comprises lots of varying colors (photos, gradients, etc.) rather than solid blocks of color, you might want to try checking this option. When enabled, Camtasia Studio compresses each delta frame twice (for a discussion of key frames and delta frames, see Chapter 7), once with PNG compression (lossless) and once with JPEG compression (lossy). It inserts the smaller of the two into your final video.

    The result is a video of very acceptable quality, with the potential of being much smaller in size. This size vs. quality differential is at least partly controlled by you. You can set the relative quality level by either dragging the quality slider or typing a percentage into the corresponding text field. Low quality = smaller size, high quality = larger size. It all depends on the needs of the project. If you’re willing to put up with lossy compression, you might want to start somewhere in the middle of the spectrum, produce a test preview of your video, and then adjust up or down as needed.

Moving on to the FLV format, you will note that the controls are somewhat different. You still have the ability to choose a Frame rate, but there are some other options requiring further explanation:

  • Video Codec. Camtasia Studio allows you to choose between two FLV codecs: VP6 and H.263. VP6 was developed by On2 technologies, and represents the current state of the art in Flash video compression. It only works with Flash Player v8, so your users may need to upgrade their players[*] prior to viewing their videos. If you absolutely need to make your content compatible with Flash Player v7, then choose H.263 (a.k.a. Sorenson Spark), which is a somewhat older (though still very capable) compression technology. Its files will be larger and of poorer quality, but will take less time to produce.

  • Max Bitrate. This represents the amount of information (in kilobits) that can be contained in one second of video. The higher the number, the better the quality (and the larger the file size). The default is 300 KB/sec, which is adequate for most uses. You need to be very concerned about this number if uploading the FLV to the Flash Communication Server for “true streaming,” since setting a bitrate higher than the user’s connection speed can lead to numerous interruptions in playback. However, Camtasia Studio’s FLV output is set up to allow for progressive download, which is similar to streaming in the sense that the video begins to play very quickly, but the content is actually downloaded, not streamed. Bitrate is not as critical an issue in these situations.

  • Key Frame Rate. The frequency in which key frames appear in your video. Key frames are complete pictures of your video image that don’t rely on any frames before it (for a complete discussion, see Chapter 7, “Recorder Tools Options”). One note specific to the Flash Player: Users can only seek to key frames when zipping around on the Timeline, so the more key frames you include, the more exact their seeking will be. However, the inclusion of more key frames (lower key frame rate) can also lead to larger file sizes.

  • Bitrate Control. This determines how Camtasia Studio manages the maximum bitrate you just set. You’ve got three options. A Constant bitrate means that the same amount of bits will be allocated to compress a given amount of content, no matter what that content is. This is typically the preferred control method for streaming video, but can lead to problems with progressively downloaded video files (which is how our FLV output is set up to work). If the bitrate is constant, then it may not allocate enough bits for complex portions, while wasting too many bits on the simple parts. A Variable bitrate makes more sense in this case, because Camtasia Studio will analyze the content’s complexity and allocate its given bits more intelligently, thus yielding more consistent quality. It can do this in either one or two passes. 1-Pass means that Camtasia Studio analyzes and compresses the material at the same time. 2-Pass divides these tasks into separate steps, thereby compressing the material more efficiently. 2-Pass compression can yield smaller files, but takes nearly double the time to produce.

  • Video Quality. Another quality vs. file size slider, going from 10% to 100%. This is a logarithmic scale, so you’ll see a much bigger difference in quality when jumping from 90% to 100% than you would if moving from 60% to 70%. The default of 80% works well for most uses.

  • Background Color. When adding clips of various dimensions to your Timeline, Camtasia Studio will place a smaller clip (at its original size) in the center of the larger playback area, as opposed to scaling it up. The rest of the screen area is filled up by the color you specify here.

PIP Options

This tab lets you stipulate how your PIP video is going to be compressed. You may or may not actually see the PIP tab. Two conditions must first be met:

  1. You have to have at least one clip on the PIP track of your Timeline.

  2. In the Flash Templates dialog, you will need to have chosen one of the two templates that include side-by-side video.

If you’re doing a standard (“overlay”) PIP video, these options do not apply, and are not available to you. This is because Camtasia Studio automatically produces the screen video and overlay PIP content as one video, and hence only one set of compression settings is needed.

When doing a side-by-side video, however, you can actually choose different compression settings for each component, since they’ll remain two separate files. Have a look at the options here:

image from book

Now, considering that we’ve already visited the Video tab, the options at the top of this tab (labeled FLV) should already look very familiar to you. Yep, the side-by-side PIP window always gets compressed as an FLV, and you have the same compression options as with an FLV screen video.

The one other option you have is called Background Image. Predictably, this option shows a chosen background image wherever you have hidden chunks of the PIP video (see the previous chapter for more info on showing/hiding PIP content). Just enter a file path or click the Browse button to open the Select Image File dialog. You can choose from the standard supported image formats (BMP, GIF, JPG, PNG). The image will be scaled automatically, but you might want to make sure that its aspect ratio is more or less comparable to that of your PIP image. If you choose to have no background image, then the side-by-side PIP window will simply go black when the PIP video is hidden.

Audio Options

Compared with the various video options, the Audio tab is relatively simple. This tab is available to you only if there’s something on any of your Timeline’s audio tracks (Audio 1, Audio 2, PIP Audio).

image from book

As you can see, you’ve got three settings. First, there’s the check box to Encode audio. You’re free to uncheck it if you do not wish your recorded audio to be part of your final presentation. However, assuming that you knew what you were doing when you placed that audio on the Timeline, I’m figuring you probably do want to include said audio, so let’s talk about how we can compress it.

So, next you’ll need to choose an Audio format. You’ve got two or three choices:

  • Uncompressed. Keeps your audio completely compression-free. Considering that you’re probably producing for the web, this option is not recommended.

  • MP3. The most popular option for SWF/FLV audio compression, and with good reason. It offers strong compression and excellent quality for both music and the spoken word. When in doubt, choose MP3.

  • ADPCM. A speech codec that is only available with SWF. If producing to FLV (or including a side-by-side PIP window), this option won’t be listed.

Finally, for the format you’ve selected, open the Audio attributes drop-down list to select the level of compression. The attributes are discussed in detail in Chapter 7, but here’s a quick summary:

  • Sample rate. Measured in kilohertz (kHz), this is the number of samples taken of the sound you’re recording per second.

  • Bit rate. The number of possible amplitude levels used to encode your audio. An 8-bit compression offers 256 levels, where 16-bit gives you 65,536 levels. Some codecs (e.g., ADPCM) can use an even lower bit rate.

  • Mono vs. Stereo. If you’ve only recorded from one microphone, make sure you select mono.

The attributes settings will also give you a sense of how much bandwidth one second of audio will take up, measured in either kilobits (1,000 bits) or kilobytes (1,000 bytes, or 8,000 bits).

Table of Contents Options

The Table of Contents tab is where you select the markers for inclusion in your video’s menu navigation. It is only visible if you’ve selected one of the three templates that make use of a TOC. If you’ve already produced a video in any format other than Flash, you’ll notice that the options are similar to part of the Production Wizard’s Marker Options screen. The Table of Contents tab looks like this:

image from book

Your marker names are listed in the box on the left-hand side of the dialog, and on the right is a thumbnail image of the video content appearing at the selected marker’s location. If there are certain mark- ers you’d rather not include in the TOC, such as miscellaneous note markers, simply uncheck them in your marker list, and they will not appear in your menu navigation.

If the length of your video is unwieldy, it may be useful to split your file into small chunks so that the viewer isn’t faced with preloading a large portion of it at once. In that event, choose Produce multiple files based on my Markers. You’ll end up with a series of Flash videos instead of one long one. In addition to more evenly distributing the preload times, it’s also a handy way of circumventing the SWF format’s 16,000-frame limit. Additionally, if the sequential order of your TOC items is important, you can have those items automatically numbered by clicking Number marker entries.

Just as with the Marker Options screen, you have buttons to help you assemble your navigation. Rename lets you assign a new name (and hence new link text) to the currently selected marker. In addition, you can utilize the Move Left and Move Right buttons to nest topics inside one another to create subtopics (again, the left and right arrow keys will work just as well). The cool thing about nested lists in the Flash Player is that the user can expand/contract main topic headings (by clicking the accompanying +/– symbol) so that they don’t have to view the entire list at once. This can be a major advantage, particularly for PowerPoint recordings, where there may be 100 or more markers (presuming one for every slide).

Controls Options

Finally, the Controls tab is your personal space for altering the aesthetics and functionality of your video’s control bar. As you can see, we’ve got a ton of choices to make:

image from book

Let’s first talk about how the control bar looks. These tools are all in the Playback controls section of the tab. You have the ability to alter the following:

  • Show about box. Checking this option will place a special clickable button on the control bar ( ) that, when clicked, brings up a special box with file stats and any other information you care to include:

    The About box has two tabs: About and File Info. As you can see on the Controls tab, you have a small field for entering text. You can type anything you wish, and here are a few ideas:

    • General info about the video

    • The author’s name

    • Copyright information

    • Contact information (phone, e-mail, web address, etc.)

    You’ve got up to eight full lines of content to fill in as desired, and it will all appear on the About tab. The File Info tab displays a few handy stats about the video, such as the File URL, File Size, and File Duration (in frames).

  • Show duration. Shows the video’s total duration (in seconds).

  • Show elapsed time. Shows the exact point of the playback head in time, so that the user knows exactly how much time has passed. I recommend keeping both this and Show duration checked so that your audience can tell at a glance how long they’ve been watching and how far they have to go on the current video.

