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Guide to Picking a Desktop Recorder

To describe a technical task like how to use a Web application or creating an Outlook Express account, sometimes only words are not enough. With the help of desktop recording or screencasting, it can demonstrate a software product or Web service in a more effective way. Besides, visual desktop recording can be distributed fast and widely as anyone can embed the video to any website.

From expensive and feature-rich software like Captivate to free tool like Camstudio, there are hundreds of applications to do the screen recording. What should be the right desktop recorder that can satisfy your needs? It depends. Users may have different needs and uses. Here are some major factors which can be considered in selection of desktop recorders:

System Requirements:

What desktop application you can take is according the platform you are using. There are desktop recorders for Windows (XP, Vista, or Window 7), Mac OS X (10.4 and 10.5), or Linux which you can choose from. Browser-based desktop recording tools like ScreenToaster can work on almost all the system platforms.

Usability:

Usability is a term used to denote the ease with which people can employ an application in order to achieve a particular goal. A good desktop recorder should be usable, useful, and accessible for users even they are newbies. Most feature-rich desktop recorders tend to be difficult to learn, often giving too many setting options and overwhelming displays in the application interface. More user-friendly elements should be concerned in designing a desktop recorder. A smart application should make our work easier but not harder.

Flexibility:

What kind of options does the tool have for recording and editing? Pause in recording process is required if something unexpected happened or if you need to prepare some necessary items. Additional desktop recording can be added to the current recording, and multiple recordings can be integrated as one in some desktop recorders. Also editing feature is important. It enables users to do further editing after recording, so it is possible to add callouts to explain the demos better.

Sound recording:

Most desktop recorders allow audio to be recorded simultaneously with the screen capture, but only a few of them provide the audio editing and audio rerecording features. User may make some mistakes in the narration recording, so an audio editor can be good for them to edit and modify the recorded audio. And they can preserve the video recording and just record the audio again.

Publishing Format:

Almost all desktop recorders allow users to save their files in multiple compression formats. How the video is compressed greatly affects video quality and size. AVI, WMV, EXE, and SWF are the popular formats in desktop recording.

File Size:

Besides the compress method, the recording frame rate and image quality also impact the File size of the recording. And publishing the recording as Flash movie makes it a smaller file.

According to the areas mentioned above, desktop recorder DemoCreator can be a good desktop recorder for many users who want to make software tutorials and website demo videos. Usability enhancements make it easier to record, edit and publish the desktop recording. With a unique screen recoring system, DemoCreator capture the activity of computer desktop with audio in real time. There is a library of objects such as Flash animation, highlight boxes, and clickable buttons for users to decorate the recording. Users can enhance the demonstration by adding the objects to make the illustration explicit. Another outstanding feature is DemoCreator can publish video tutorials compliant with SCORM or AICC for LMS.

DemoCreator can be a good desktop recorder for you. However, the one which fits your needs is what you want. So try to figure out your needs and get what you want.

Posted at 11:52PM Aug 25, 2009 by Chinier Fu in Screen recording software usage  |  Comments[18]