Chapter 14: Web-based Videos with Camtasia Theater | Camtasia Studio 4: The Definitive Guide (Wordware Applications Library)

Download CD Content

Overview

While still very often used when the highest quality is called for, CD-ROM based videos are increasingly giving way to web-delivered content. In recent years, increases in bandwidth, coupled with advances in compression technology, have given rise to an exponential increase in video content available online. As we discussed in Chapter 12, “The Production Process,” there are several file formats supported by Camtasia Studio that work for web output, but the one most recommended for screen video (at least if your videos don’t have a camera video component) is Macromedia Flash (SWF). Theater was designed specifically for SWF files.

Caution

Unfortunately, Theater has been somewhat neglected compared with the Camtasia Studio application, and it is now in dire need of a makeover. People who wish to use Theater should be aware of the following:

It does not currently support the inclusion of Flash video (FLV) files.
It does not support the addition of quiz or survey content in your SWF files.
As mentioned in Chapter 12, the playback controller of a SWF file produced with Camtasia Studio is no longer compatible with Theater. All your SWF files should be produced using the Legacy template if you plan on using Theater. Otherwise, any Flash hot spots that are part of your project will be broken.

TechSmith is aware of this gap in functionality, so don’t be surprised if these deficiencies are addressed soon.

Part of the appeal of SWF as an output format for your videos is interactivity. Camtasia Theater is an application that uses the SWF file format to create an interactive menu that appears next to the video screen in your browser window, letting you string a series of videos together into one cohesive presentation. While not supporting the wide range of presentation options offered in Camtasia MenuMaker, Theater allows you to assemble your videos under one navigational menu and, if desired, can even proceed from one video to the next with no action required on the part of the user. Its ever-present menu list gives your web audience an easy way to jump from video to video. This menu gives your viewers total control over which segments they want to watch, and is therefore ideal for the web, where bandwidth is at a premium. So, without further ado, let’s open up Camtasia Theater and explore its many capabilities.

To open Camtasia Theater, please do one of the following:

Choose Start > All Programs > Camtasia Studio 4 > Camtasia Theater. or
From within Camtasia Studio, Camtasia Recorder, or Camtasia MenuMaker, choose Camtasia Theater from the Tools menu.

or
From within Camtasia Studio or Camtasia MenuMaker, click the Launch other tools toolbar button and choose Camtasia Theater.

or
From within Camtasia Studio, choose Create web menu… from the Produce section of the Task List.

You are started off with a new Theater document, a blank canvas waiting to be filled with your SWF files. The menu bar consists of only two menus: File and Help. The Help menu is obviously for finding answers if you run into problems, as well as getting technical support, checking for upgrades, etc. The File menu allows for the management of your Camtasia Theater projects. It contains the following options:

New (Ctrl-N), for starting over with a brand-new Theater project.
Open… (Ctrl-O), for opening a project you already saved.
Save/Save as… (Ctrl-S), which saves your current work as a Camtasia Theater project (.camthtr). Remember to save early and often. Save as… allows you to select a file name and location, and it is the only save option available for a new project. Note that these options merely save the work you’ve done in Camtasia Theater so that it can be edited at a later date. It does not compile your project for presentation. For this, we need…
Export Flash Menu (Ctrl-E). Once you’ve added all desired SWF files and set any additional options, this button compiles your project with all SWF videos and menu navigation in one folder, ready for posting to your web site.

But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. First, we need to actually put some content here if we want Camtasia Theater to create a menu out of it. Fortunately, this isn’t tough. As you can see in the main Theater interface, we have two tabs: Menu and Controls. The former lets us add our files and determine what the menu looks like, and the latter takes care of the Control Bar details such as the appearance of the controller and the selection of a preload movie (if desired). Let’s examine what each of these tabs has to offer.