  • Display format. Here you can choose how you want the various time elements displayed. Just click the drop-down button and select an option. Here’s a quick guide to your options:

    • The capital letters HH, MM, and SS represent the number of hours, minutes, and seconds, respectively, that are present in the elapsed time or duration.

    • The lowercase letters h, m, and s are the actual acronyms for these time elements.

      For example, if your video has a duration of 4 minutes and 17 seconds, and you select HH:MM:SS, the display would read 00:04:17. If you selected MMm SSs, it would read 04m 17s. If both Show elapsed time and Show duration are checked, then your format selection affects them both - there’s no way to select a different format for each.

  • Controller Color… Click to choose a color for your controller bar from the palette. The chosen color will be displayed right on the Controller Color… button.

Enough about the aesthetics, though. Let’s get into tinkering with the functionality of the playback. All these options are corralled in the Flash actions part of the tab. Get a load of what you can do:

  • Pause at start. When unchecked, the video will begin to play immediately upon loading (or as soon as the chosen preload threshold is reached - more on that in a sec). Otherwise, it will start in paused mode, thereby requiring the user to click the Play button before playback actually begins.

  • Allow resizing. This option will allow SWF videos to be resized if desired when viewed inside the actual Flash Player application. Unfortunately, it’s very likely that you’ll be showing off your SWF file inside a web page, in which case checking this option has no effect whatsoever. Additionally, giving the user the option to scale your content will probably have a rather negative effect on its quality. While I’m generally a fan of always giving the user a choice, in this particular case I tend to recommend keeping this option unchecked.

  • Show loading movie. This handy option will open a small file (usually a SWF, but it can be a static image file as well) while your main video is loading. It usually sports a little animation so that the users have something to watch, and hopefully somewhere the word “Loading…” will appear to let them know they should keep waiting for the good stuff. Observe:

    image from book

    This loading movie plasters my blatant advertising on a cost-conscious client’s video, thus meriting them a discount.

    Camtasia Studio includes several stock loading movies by default, or if you happen to be Flash-inclined, you can make your own. Just for fun, I have included a few loading movies in this chapter’s folder on the companion CD. Feel free to check them out for ideas, or even use them in your own projects. (I doubt you’ll want to use my branded corporate one, but I’ve included a couple of more generic loading movies as well.)

    Once you’ve checked Show loading movie, the Loading Movie… button will become available. Click it, and a whole new dialog of options will appear:

    image from book

Here are the options you’ll have:

  • Match loading movie size to main movie size. Checking this option blows up your loading movie to match the dimensions of your main video. Since it’s vector-based, Flash will scale up your loading video with perfect quality. I personally find that this option makes the loading movie too obtrusive, but others appreciate having the loading movie and main video be the same size.

  • Loading movie URL. You have several methods at your disposal for choosing a loading movie. You can type in a file path, or even a web URL if the file already exists on a web server somewhere. Clicking this field’s drop-down arrow will reveal the most recently used loading movie (very handy if you have a few that you use over and over). Finally, you can click the Browse button to find the file locally. If you select a local file, it will end up being included in your production folder with the rest of the produced media files.

  • Percent of main movie to preload. This is where you can stipulate that a certain percentage of the video file be down- loaded into the user’s cache before it begins to play. The goal is to ensure that enough of the video gets stored locally to ensure an interruption-free viewing once the video gets going, and this percentage is going to vary based on the video’s projected file size as well as your assessment of your audience’s average connection speed. If I’m creating a short, flashy (read: high-motion) marketing video, then I’ll crank the preload time up to at least 50% to avoid a lag in the middle of my important message. If it’s a lengthy tutorial, then I might take it down as low as 10%, figuring that the rest of the file will load as the user is watching.

  • Minimum preload movie display time. The number in this field represents the minimum number of seconds that the preload movie will display before it disappears and the main attraction begins. It’s particularly important for someone like me who puts branded content onto the loading screen, and wants to make sure that the audience has adequate time to process it before moving on. Also, once the video has been downloaded into the user’s cache, not setting a minimum means that subsequent viewings would show the preload movie for a fraction of a second - it would be on and off the screen quicker than a subliminal message. Keep in mind that this is just a minimum - for some users, it may take even longer to reach your chosen preload percentage. It all depends on their connection speeds and the size of your video.

    Tip 

    To help you reduce clutter, you may want to produce a single preload movie for all your video files. Upload it to an easily accessible location on your web server, and then link to that URL whenever you produce a new SWF/FLV video.

  • End action. Finally, you have options for telling the video how to behave once it reaches the end of its content. Choose Stop to have the video stop on the last frame. This is useful if you put contact details or other sales information at the end of your video, and would like it to remain on the screen. Clicking Go to first frame does just that; it returns you to the title screen (assuming you included one) back at the beginning of the video. And Jump to URL automatically takes the user to a web page of your choosing. It could be a product sales page, a web site that gives further information, or a media page that lists other videos they might want to see. There are limitless possibilities here.

A Word about the Legacy SWF Template

In setting up support for high-motion video capabilities, callouts with hot spots, picture-in-picture, and quizzes and surveys, TechSmith was forced to make some pretty radical changes to its Flash output technology. Camtasia Theater, a special utility for combining multiple SWF videos (the details of which you’ll find out about in Chapter 14), does not yet support this new architecture. For those who really want to create SWFs that are compatible with Camtasia Theater, TechSmith has included a special template called Legacy SWF output.It adheres to the older technology standards, and as such, it works with earlier versions of the Flash Player as well as plays nice with Camtasia Theater.

Here are a few details about this output to bear in mind:

  • Legacy SWFs are not compatible with quizzes and surveys.

  • These SWFs only offer a very basic control bar (only Play, Pause, and Stop). You also have the option of having no control bar, for example when creating video content for use with Camtasia Theater (which offers its own control bar for your videos).

  • No side-by-side video is allowed (or FLV video of any kind). In fact, your PIP track will be ignored entirely.

  • No preload movie will be included.

  • You cannot build a table of contents with Camtasia Studio (though you can do so in Camtasia Theater).

In the future, Camtasia Theater will likely be updated to overcome these stark limitations. Even after that happens, Legacy SWF output will still serve as a viable means of reaching those audiences that use an iteration of Flash Player prior to version 7.

Quiz and Survey Reporting Options

If you’ve been paying attention, then you know that one of the main advantages of the Flash format is its interactivity. One manifestation of this interactivity in Camtasia Studio is the ability to add quizzing/survey content and have the results reported back to you. When looking at the Video Options screen within the Production Wizard, you can click a special Options… button to specify exactly how you’d like those results delivered:

image from book

The options in the Quiz Reporting Options dialog are as follows:

  • No Reporting. Pretty self-explanatory. No results are reported to you.

  • Report score using SCORM. If uploading the content to your LMS, choose this option. You can specify the SCORM-related details by clicking SCORM Options… (please see our discussion of SCORM in an earlier section of this chapter). Your LMS will track the scores of all students who complete the quiz.

  • Report results through e-mail. For those who don’t use learning management systems, Camtasia Studio offers a simpler way of getting feedback. Just specify an e-mail address. You can choose whether you want the score visible to the recipient through use of the Include score in e-mail check box. When reaching the end of the video (after the quiz), the user is presented with an Answers Summary form:

    image from book

    They can click Preview to view the content of the message, or simply click Send to bring up the pre-addressed message in the user’s e-mail client application. E-mailing is not automatic; the user must opt to send the quiz results.

    If your recipient e-mail address has not yet been determined (or if the recipient depends on the user, for example if every employee needs to send the results to their immediate supervisor), you can leave the E-mail address field blank, and the user will be charged with addressing the message appropriately.

  • Show Quiz Feedback. It’s helpful to uncheck this option when doing a survey, as opposed to a quiz. You can thus disable any feedback messages popping up. Checking the option will cause the appropriate “correct” or “incorrect” feedback to pop up as soon as the user submits a response.

Flash File Structure

Due to the modular components of the two Flash output formats, their file structure is a bit more complex than Camtasia Studio’s other output formats. I’ll first clarify the various components that make up your video, and I’ll conclude by discussing the output’s XML file, and how that file can be edited to make superficial changes to a project you’ve already produced.

Depending on your project and the production options you’ve chosen, you’ll potentially see a multitude of production files. Since you could have as many as five SWF files alone in a given production, here’s a quick list just to give you a sense of which file does what as well as how they interact:

  • Main video file. This is a SWF or FLV file (depending on your choice in the Production Wizard) that contains the actual video.

  • HTML file. This file serves as the container of the media files for viewing in a web page, and it contains code to help automate the detection of Flash in your web browser. It is produced automatically.

  • Controller file (*_controller.swf). This SWF file contains the playback controller.

  • Preload move file (*_preload.swf). Provided you opted to include it, this is the preload movie that displays while the main video is loading.

  • Side-by-side video file (*_PIP.flv). This FLV file contains your PIP video content. It is only needed when side-by-side PIP video is employed.

  • SWF object file (swfobject.js). This JavaScript file is responsible for detecting the Flash version on the user’s machine. If an appropriate version of Flash Player is detected, it also contains the embedding script for writing out the object and embed tags.

  • Random JavaScript code (*.js). This is a catch-all file that contains production-dependent scripting, appropriate routing of movie reference arguments, and handling of SCORM content (including quizzes and surveys).

  • No Flash Player background graphic (*_nofp_bg.gif). This is a graphic used for your video’s Flash Player detection.

If you opted to produce an iPod video (M4V)or MP3 file, you’ll see these in the production directory as well, along with the Flash and graphic files that make up the download front-end menu for those materials.

