CamStudio: a great tool to do screen captures on video

When we need to do a report of all our activities on screen, being it for control or for an explanatory video, a good program that can help us is CamStudio. This complete application allows us to record image as well as sound, and even incorporating explanatory sheets to our works.

Once the program is open, we’ll see that it opens on a little window where we’ll find the menu bar and a series of buttons. To be able to record, we need to press the button with the red circle, the one next to it pauses the recording and the one which is a blue square will end the recording.

However, before starting recording, it would be good if we take a look at the multiple options and possibilities that this program offers. As regard the area of the screen that we want to capture, we can define it from the menu “Region”.

CamStudio allows us to take the “Full Screen”, a “Fixed Region” or an area to be defined at the moment of initiating the capture (“Region”). Moreover, if we select the option on the menu “Options>Enable Autopan”, the defined area will move following the mouse pointer, being able to define the segment speed from “Options>Autopan Speed”.

An interesting option with which CamStudio counts, especially if we’ll use it to perform control activities, is that we can define the time that goes by between frames, being able to separate them up to one minute from one another. This configuration option can be found in “Options>Video Options”.

CamStudio also lets us incorporate audio to our captures. This can be done through a microphone (selecting the option “Options>Record audio from microphone”) or the sound recorded from our speakers (selecting the option “Options>Record audio from speakers”). We can also cancel this function selecting “Options>Do not record audio”.

To create educational or explicative videos, CamStudio counts with a series of very useful tolls. For example, by accessing “Options>Cursor Options”, we’ll be able to define if we want the cursor to be hidden, change it for a different one or even have a geometrical form highlighting it. On the other hand, we’ll be able to generate sheets and insert them during the capture. We access the menu “Tools>Screen Annotations” and there we select the predefined forms and then the required content, saving them clicking on “Next Layout”, what will allow having them available during the creation of the capture, accessing to them from the same menu but from the eyelash “Layout” or with the key shortcuts. This useful program also allows us to insert comments taken with our webcam from “Tools>Video Annotations”.

Finally, an important option that CamStudio brings is being able to define key shortcuts (we can have access to this from “Options>Keyboard Shortcuts”). This is very useful as it will allow us to quickly pause the recording, insert a sheet, and continue without the need to go each time to CamStudio panel.

This program, without a doubt, is an excellent assistant when doing animated screen captures, counting with a lot of options that will save us hours of post-edition and to which we can access very easily and fast.

Related posts:

1. Nero Burning Rom: Burn CDs and DVDs quickly and easily
2. How to record a video DVD with a menu included
3. Another great alternative for recording CDs and DVDs
4. Yamipod: an essential tool for your iPod
5. Total Video Converter, MediaCoder and Quick Media Converter: The best video converters supporting all popular video formats.