Finally, you’ve got the Configuration file (*_config.xml). This file is the glue that holds the rest of it together. It is a central repository of information that contains most of the options you set while traversing the Production Wizard. When loading all the files, this config file passes information to the other components. What kind of information, you might ask? Here are a few examples:

  • Info about your video components, such as their dimensions, durations, and frame rates.

  • The structure and formatting of your table of contents (as well as whether you even have a table of contents).

  • All the questions, answers, and custom responses of your quizzes.

  • The size, locations, duration, and actions of all your Flash hot spots, if any.

And a lot more. The cool thing about having all this info in one place is that if you’re careful, you can make minor edits to your project after production is complete without having to produce again. Particularly if this is a long, involved project that takes considerable time to produce, sometimes it’s just easier to go in and edit the XML file if you suddenly caught a typo in one of your quiz questions. Or if you’d like to alter the size of your TOC text. Or if you want to change the URL of one of your hot spots. The possibilities are limitless.

You can get the basics of what an XML file is and how to edit it at the end of Chapter 14, “Web-based Videos with Camtasia Theater.” The structure of Theater’s config file is different, but it will still give you some solid guidelines by which to abide if you really want to tinker with the XML.

To give you a sense of the possibilities, here are a few of the more useful tags in the config file that affect the aesthetics and functionality of your video, and that cannot be controlled from the Production Wizard. These are features that, for one reason or another, have not yet been implemented in the program’s interface, and yet you as a savvy, XML-editing Camtasia Studio guru can now use them in your projects.

  • <captionsvisible> If using closed captions, this will specify whether the captions are immediately visible (the default) or whether the user must first click the “cc” symbol in order to view them.

  • <caption><font> Changes the font of your captions. Make sure that you use a universally available (i.e., included with Windows) font, however.

  • <toc><backgroundcolor> Changes the background color of your table of contents window. In fact, there are a number of TOC-related formatting items such as <alternatingrowcolors>, <textalign>, and <useRollOver> that will help you add some pizzazz to your table of contents.

  • <quiz><txtMainMessage> Allows you to edit the text message that quiz and survey takers receive at the end of the video when it’s time to send in their answers. Other tags, such as <txtsummary> and <txtScore>, contain additional quiz-related messages you can play with.

Remember, always make a backup copy of your config file before you do any editing.

Windows Media Streaming Video (WMV)

Windows Media Video is the proprietary streaming video format partially developed by Microsoft. As such, these files can be read by Microsoft’s universally available Windows Media Player (Windows and Macintosh), as well as by some third-party media players that support other platforms. This format can be read natively by Pocket PC devices, and is the sole output format for Windows Movie Maker, Microsoft’s consumer-level video editing application. While not a very editing-friendly format, Camtasia Studio can import WMV files for inclusion in a project.

The obvious advantage to carrying the Microsoft name is the fact that everything needed to play back these videos (at least for Windows users) is included in the operating system. This makes WMV the ideal format when producing videos in a “locked-down” corporate environment where the IT department doesn’t trust the rest of the staff to manage their computers effectively. In these settings, the ability to install software is disabled, and users have to make do with what they’ve been provided by IT. Since Windows Media Player is a part of Windows, there are fewer distribution problems with WMV, provided of course that all your users are on Windows-based machines.

Another reason “big corporate” likes WMV is that this distribution can be a bit better controlled when used in conjunction with Windows Media Server. Because it’s a streaming format, a copy of the video is not downloaded locally when viewed online from a streaming server. While not bulletproof, this is a bit more secure than non-streaming formats. Of course, when placed on a regular web server, WMV files offer what is known as progressive download. This carries most of the same advantages as actual streaming (easy, fast-starting online video), except that the content is actually downloaded. In short, WMV shines in locked-down environments, producing small, universally readable, and reasonably secure files at a good quality level.

And speaking of quality, another advantage of the WMV format is that the image quality is easily adjustable. First off, WMV tolerates high-motion video content extremely well. While its Windows Media Video Screen video codec carries many of the same drawbacks (and advantages) as the TSCC AVI codec, there are other, more flexible video codecs for WMV for handling the high-motion stuff. Additionally, you can create very small-sized (albeit low-quality) versions for users on a dial-up connection, and near-perfect quality versions for those with T1 broadband connections. And in this section, you’ll learn how to adapt your WMV output for any audience and content.

Windows Media Encoding Options

After choosing WMV in the Production Wizard, you’ll be presented with the Windows Media Encoding Options screen, which looks like this:

image from book

The level of encoding is chosen by picking a production profile from the Profiles drop-down list. If the Screen capture profiles only check box is enabled, then your choices will be limited to only those profiles that make use of the Windows Media Video 9 Screen codec. About half of these are likely to be profiles that were installed with Camtasia Studio. Unchecking the above option will inundate you with other profiles (including additional CS-installed profiles optimized for PowerPoint and full-motion video). Since Windows Media Video 9 or Windows Media Video 7 tend to produce better results than the Windows Media Video 9 Screen codec, I recommend keeping this option off.

However, one rather important option you’ll want to keep checked is Add index to file (to enable seeking within the file). If left unchecked, your users will not be able to navigate the video by means of the scrubber bar. If they click and drag the bar, it will simply snap right back to its original place like a rubber band the moment they release the mouse button. As people are now used to having seek functionality, keeping the option checked will save your users a lot of time and frustration.

After selecting a profile from the list, some general info about the profile will probably appear in the Description box, and the Details box will contain all the technical details of your profile. If you’re in a tinkering sort of mood, these settings can be adjusted. Therefore, please allow me to take a minute to demystify a few of these items so that you’ll at least have a sense of what you’re doing:

  • Video (or Audio) encoding mode. There are two basic modes: VBR and CBR. Variable Bit Rate (VBR) encoding means that the bit rate will fluctuate depending on how complex the data is at that particular point. More bits get devoted to complex sections and fewer bits to the simpler ones, thus improving the overall quality. It’s useful for videos that will be stored locally or progressively downloaded. Constant Bit Rate (CBR) keeps the video’s bit rate consistent, and it will stream better as a result. So use CBR if you plan on broadcasting your videos from a streaming server. All the profiles introduced by Camtasia Studio are CBR profiles.

  • Video (or Audio) bit rate. This is the number of bits per second (usually measured in kilobits (Kbps)) that will stream from your server to the user’s computer. A higher number means better quality, and only those on broadband connections can handle it. A lower number indicates a video that can stream well over low- bandwidth connections (possibly even dial-up), but quality will suffer as a result. You will also see a listing called Audience that will tell you the total bandwidth requirements (video + audio) for that profile. For streaming, your users’ download capabilities must meet or exceed this bit rate in order to smoothly play your video.

  • Audio codec. The current iteration of the Windows Media Encoder offers the Windows Media Audio 9 codec, and it has several versions from which to choose:

    • Windows Media Audio 9. The standard codec offers a sample rate of either 44.1 or 48.0 kHz and 16 bits. CD quality can be obtained on a spectrum from 64 to 192 Kbps. Its support of VBR can mean even smaller files with higher quality.

    • Windows Media Audio 9 Professional. Includes options for 5.1 channel or even 7.1 channel sound with up to 24-bit/96 kHz fidelity. Since Camtasia Studio cannot take advantage of these enhancements, this codec has little real-world use for our purposes.

    • Windows Media Audio 9 Voice. Targets the narrower frequency range of the human voice and is designed for speech content. Unlike a lot of other speech codecs, however, this one handles musical/mixed content admirably as well. Best for low-bandwidth connections.

  • Audio format. These are the attributes applied to the currently selected audio codec, such as a target bit rate, sample rate, and whether it’s encoding mono vs. stereo. You can learn more about audio attributes in Chapter 7.

  • Video codec. Though you may see some older codec versions, Windows Media Video 9 is the current version. Just as with the audio codec, this video codec comes in several flavors, all of which are compatible with Windows Media Player v7 and above:

    • Windows Media Video 9. The standard codec, supporting a wide range of bit rates. Also offers downloadable content with two-pass and VBR recording.

    • Windows Media Video 9 Advanced Profile. The same advantages as the first, plus support for interlaced video content. For our purposes, this is unnecessary unless you have imported some interlaced real-world video into your project, such as DV video from a digital camcorder.

    • Windows Media Video 9 Screen. Excels at screen video, with large blocks of a single color and minimal background changes. Automatically switches between lossy and lossless compression based on the data’s complexity.

    • Windows Media Video 9 Image Version 2. Used to “video-ize” still images by using zooms, pans, and crossfades. Not useful for our purposes.

    • Windows Media Video 7. While this is an older version of the codec, I mention it here because it offers faster encoding than its next-generation brethren, which can be advantageous if you’re in a hurry.

  • Video size. The dimensions of the video. This can either be Same as video input or some other specified dimension. I strongly recommend the former. If otherwise specified, it will override the video dimensions set in your Production Wizard, at least for the actual content. For example, if you have a Video size setting here of 320 x 240, but your setting on the Video Size screen of the wizard states 640 x 480, you’ll end up with a small window of content inside a larger window with a black background (regardless of your Background Color setting). It’s best to leave this setting alone and instead use the Production Wizard to adjust the video’s dimensions.

  • Frame rate. The number of frames per second at which the video will play. The Camtasia Studio profiles typically play back from 3 to 10 fps, depending on quality level (see Chapter 7 for a more detailed explanation of the frame rate).

  • Key frame. This lists the interval at which a key frame is inserted. Key frames offer a “complete picture” of your video image. The frames between each key frame, called delta frames, are of poor quality (usually a blur of motion). The lower the interval number (and hence the more key frames), the better the image quality. Typically, you would use more key frames for video with a generally consistent background (like screen video and “talking head” camera videos), and fewer key frames with “real-world” camera content (such as a sporting event). For more information on key frames and delta frames, see Chapter 7, “Recorder Tools Options.”

  • Image quality. This number, based on a scale from 0 to 100, is a mark of the video image clarity. Lower numbers result in a smoother video image, while higher numbers indicate a clearer image. Increasing the clarity can have an effect on the frame rate.

  • Buffer size. The number of seconds in which your video content will be stored prior to encoding. A larger buffer size requires more memory, but yields better quality. The default buffer size is five seconds; for our purposes, there’s really no reason to change it.

Editing Your Profiles

But how do we actually change these settings? Just select a particular profile, and then click the Edit… button. Note that your Camtasia Studio profiles cannot be edited in this way - more on that in a minute. Since the dialog that opens is technically a Windows Media Encoder screen and is therefore not actually part of Camtasia Studio, I’m only going to gloss over it. One thing you’re apt to notice (at least with CBR profiles) is that the term “edit” is a misnomer, as you’re actually starting from scratch. After choosing the encoding mode and codec for your desired streams (video, audio, or both), click the Add… button to add a target bit rate. After doing so, a tab bearing that bit rate will appear, and you’ll be able to set the rest of your options on that tab.

If you don’t relish the idea of coming up with all new settings and would rather work from a “pattern,” you actually can make use of those Camtasia Studio profiles, tweaking them to your liking and storing them in a custom profile.

image from book

To do this, we’re going to have to import a profile’s settings, which is done thusly:

  1. Back on the Windows Media Encoding Options screen in the Camtasia Studio Production Wizard, click Manage….

  2. Choose New… to start a new custom profile.

  3. Click the Import… button.

  4. Browse to Camtasia Studio’s collection of Windows Media profiles. Unless you changed the default install directory, it is probably located here:

    C:\Program Files\TechSmith\Camtasia Studio 4\Windows Media Profiles.

  5. Select your desired Windows Media Encoder (.prx) profile, and then choose Open.

  6. Adjust your settings as desired. To avoid confusing it with the stock Camtasia Studio profile from whence it originated, I’d also recommend renaming the profile.

image from book

QuickTime (MOV)

QuickTime is a video and multimedia format introduced back in 1991 by Apple Computer, a full year before Microsoft launched Video for

Windows. This newfound ability to play video clips on the personal computer was a watershed moment in the history of computing. While

Apple did outsource the creation of a Windows version fairly early on to help fuel the acceptance of the format, QuickTime was traditionally a decidedly Mac-oriented technology. However, its adoption in the

Windows world was bolstered several years later by two major events:

  • George Lucas’ decision to use QuickTime exclusively for the trail- ers to his much-anticipated (though ultimately disappointing) Star Wars, Episode I: The Phantom Menace.

  • Apple’s decision to integrate QuickTime technology into its now ubiquitous iTunes player. You can download QuickTime separately from iTunes, but not the other way around.

As such, distribution in the QuickTime format is no longer the crap- shoot it once was. Additionally, thanks to the presence of several high-quality compression algorithms that are available for the QuickTime format (such as H.264 and TechSmith Ensharpen), you don’t have to compromise on your video’s quality either.

One other distinction is that the MOV file format was designed as a container of sorts for all manner of content and meta information. It can support things like multiple audio tracks, subtitle tracks, video effect filters, and video masking, among others. Camtasia Studio does not yet take full advantage of the format’s versatility, though you can currently apply effect filters, a feature that’s not available with any other file format. In a moment, I’ll show you how.

QuickTime Encoding Options

In order to produce QuickTime videos with Camtasia Studio, you will first need to have QuickTime installed. The Pro version costs $29.95, and while I can recommend this version heartily as an essential part of my video editing toolset, you’ll probably only need the Basic version, which is free. Make sure you specify to include the QuickTime Authoring component during installation. When it’s time to produce, select MOV - QuickTime movie, and click Next to specify your encoding options. You’ll actually find the QuickTime Encoding Options screen pretty bare compared to the other formats:

image from book

You’ve got the details of the current settings, all right, but if you want to actually change anything, you’ll need to click the QuickTime Options… button. Once you click this button, virtually all of the options are part of the Apple QuickTime software package, not Camtasia Studio. We’ll be talking about these settings only as they relate to your production capability in Camtasia Studio. Some settings will be covered in detail, others merely glossed over, and a few won’t be discussed at all. Please consult your Apple QuickTime documentation if you have further questions about any of these options. Additionally, keep in mind that this section was prepared based on the most current version of QuickTime at the time of writing (7.1.5). If you have an earlier (or later) version, your dialogs may look somewhat different. So, now that we have the disclaimer out of the way, let’s dig in.

The QuickTime Movie Settings dialog contains settings for the video, audio, and streaming capabilities of your project.

image from book

As you can see, there’s a check box next to each element that can be turned on or off. When on, you’ll see the details of the current settings, and some additional options buttons will appear. Starting with the Video section, a click of the Settings… button will get you to your actual compression settings:

image from book

At the top of the dialog, you’ll be able to choose the codec from the Compression Type drop-down list. There are many codecs supported by QuickTime, but there’s really no sense in covering them all, as most aren’t useful for our needs here. So allow me to save you some legwork and just give the skinny on the Camtasia Studio “top three”:

  • TechSmith Ensharpen. Yes, the people who developed lossless screen video compression for AVI have developed a similar solution for QuickTime. It is the choice for perfect-quality screen video, albeit at a cost. It handles high-motion video poorly, and its decompressor is not distributed with the QuickTime Player by default, necessitating that the user download and install it separately (though this is free). TechSmith sells the Ensharpen codec as a stand-alone QuickTime compression solution, but anyone who purchases Camtasia Studio gets Ensharpen for Windows bundled in for free.

  • H.264. A high-compression video codec that is ideal for high- motion video, offering both amazing quality and small file size. While not lossless, its ability to pack astounding detail into such tiny files represents a major leap forward in compression technology. In many countries, H.264 has been approved or is pending approval for use in high-definition broadcast television, and it is a component in both main contenders’ iterations of the next-gen DVD format (HD-DVD and Blu-ray). This codec is only supported in QuickTime 7, thus requiring an update for users of previous versions.

  • Sorenson Video 3. Prior to the arrival of QuickTime 7 and H.264, Sorenson 3 was the most often utilized codec in the QuickTime arsenal, and with good reason. Its wide array of compression options and good tolerance of high-motion video made it highly versatile. A solid choice for full-motion video, especially if your audience hasn’t yet upgraded to version 7 of QuickTime.

Below Compression Type, the dialog is divided into four sections. What you see here (particularly in the Compressor quarter) will vary based on the codec selected. The four sections of this dialog are as follows:

  • Motion. Allows you to set the number of frames per second (Frame Rate). Choosing a lower rate than the one at which you recorded will reduce the file size, but may result in some choppiness. Provided that the selected codec makes use of frame differencing to compress its video frames, you can also set the number of key frames. This can be Automatic (using the key frame rate of the original video), Every x frames,or All if you want to have every frame be a key frame (not recommended). For more information on frame rates and key frames, check out Chapter 7, “Recorder Tools Options.”

    One final option available in a select few (most recent) codecs, such as H.264, is Frame Reordering, which can result in compression improvements. If you read the section on key frames in Chapter 7, then you know that you can have key frames as well as delta frames (intermediate frames whose content depends on the frame before it). Some codecs such as H.264 make use of a third type, called bi-directional frames (or B-frames), that can predict a frame’s content by referencing frames that come both before and after it. These frames generally require fewer bits than the former two frame types, thus enhancing compression.

  • Data Rate. If you decide to stream your QuickTime movie instead of setting it up as a progressive download, these settings allow you to specify the bit rate (in kilobits per second) that will stream from the server to the user’s computer. The larger the data rate allowance, the higher your video’s quality. The Data Rate can either be set to Automatic (influenced by the Compressor Quality setting) or given a limit in kilobits[*]. Some codecs will also allow you to select the file’s optimization between web streaming, CD/DVD ROM storage, and download.

  • Compressor. The options located in this section vary tremendously with the kind of codec you’re using. Here’s a quickie rundown of some of the settings you may run across:

    • Depth. The number of colors in your video’s available palette.

    • Compression. A numbered spectrum that allows you to choose between better compression, therefore smaller file size, and faster compression, therefore reduced production time.

    • Quality. A slider that allows you to choose between small file size on the low end and best quality on the high end. This can also have an effect on the file’s bit rate when streaming.

    • Encoding. For compression using a variable bit rate (VBR), this setting will let you select the number of encoding passes. Rather than maintaining a constant bit rate (CBR) that will keep the bit stream consistent (which makes for better streaming), VBR first analyzes the material, dedicating more bits to the complex sections, while not wasting bits on the simpler parts. Single-pass encoding analyzes and compresses the data in a single step, while Multi-pass divides the analysis and encoding into two different steps. This helps encode the data more efficiently, but also takes twice as long.

    • Options. Certain codecs have a special button called Options… that takes the user to a special proprietary dialog in which additional settings can be viewed and adjusted.

  • Preview. This is a small image of the Camtasia Studio icon, which offers a small preview of how using the chosen compressor at its current settings would affect the appearance of a graphic image. It’s not terribly useful, but it should help you catch any glaring errors (such as mistakenly setting your color depth to grayscale) before you waste time producing a video you’ll ultimately discard.

Wow, you’d think after all those adjustments that we’d be just about finished with the video end of things. Not quite, though. QuickTime offers a little-used feature called Filters that can do some pretty wacky stuff with your video. If you click on the Filter… button, you can choose from a series of Photoshop-style filters that apply to the entire video. Put old-style film noise on clips to give them a “vintage” feel. Sharpen the edges of your video picture. Or turn everything pink by adjusting the RGB balance. It’s well beyond the scope of this book (and apparently beyond the scope of QuickTime’s own documentation) to talk about all the filters and their various settings, but I encourage you to experiment to help you get a sense of the possibilities. The only real downer is that filter effects always apply to the entire video - you can’t target individual sections.

As for the Size… button that follows, I strongly suggest you leave it alone. The Video Size screen of the Camtasia Studio Production Wizard offers much more comprehensive sizing options, and adjusting the size in two different dialogs can only lead to problems.

Compared to the whirlwind of video options in QuickTime, your sound settings are pretty subdued:

image from book

Clicking the Settings… button under Sound gives you a few basic fields to fill in:

  • Compressor. The audio codec you’re using to compress the sound. Some of the common choices are detailed below.

  • Rate. Runs from 8.0 to 48.0 kHz (in Camtasia Studio), and refers to the number of samples (little snapshots) taken of a digital waveform.

  • Size. The bit depth indicates the number of volume levels used to represent sound. You can choose between 8-bit (256 levels) and 16-bit (65,536 levels). 16-bit is generally preferable regardless of the codec used.

  • Mono vs. Stereo. Mono recordings play identical content from both speakers, whereas stereo attempts to mimic the spatial location of sound by playing different content from each of the two speakers. In almost every case, you’ll want to choose mono.

  • Options…. Certain codecs have additional options dialogs they offer. For example, with the QDesign Music 2 codec, you can specify a target bitrate.

The quality of your sound is largely determined by the audio codec you use to compress the sound data. Here are the choices I would typically recommend:

  • MPEG-4. MPEG-4 utilizes Advanced Audio Coding (AAC). It is the one truly excellent QuickTime codec for voice, music, and sound effects alike. If you’re compressing your audio at all, this will be your codec 99.9% of the time.

  • None. While typically a setting used only for authoring, you may want to leave the audio data completely uncompressed if not distributing the files online (e.g., using CD- or DVD-ROM).

  • QDesign Music 2. This codec was the best general-use codec out there when introduced back in 1999. To this day, it remains a solid choice for mixed (voice/music) content, but tends to have phasing issues when used for speech alone. Purely instrumental music is particularly good.

  • Qualcomm PureVoice. This is a speech codec designed by QUALCOMM. It’s a QuickTime version of their PCS digital phone codec. Sound quality is acceptable for voice narration but like fingernails on a chalkboard for anything else.

Back in the Movie Settings dialog, your next option is Prepare for Internet Streaming. If you plan on delivering this file online, I recommend keeping this option checked. When enabled, you have two (well, technically three) options for delivery: progressive download and true streaming. Here’s how it breaks down:

  • Fast Start. With the Fast Start option enabled, you can deliver QuickTime content from any standard web server. This is not actual streaming, but rather a technique called progressive down- load. True streaming video requires the use of a streaming server (which can be quite expensive), and the video stream is broadcast to the user’s machine without actually storing the video file there. With progressive download, the video is actually downloaded rather than streamed, but it will begin playing while the download is still in progress. This gives all the “instant access” benefits of streaming, but without the overhead of setting up a special streaming server.

  • Fast Start - Compressed Header. All QuickTime files contain a header, which is special information located within the file that describes the file’s contents. With both of the “Fast Start” options, QuickTime places this header right at the front of the file, so that the player has all the information it needs to start playing the file right away. Compressing the header stores this meta information with fewer bits, meaning that the actual content can start even faster. This is the generally recommended option if you and your users will be downloading your content over the Internet.

  • Hinted Streaming. When Apple adopted streaming technology for use in QuickTime, it decided against rebuilding QuickTime from the ground up to accommodate this new technology, opting instead to create a special track (called a Hint track) that would give the streaming server the info it needed in order to stream the video file. People with sensitive content love streaming because the content isn’t actually downloaded, thereby allowing better (but not bulletproof) control of distribution. It’s akin to sending out a broadcast TV signal. Determined people can capture the content with a VCR or TiVo, but most will simply watch. After viewing your streaming video, there’s usually no trace that they ever saw your video, except for perhaps a small reference movie, which is a small video that references your streaming video. It’s handy for e-mailing video content to someone, because the size of the reference file is so small.

    Caution 

    If you do plan on streaming your videos in QuickTime, remember to only use web-enabled video codecs (such as H.264 or Sorenson) and audio codecs (AAC, QUALCOMM PureVoice, QDesign). Some compressors, such as Ensharpen, are not designed to be streamed.

    At any rate, choose Hinted Streaming to create a file for upload to a streaming server. The Settings… button contains detailed settings regarding packet size, duration, etc. It’s best to leave these settings on their respective defaults unless you know otherwise. Many of these options require specialized knowledge of your video and audio codecs’ capabilities as well as the technical constraints of the network.

AVI

AVI (Audio Video Interleave) is a video file format created by Microsoft. It combines video frames and waveform audio in alternating interleaved pieces. AVI files adhere to the Resource Interchange File Format (RIFF), which gives the file the ability to store meta-information about its own content, such as duration, video dimensions, etc. As such, it’s a stand-alone file that requires no other supplementary files in order to work (at most, you’ll get an HTML file if you checked Embed Video into HTML). This format has been around since 1992, and is still the most popular video file format in existence.

Because of their ubiquity, these files can play in almost any media player, including Windows Media Player and the Camtasia Player. These files can also be readily embedded into any HTML document for playback online using the Windows Media Player plug-in. Additionally, it’s the format of choice for video editing applications. In fact, AVI is the format in which Camtasia Recorder encodes all your captured screen video clips[*].

That said, AVI files that are encoded with the TechSmith Screen Capture Codec do have a distribution issue. Since Windows doesn’t come with TSCC installed, you can’t necessarily rely on your audience to have the codec on their end to decode your content. The codec is freely downloadable from the TechSmith web site, but if you’d rather not trouble your users with downloading and installing something prior to watching your video, there are a couple of other ways around it. Please see Chapter 15, “Other Output Options,” for a full discussion.

AVI Encoding Options

When producing to AVI in Camtasia Studio, the Encoding Options screen looks like this:

image from book

In terms of video encoding, you first have options for setting the number of Colors as well as the Frame rate. We discussed these items in detail back in Chapter 7, “Recorder Tools Options,” but here’s a quick recap: The color depth refers to the number of available colors in the video’s color palette. You can save a little file size (depending on the video codec) by ratcheting this down a bit. The frame rate is the number of frames per second at which the video displays. More frames per second equates to smoother video. Fewer frames per second takes up less file space.

Note 

Remember that cranking up the frame rate above the rate at which your clips were originally captured doesn’t buy you anything in terms of playback smoothness.

Both of these options default to Automatic, meaning that the program will find the highest color depth and frame rate of all the clips on your Timeline, and will produce the entire project at those settings. Note that Camtasia Studio will use the lowest settings possible without losing any color or frame information. For example, if you recorded all your clips in a combination of 8-bit and 16-bit color, the Automatic setting will produce everything at 16-bit, as opposed to 8-bit (some color information lost) or 32-bit (superfluous). You can, of course, manually set these options by choosing a value from their drop-down lists (or in the case of Frame rate, enter any integer from 1 to 30).

Video Compression

Back in Chapter 7, we discussed the merits and drawbacks of the default codec for capturing video, namely the TechSmith Screen Capture Codec (TSCC). In almost all recording situations (games and CAD applications being the general exceptions), TSCC is the only codec you need for capture. The codec playing field opens up tremendously on the production end. You may have photographic content or high-motion elements in your video, thus negating TSCC as an appropriate choice if you don’t want your video file to take up half your hard drive space.

To examine the list of codecs you have at your disposal, simply click the Video Compression… button. Open up the drop-down list labeled Compressor. Everyone’s list will be different depending on the codecs they have installed. Here’s the current state of mine:

image from book

At this point, the TechSmith Screen Capture Codec is already well- covered ground. Here are a few other video codecs you may find on your system.

  • MPEG-4. You’ll see a lot of different names for the various flavors of this codec, from DivX to Xvid to 3ivx. It’s a lossy codec designed to play real-world (high-motion) video well. This is probably the best choice for videos that have tons of photographic or camera video content.

  • Indeo 5.10. Decent quality, but now nearly obsolete. Compression is so-so, and the video dimensions must be divisible by four to avoid quality issues.

  • Cinepak. This is one of the very first multiplatform AVI codecs, and was originally developed for playing small movies on 386 machines. It excels at decoding video on machines with very slow CPUs, but beyond that, has little to recommend it nowadays.

  • Microsoft Video 1. This video codec from Microsoft hasn’t been updated in nearly 15 years. It may have been cutting edge in its day, but its now comparatively weak compression, bad quality, and lack of data rate control make MV1 a poor choice.

  • Full Frames (Uncompressed). This is exactly what it sounds like - no compression whatsoever takes place. The files are enormous and unwieldy. If you want a lossless solution, opt for TSCC first. Even for high-motion video, the files are likely to be much, much smaller.

Audio Compression

Now let’s move on to the audio side of the equation. As you’ll see, it’s a fairly important side, since audio can easily comprise up to 90% of your overall file size if you’re not careful. The first thing you need to do is decide whether you want to include an audio stream at all. If you have no narration or sound effects, then clear the check box for Encode audio. If you leave it checked, then you will effectively be encoding a long stretch of pure silence, which can consume up to 187 kilobytes per second of your video’s duration. That’s a rather hefty price to pay for “dead air,” so make sure this box is cleared if you have no audio in your project.

The next option determines whether you want the audio inter- leaved, that is, having the video and audio streams stored in alternating pieces in the file. Turning this option off can speed up the production time, but I don’t typically recommend it, especially if the file may end up getting stored on a slower storage device like CD-ROM or ZIP disk. To be on the safe side, I recommend leaving the Interleave audio every[…] box checked. The interleave rate determines how tightly the “strands” of your video and audio streams are woven together. It defaults to every second, and that’s quite acceptable for most playback devices. If you envision your videos being played on older, slower machines with legacy CD-ROM drives, you might want to crank the rate up to every frame (also called full interleave) to ensure smooth playback.

Now, let’s pick ourselves out an audio codec. If you click the Audio Format… button, you’ll be able to select a new Format (codec) as well as that codec’s Attributes from a drop-down list.

image from book

You may recall that I promoted capturing your audio with PCM (pulse code modulation, also known as “uncompressed”), at 44.1 kHz, 16-bit mono. Regardless of the codec chosen, you’ll have options for at least two of these three attributes.

While we discussed these in detail back in Chapter 7, here’s a quick rundown of these attributes:

  • Sample rate. Runs from 8.0 to 48.0 kHz (in Camtasia Studio), and refers to the number of samples (little snapshots) taken of a digital waveform.

  • Bit depth. The number of volume levels used to represent sound. For PCM, you can choose between 8-bit (256 levels) and 16-bit (65,536 levels), but some other codecs may offer an even lower number of bits. 16-bit is generally preferable regardless of the codec used.

  • Mono vs. Stereo. Mono recordings play identical content from both speakers, whereas stereo attempts to mimic the spatial location of sound by playing different content from each of the two speakers. In almost every case, you’ll want to choose mono.

Provided all your files will still fit, I encourage you to maintain the aforementioned audio settings when creating a “master” AVI for archival purposes, and when producing to CD- or DVD-ROM where file space isn’t at a premium. If producing an AVI for the web or e-mail, we will need to examine other codecs to help get the file size down. Here are the others I typically recommend:

  • MPEG Layer-3. This audio format has been popularized by the digital music scene. It offers very good compression of music and (to a somewhat lesser extent) voice, with minimal loss in quality. If you have mixed content (voice, music, sound f/x), then MPEG Layer-3 is a strong candidate, but truthfully, it has since been supplanted by…

  • MPEG Layer-3 (TechSmith LAME). This is TechSmith’s version of the open-source LAME MP3 codec. In case you were wondering, LAME is a recursive acronym for LAME Ain’t an MP3 Encoder, which in its current iteration isn’t actually true. It is, in fact, currently the best encoder out there for attaining high-quality MP3 sound, for voice, music, and sound effects alike. It’s quality/ file size ratio is so impressive that the Camtasia Recorder now encodes to MP3 LAME by default instead of PCM.

  • CCITT A-Law and µ-Law. Developed to compress analog signals for digital telecommunications systems, these codecs offer telephone-quality audio for voice recordings. They’re a terrible choice for music. They compress sound data by intelligently reducing the dynamic range of the human voice. Functionally, there’s no appreciable difference between these two codecs - A-Law is employed primarily in Europe, while µ-Law (pronounced mew-Law) is the standard in the U.S. and Japan.

This Audio Format dialog has an extra ability you may find handy. If you take a look at the Name drop-down list, you’ll see that you have several premade audio profiles available for your use. You can also create your own. This is extremely helpful if you utilize a particular set of audio options consistently. Just set up your Format and Attributes as desired, and then click Save As…. You’ll be prompted for a name, and when you click OK, the profile is saved and available for your use whenever you like. To get rid of one you don’t need, just choose the profile and then click Remove.

Prepping Your Videos for DVD Output

While all of the Camtasia Studio file formats are great for reaching a computer-savvy audience, you might find your users are better served by being able to pop a DVD into their players and watch your content on a television. If it’s your wish to export your video project for display on a standard DVD player, you’ll be able to do so, provided you have a separate DVD authoring program and a little know-how. This DVD mini-guide is designed to give you just that.

First off, understand that converting from a computer (digital, based on pixel resolution) to a television (analog, based on numbers of lines) standard has its share of quality issues. Most DVD authoring programs do a reasonably good job of converting digitized video into a color signal that can be read by the television standard of your target audience (NTSC for the U.S. and Japan; SECAM for France, Russia, and parts of Africa; and PAL for pretty much everywhere else).

The first thing to do, therefore, is to use Camtasia Studio to give that authoring program as “clean” (high quality) a source as we can, which means producing an AVI encoded with TSCC. We need AVI so that the authoring program can easily import it; we need TSCC because it’s lossless. Since 720 x 480 is the standard dimension for producing DVD content , those are the dimensions at which Camtasia Studio will ultimately produce in order to avoid distortion.

But there’s a snag. Keep in mind that many televisions tend to “trim” the outside edges of their content. If you’re not careful, this can mean that important content in your video won’t actually be visible on the user’s television if it strays too far from the center. So, you’ve got two choices when recording your videos:

  • Keep all the important stuff (especially text) away from the periphery of the recording window so that it’s not at risk of being trimmed off.

    or

  • Establish a “safe zone” where all content appears in a smaller window, surrounded by black background space to make up the rest of the 720 x 480 dimensions. I typically use 558 x 440, but this is not set in stone - you’re welcome to take these dimensions as a baseline and then experiment with the aspect ratio to better fit your content and the DVD standards of your country.

The final stumbling block is that you’ll need a DVD authoring application of some kind to take your AVI file(s) and create a disc that’s actually playable on a console DVD player. Camtasia Studio won’t do this for you. Fortunately, there are a number of choices out there ranging from low-end consumer packages (CyberLink PowerProducer, Ulead DVD MovieFactory) to versatile prosumer/professional solutions (Adobe Encore DVD, Sonic Scenarist). Prices run from as low as $50 all the way to $20,000, so you’ll need to find the right mix of features, learning curve, and cost.

image from book

So, to make your content DVD-friendly, try the following:

  1. Record your videos at 558 x 440 (or similar), using TSCC for your video stream and master-quality PCM for the audio. Import them into Camtasia Studio.

  2. After editing, click the Produce video as… link to produce your final project as an AVI.

  3. On the Video Size screen in your Production Wizard, choose 720 x 480 (TV/DVD) from the Preset video sizes drop- down list if producing for a North American or Japanese audience (where the NTSC standard for DVD prevails).

    or

    If you live in a region where PAL is the supported standard for DVD, choose instead 720 x 576 from the Standard video size drop-down list.

  4. Make sure that Stretch to fit is disabled, and that the Background Color is black.

  5. Produce your final video, then import that video into the DVD authoring tool of your choice.

  6. Set the aesthetics and menu options as allowed by your authoring program. Produce and burn the DVD.

image from book

iPod/iTunes (M4V)

The Apple iPod is the most successful portable media player to date. It was introduced back in 2001, and at the time of this writing, over 90 million of these little devices have been sold to consumers worldwide. The iPod’s combination of style and usability won over legions of fans, including those well-entrenched in the PC camp. Today, well over half the portable media players on this planet bear the Apple logo. Not bad for a company that was fighting for its very survival just a decade ago.

The iPod began as an audio-only device. When color screens became cost-effective to produce, Apple introduced photo capability in its 2004 product line. In 2005, they rolled out the fifth-generation iPod, which brought video to the device. The latest iterations include support for video games and limited PDA-style functionality (calendar, contacts, etc.).

iPod/iTunes Encoding Options

Camtasia Studio supports M4V file output, encoding the video stream as H.264 and the audio stream as AAC (MPEG-4 audio). You can encode one of these little gems either as a stand-alone file or as an “accessory file,” to augment your main (full-sized) video. Whether on its own or with a friend, the iPod/iTunes encoding options here are simpler than for any other output type. Other than the ability to add metadata to your file in the form of the Video info dialog, you only have one setting with which to concern yourself: iPod bandwidth. This is a drop-down list for you to choose low, medium, or high quality for your file. Because MPEG-4 is a lossy codec, choosing low may introduce visual artifacts that are absent from the higher-quality versions, but you’ll end up with the smallest possible file size. The audio doesn’t change; its settings always remain AAC 44.1 kHz, 16-bit stereo. Truthfully, there’s not really much of a quality differential on the video side, either; the low setting still looks great.

The video size is automatically set to 320 x 240, which is the dimension of the iPod screen. For the reality of your video creation, this is going to mean one of two things:

  • Camtasia Studio is going to scale your video way down to fit these dimensions. That’s bad news for screen video; graphics will be fuzzy and virtually all text will be pretty much illegible. It’s not a bad way to go for PowerPoint presentations, however, especially if you remember to keep all the text on your slides nice and large. If producing the iPod video as an adjunct to a larger video, this micro-scaled version is what you’re going to end up with. On the upside, this method requires the least effort.

  • Or you could do things the harder way, which means using the zoom and pan tools to follow the action all over the screen, sticking to your moving mouse cursor like white on rice. Of course, 320 x 240 is a rather small space to work with, and if the action moves around a lot, you could end up making your audience seasick. In fact, these small dimensions probably won’t even capture the entire window of most alert dialogs, let alone their corresponding application windows. The upside of this technique is all the screen video detail is there in its full-sized glory, and looks perfect.

As you can see, which technique you use depends heavily on the content. Also, please bear in mind that if you want to produce content that’s compatible with iTunes (and not necessarily the video iPod), then a QuickTime MOV file is always an available option. That way, you can produce your video at full size. You only really need the iPod/iTunes production option when you want your content to be portable. Speaking of which, if you want to reach a much broader audience-on-the-go, then it may be time to consider producing an audio-only file, which we’ll be talking about next.

MP3 Audio

Starting around 1995 (perhaps not coincidentally the same year the World Wide Web began to take off in popularity), MP3 files began circulating the ether in great numbers. The format’s appeal stemmed from its inherent ability to tightly compress large amounts of sound information into small files, yet retain fidelity by discarding only those portions that are less audible to the human ear. While the technology has since improved, with formats such as Ogg Vorbis and AAC offering higher quality sound at the same or lower bandwidth, MP3 remains the most popular digital audio standard in existence.

This new method of accessing music by download represented a substantial change in how music and other audio was distributed, and gave rise to the upheaval that accompanies any major paradigm shift (record stores closing, record companies up in arms, etc.). While initially the domain of illegal file swapping, digital downloads gained mainstream acceptance when the record companies finally got with the times and green-lighted various online music distributors, beginning with iTunes.

And what started as a music revolution gradually shifted to other audio presentations - lectures, panel discussions, and call-in radio shows could all be recorded to MP3 files for dissemination online. Thanks to the growing popularity of Real Simple Syndication (RSS), anyone with a mic, a computer, and a net connection could become a broadcaster, whose periodic musings would reach the ears of anyone who bothered to subscribe. Podcasting was born.

While iPod video represents the ideal in enjoying portable Camtasia Studio content, the reality is that the video iPod represents but a tiny fraction of portable media devices, most of which are audio-only. As a content creator, it stands to reason that you should try to reach these individuals. Of course, it’s ideally suited to certain kinds of content only. For example, software tutorials really need that video stream in order to make sense. But for other videos, such as university lectures and marketing demonstrations, the audio may be able to stand on its own. If you know you want to create an MP3 audio file from your video, try to be cognizant of that fact beforehand, when you’re writing your narration. Always ask yourself, “Can this be understood without the video portion to back it up?” This is actually a good exercise, anyway, as it will allow those with visual impairments to get the most out of your video material.

MP3 Audio Encoding Options

MP3, like the iPod/iTunes encoding, can be created either as a supplement to a video presentation or as a stand-alone main attraction. Either way, you’ll be able to adjust the meta-information (which is particularly important for podcasting) as well as choose the level of encoding by setting the Bit rate. Since MP3 is a lossy standard, you have a wide range of choices in attaining a target file size. Just choose an appropriate bit rate from the drop-down list. The exact setting will depend on the length of the material as well as where your disposition falls in the larger files vs. crappy quality debate. My recommendation (if going for quality over small size) is 44.1 kHz, mono (especially if there’s no music), and 96 kBits/second. That’s only 720 K (less than a megabyte) per minute of high-quality sound. This is obviously better suited to a five-minute demo than a 45-minute lecture. But with a little experimentation (don’t forget to make use of that Preview command!), you’ll find acceptable quality at a file size you can live with.

RealMedia Streaming Video (RM)

Originally starting out as Progressive Networks in 1993 (and debuting its RealAudio tool in 1995), RealNetworks has been hailed as a leading force in the development of streaming technology as well as reviled for its shady marketing practices. Love ’em or hate ’em, the RealVideo component of their constantly updated media player suite has been a mainstay of video streaming since 1997.

RealVideo is typically joined to a RealAudio component, and packaged as a single RealMedia (.rm) file. RealMedia is a streaming technology, which means that it can be accessed in one of two ways:

  • Stream. If you have access to a streaming server (in the case of RM files, a technology called Helix Server), you can set up your content for true streaming. You can think of streaming as something one “tunes into” (such as a TV or radio broadcast) as opposed to something one owns and plays back at their leisure (such as a CD or DVD). This makes streaming ideal for live content. It’s also handy for organizations that are protective of their content and the way it’s distributed. Because a file that plays from a streaming server can’t be downloaded, you can decide what content is available to your audience and when.

    RealNetworks has employed a protocol called RTSP (short for Real Time Streaming Protocol) to aid in the playback control of video and audio content. This protocol allows the client (your audience) to issue commands to the streaming server (the place where your .rm files are stored), enabling VCR-like command functions (play, pause, etc.) as well as the ability to perform time-based access of the content (e.g., jumping right to Chapter 3 of an audio book).

  • Download. RealMedia content can also be run from a standard web server, which is called progressive download. This method downloads the video content into the user’s cache, and the video can start playback while the download is still in progress. While this carries with it a few minor drawbacks (no parallel clip synchronization, no live broadcasting), it does sport the main advantage of true streaming, which is (nearly) instant access to video content. As soon as just enough of the video downloads to get you started, it will play, and then download the rest as you go. Because of the expense and technical headaches of setting up a streaming server, this is the option most of you will probably go for.

RealMedia Encoding Options

So, let’s now talk about how we encode RealMedia content within Camtasia Studio. After choosing RM - RealMedia Streaming media as the desired output method in the Production Wizard, you’ll come to the RealMedia Encoding Options screen:

image from book

The first decision you have to make is whether you want your video produced as a SureStream or just a single-rate file. You may only choose the former if you’ll be uploading the file(s) to a RealServer G2 compatible streaming server (such as Helix Server). SureStream technology allows you to produce a single file that can be served at many different connection speeds. You see, when producing your content, you’ll choose a target audience. With this audience in mind, Camtasia Studio produces a media file at a given bitrate (number of kilobits per second), which is the rate that the data flows from server to client. The higher the bitrate, the better the video’s quality, although people on slower connections won’t be able to view your high-bitrate content. The video’s bitrate simply exceeds their connection speed, and as a result, they can’t view it.

This is where SureStream comes in. With it, you can select multiple target audiences, effectively producing several of the same video sequences (at different bitrates) and then packaging them into one file. When viewed online by the client, the server automatically selects the highest playback bitrate that the client can handle. Now, this technique can produce some very large files (depending on how many target audiences you select), but you will then be able to include users who wouldn’t have otherwise had the connection capacity to see your video.

With Single-rate video, you can only select one target audience, but you also have the advantage of playing back the content from any web server. A streaming server needn’t be installed. So, if you don’t have access to Helix Server (or if you’re not sure, which probably means you don’t), this is likely to be the best option for you.

Next, you’ll need to choose an Audio format. RealAudio actually makes use of several audio codecs. The codec and its attributes will be auto-selected for you based on the type of audio content you have. Just choose an option from the drop-down list. Note that you can also choose No Audio if there’s nothing in any of your audio tracks.

Now that the audio is taken care of, it’s time to choose the Video quality. RealMedia only uses a single video codec to encode its video stream. This codec used to be based on H.263, but RealNetworks has since moved to a proprietary encoder. Just as with the Audio format, you’ve got a list of descriptive options in the corresponding drop-down list. Just choose the option that best represents your content, and you’re good to go.

Before moving on, though, there are a couple of check boxes that have a dramatic effect on how your video is encoded. The 2-pass encoding option analyzes and encodes your data in two separate steps (as opposed to one). This both increases the quality and can also reduce the file size, but splitting the encoding into two steps comes at the cost of increased production time. It’s a recommended option unless you’re really running up against a deadline (or you’re just a generally impatient human being).

Finally, you have the option to encode your video with Variable bit rate (VBR) encoding. This means that all the little bits in your video will be parceled out intelligently, with more bits being dedicated to the complex portions of the video, and fewer bits going to the simpler sections where there’s not a lot of motion or change. While the default option, Constant bitrate (CBR) encoding, is generally better suited for streaming, VBR can produce better quality. Just keep in mind that VBR-encoded files may take longer to buffer before they can start playing, which means a disconcerting delay for the user. And for those who are broadcasting their content from a streaming server, a sudden spike in bitrate due to fast motion or scene changes could end up exceeding the user’s connection speed, thus resulting in an interruption in playback. You might want to forego this option if you’re streaming a video that has a lot of high-motion elements.

Camtasia Studio always remembers your most recently used settings. However, should you ever decide to return to the recommended “factory defaults,” just click the Default button.

As far as playback of your content is concerned, you can produce a lone .rm file and then link to it, so that the RealPlayer media player will open upon accessing it. Or you can embed the content into an HTML page (selectable from the wizard’s Video Options screen), although doing so creates a lot of files. You’ll have the .rm file itself as well as the HTML file, a web style sheet (.css), a JavaScript file (.js), and a number of image files that help to comprise the playback environment on the web page. Make sure you upload everything to ensure that the video displays correctly.

Camtasia for RealPlayer (CAMV)

Several years ago, TechSmith partnered with RealNetworks to deliver a lossless screen video solution to the RealMedia platform. Out of that partnership came the Camtasia for RealPlayer (CAMV) file format. These files are designed to play back pretty much exclusively in the RealPlayer media player. For the advantages and drawbacks of this media player, please view the previous section on the RealMedia (.rm) streaming format.

Like the RealMedia format, CAMV files can be either streamed or progressively downloaded. Streaming a file means that it’s broadcast, like a television or radio transmission. No files are left on the user’s machine after viewing. This is of great benefit to those who want to better control the distribution of the content, since videos can’t just be downloaded and otherwise disseminated to other people who have no business viewing them. You’ll need a streaming server, such as Helix Server, in order to deliver true streaming. With progressive download, you only require a garden-variety web server. And downloaded files still enjoy the “streaming” advantage of instant gratification, as the video will begin to play very quickly, usually just a few seconds after the user clicks the “watch video” link.

That said, CAMV files are typically better suited to local and intranet delivery than distribution on the web. You see, unlike the RealMedia format, CAMV files are completely lossless, meaning that there’s no loss in video quality whatsoever. In fact, the CAMV file format is really nothing more than an AVI encoded with the TechSmith Screen Capture Codec (TSCC) that subsequently had its extension renamed to “.camv.” Lossless encoding works best for content with stable backgrounds, not much motion, and no photographic elements or color gradients. Even if you adhere to those guidelines, AVI files are just not as suitable for the web as some of the other file formats like SWF, FLV, or WMV. The one advantage a web-bound CAMV file can offer over a pure AVI is that the CAMV decoder resides on Real’s servers, and should auto-download for your users the first time they try to access your content, thus reducing or eliminating any distribution problems. Even so, I’d be hard-pressed to recommend CAMV for Internet distribution.

Camtasia RealPlayer Plugin Encoding Options

If you choose CAMV - Camtasia for RealPlayer streaming media as your output method, you’ll next come to the Camtasia RealPlayer Plugin Encoding Options screen:

image from book

This will allow you to do things like choose a target audience as well as set video and audio options. Let’s begin with the Target audience section. Provided you’ve done your homework and know a little something about who’s actually accessing your content, then you probably have a reasonably good idea as to their average connection speed. Go ahead and choose a target audience from the options that are listed in the dialog (displayed in order from lowest to highest bitrate).

The bitrate is the number of bits per second that travel from the streaming server to the client (audience). Every target audience has a corresponding target bitrate. For example, if you ignored my advice about not putting CAMV files on the web, and want to optimize the content for viewing on a 56 K modem, then the content will typically be streamed at 34 Kbps (kilobits per second). You can also create higher bandwidth versions for those with speedier connections, and for local playback, you can probably get away with choosing the highest bandwidth settings. TechSmith has specified certain bitrate defaults for each target audience, but these can be adjusted by clicking the Target Bitrate Settings… button.

image from book

Simply select an audience from the Target Audience drop-down list, and its current Target Bitrate will appear. Keep in mind that this is the total bitrate for both your video and audio. You can adjust this field as desired, but I generally find it best to stick with the default values, which are all plainly visible just below the field. Clicking the Restore Defaults button sets all target audiences back to their default values. Click OK when finished.

Also, bear in mind that the bitrate for your audio can be adjusted separately. For example, if you’re willing to let the audio quality take a hit in order to secure a better picture at a particular bitrate, you can do so. Just click the Audio Target Settings… button. The dialog that appears is remarkably detailed:

image from book

For each target audience, you’ve got different compression settings for four different kinds of audio (Voice Only, Voice with Background Music, Music, and Stereo Music). For each one, select a bitrate setting from the drop-down list. To help you make a more educated choice, let me clarify a couple of the terms you’ll encounter:

  • RA8. This uses the RealAudio8 (ATRAC3) audio codec. It is a stereo-only codec, which you probably don’t need.

  • High-response. Specializes in capturing high-frequency audio data (such as a flute or a high-pitched female voice).

Don’t forget that any bitrate you set gets subtracted from the total available bandwidth set in your Target Bitrate Settings dialog, so double-check to make sure you’ve got enough room left over for the video stream. And just as with the Target Bitrate Settings, you have a Restore Defaults button that takes everything back to the factory- installed settings.

Meanwhile, back on your Camtasia RealPlayer Plugin Encoding Options screen, you have a few more options to set before you can move on. In the section labeled Video options, you can adjust the following:

  • Colors. This specifies the number of colors in the video’s available palette. 16-bit (65,536 colors) is the default, meaning that little if any color information will be lost from your original video clips. You can also take the color depth down to 12-bit (4,096 colors) or 9-bit (512 colors).

  • Frame rate. The number of frames per second at which the video plays back. This can be set to Automatic (maintaining the highest frame rate among the video clips in your project), or you can choose a different rate from the drop-down list.

  • Keyframe rate. Specifies how often the encoder inserts a key frame into the video. For a full discussion of frame rate and key frames, see Chapter 7, “Recorder Tools Options.”

For the audio side of things, simply choose an audio type from one of the four Audio format listings (or select No Audio if your video doesn’t contain any). The compression options are taken from whatever is specified in the Target Audience Settings dialog’s Audio tab for that particular target audience and audio format.

Finally, you’ll need to specify a Preroll length, which is the number of seconds that RealPlayer will buffer your video before it begins to play. If you want to ratchet up the target bitrate a little to reduce the number of dropped frames, you can add to the preroll to help compensate. Just keep in mind that the higher your preroll, the more you’re testing the patience of your audience.

At this point, you’re probably thinking, “Wait a second. If I can produce a video for a 28 K modem target audience, how can that video possibly be lossless? There’s gotta be a catch.” Well, actually, there is. The Camtasia RealPlayer Plugin reduces the bandwidth by dropping frames, meaning that you won’t be seeing the fluid playback at lower bitrates that you would normally experience. Provided you check Show production results on the wizard’s Produce Video screen, you’ll be shown exactly how many frames were dropped. In extreme cases (like our 28 K modem example), the final output will probably end up looking more like a slide show of image stills rather than an actual motion picture, which is part of the reason CAMV files are ill-suited for the web.

Of course, if you absolutely must create CAMV content for a low- bandwidth audience, there are a number of things you can do. The biggest one is to be really careful not to include any high-motion, high-color video content in your project. Recording at smaller video dimensions helps a lot as well. Some additional techniques include:

  • Bumping up the target bitrate. Be careful about this one if you’re broadcasting the content from a streaming server. If you increase the target bitrate beyond your audience’s download capacity, you’ll be in trouble. As I mentioned, you can help offset this by increasing the preroll.

  • Decreasing your audio bitrate, thus lending more of the overall bits to your video stream. Obviously, your audio quality will suffer as a result.

  • Decreasing the frame rate.

  • Decreasing the number of colors.

Producing to this format creates a number of files. You’ll have a CAMV file for the video stream, an RM (RealMedia) file for the audio stream, and a SMIL (pronounced “smile”) file for synchronizing the two streams. This is the file that users will need to double-click (as opposed to CAMV or RM) to play back your video locally. And of course, you’ll get an HTML file if you opted to embed your video in a web page.

Animated GIF File (GIF)

The GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) file format was introduced in 1987 by CompuServe Corporation. Due to its excellent lossless compression, GIF quickly became a mainstay of the Internet, and has still not yet been replaced by PNG (Portable Network Graphics) as the most popular lossless image format on the web. The only caveat with GIF is that it’s limited to a palette of 256 colors.

Unlike most image formats, GIF also supports frame animation. Most of the advertising banners and other animated windows you see on the web these days are either SWF or animated GIF. As versatile as it is, GIF does have a few limitations:

  • Because it must be completely downloaded before playback can begin, GIF animations are best for brief segments of less than one minute in length.

  • You cannot include an audio stream.

  • You only have 256 colors to work with.

If used appropriately, animated GIFs made with Camtasia Studio are wonderful. I’ve used Camtasia Studio to create web banners as well as brief animated segments for my PowerPoint presentations. Since embedded AVIs tend to have horrible scaling issues in PowerPoint, using animated GIFs instead can help overcome this limitation.

Animated GIF File Encoding Options

So, let’s get busy with the Animated GIF Encoding Options screen. Since we don’t have a lot of audio and compression options to contend with, this one is comparatively simple:

image from book

All the details of your current setup are plainly listed at the bottom of the dialog. The options available for you to adjust are:

  • Colors. This is the number of colors to be used in the palette, from 2-bit (4 colors) to 8-bit (256 colors). Automatic will use the color depth that most closely corresponds to your clip’s number of colors, which is pretty much always 256 colors.

  • Frame rate. Here you can adjust the number of frames per second. Again, Automatic will try to approximate the clip’s current frame rate, but when producing to animated GIF, it’s generally best to reduce the frame rate somewhat.

  • Loop indefinitely vs. Play x time(s). This specifies the number of times to play through the animation.

  • Optimized palette. This option intelligently compiles the palette of the image based on the colors in your video project. This produces a superior-quality image.

  • Fixed Palette. This uses the same color palette each time rather than optimizing the palette from the content. This is typically only useful if targeting users who are still using 256-color desktops (which is practically nobody at this point).

  • Include Windows colors keeps the “standard” 20 Windows colors as part of the palette, regardless of whether you’ve chosen an optimized or fixed palette. As these colors help to comprise a lot of screen objects (such as windows), I recommend keeping this option checked.

  • Dithered color reduction. This option simulates a larger color palette by combining two or more colors to produce the effect of a new color. For screen recording, this is useful if capturing color gradients (one color smoothly transitioning into another) so that your content doesn’t show a disconcerting banding effect.

    Caution 

    If embedding an animated GIF into PowerPoint 2003 or 2007, be sure to set the Play x time(s) field to the number of times you wish the GIF to play plus one. For example, if you set this field to “2,” then PowerPoint will play it through only once. Don’t ask me why. Earlier versions of PowerPoint don’t appear to have this problem.

[*]The term “Flash” has become homogenized to potentially mean the authoring system, the media player, the project file, or the produced content files. To eliminate confusion, I’ll do my best to be specific rather than referring to everything simply as “Flash.”

[*]Note that, depending on the web browser and the user’s current version of Flash Player, this upgrade will generally be downloaded and installed automatically upon the first attempt to access your content, with little or no interaction required on the part of the user.

[*]When assigning a bit rate, keep in mind that this represents the total maximum bit rate for the file, including audio.

[*]Even if you captured to the CAMREC format, the actual screen video file is still encoded as an AVI inside the CAMREC container file.

[*]720 x 480 is the digital standard resolution for DVDs in North America and Japan, which use the NTSC standard. If producing a DVD for a European audience, you should instead choose 720 x 576 to adhere to the PAL digital standard resolution.




Camtasia Studio 4. The Definitive Guide
Camtasia Studio 4: The Definitive Guide (Wordware Applications Library)
ISBN: 1598220373
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2007
Pages: 146
Authors: Daniel Park

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