Since it seems that most people are using iShowU and other screen-recorder apps to create tutorial screencasts, I thought I'd share a few tips and tools that I've found helpful. I apologize if this isn't the appropriate forum for this, but hopefully others might find something useful.
Having a clean desktop.
Granted, this may not be all that important depending on the target audience and intent of your screencast. However, for reasons of presentation and privacy (yours) you may want a quick way to create an uncluttered desktop for your recording. Here are several ideas:
- Create a new user specifically for the purpose of recording your screencast. This way you can arrange/remove any elements you want then use Fast User Switching to flip to the new desktop for your recording. The idea is to keep a separate, pristine environment specifically for your recordings.
- If you're planning to record the entire desktop, consider setting the screen resolution (System Preferences->Display) to something lower than usual which results in smaller movies. The great thing is that if you create a new user as described above, the Fast User Switching automatically takes care of changing display resolutions for you as you switch between users.
- Another hint about recording the entire desktop -- consider hiding the clock in the menubar (unless you're specifically trying to show how much time a particular procedure takes). The reason? If you decide to do any editing of your movie later, this will avoid discontinuous jumps in the clock time as a result of your edits.
- A few free/donation-ware utilities to quickly hide/blank your current desktop. They either create a simple backdrop or replace the desktop with a temporary blank area.
http://www.johnhaney.com/backdrop/
Just a simple app -- just launch it. Works with multiple monitors.
http://foggynoggin.com/desktopple
Upon launch it creates a menubar item. Can initiate the effect by menu or hotkey.
http://www.manytricks.com/desktopcurtain/
Temporarily clears the desktop of any icons.
http://willmore.eu/isolator/
Blanks desktop of anything other than the currently active window
Mouse pointer 'enhancement'
A few ways to make it easier for viewers to follow mouse-pointer actions during your screencast.
- Normally, one way to do this is to simply make the mouse pointer larger (System-Preferences->Universal Access->Mouse &Trackpad tab : cursor Size). However, this presently has no effect when recording with iShowU. (probably related to the special method it uses to record extra-smooth pointer movement?)
Here are couple of tools that may help:
http://boinx.com/mousepose/
Dims screen except for a bright circle around the pointer when activate by hotkey.
http://www.2point5fish.com/
Installs as a PrefPane. Creates a halo around the mouse-pointer when active.
- Finally, a quick note about unnecessary mouse-movement during narration. People tend to gesture with their hands when speaking to others. Done properly, this can often do much to enhance a presentation. With a screencast however, no one can see anything but the screen you're controlling and some folks have a tendency to transfer their hand gestures to the mouse, moving the pointer around in odd ways while they're speaking. (I recall a funny account about a certain software author who only noticed during a screencast that he had the unusual habit of moving the mouse around in tiny circles while he was concentrating). So just a reminder to avoid unnecessary pointer movements that could potentially distract and thereby detract from your presentation. (Of course, like everything else here, this is just my opinion)
A few tips on audio
- Assuming you're not going for a recording done with professional equipment/surroundings, the best suggestion I can offer is to get a headset microphone. Not only will this keep the mic at a close and fixed distance from your mouth, but many of these mics are of the noise-cancelling variety that will yield a much cleaner recording. I use a Logitech USB headset that ran about $40.
- Try (within reason) to optimize your recording environment. Try to pick a location with minimal extraneous noise (e.g. away from traffic noises from open windows/doors, A/C noise, etc) Avoid rooms with lots of hard surfaces that could reverberate, such as bare walls, tile floors, etc. In a pinch, you could try to 'deaden' the room by arranging blankets or cushions as impromptu sound baffles.
Also, if you have the option of doing so, consider picking a time of day to do your recording so as to minimize outside noise, such as during the evening. (If recording from a home office/studio, Don McAllister of ScreenCastOnline.com even suggests picking a time of day that minimizes the natural 'creaking' a wooden house goes through as the result of thermal expansion/contraction as the day progresses)
[NOTE1:
http://www.screencastsonline.com features a variety of OSX-based screencasts. Most are via paid subscription. A few are free. In particular, look for the episode that discusses the process Don goes through in creating his screencasts, for excellent tips. I have no formal relationship with this site, etc, etc ,etc.]
- If you're not planning to do any post-production audio editing or cleanup, I'd also suggest the seemingly obvious: Speak in a clear, LOUD voice. I've come across way too many screencasts with extremely quiet narration. Remember: If your audio is too loud, the viewer can always reduce it to a comfortable level during playback. But if your audio is too soft, there isn't a whole lot the viewer can do without resorting to inconvenient trickery. (e.g.: In QT Player, you can boost audio playback volume a *little* by hitting Cmd-J, clicking the 'Audio Settings', then moving the Volume slider all the way to the right (+6db). This setting is only temporary)
- Unless you're recording an informal screencast, try to rehearse or script your narration so as to avoid or at least minimize 'word whiskers' such as 'umm....', 'ahh....', or other odd speech mannerisms. If you get stuck or need a moment to think, just pause silently before moving on.
- Having said all this, it still depends on why and for whom you're creating your screencast. I often create informal 'howto' recordings strictly for my personal use, without any script and by bellowing out directions, hoping my PowerBook's built-in mic will pick it up clearly...
[NOTE2: These are just a few tips that I've used personally -- I'm certain folks with actual experience in recording and audio engineering could offer far more authoritative insight. Try googling for home recording studio techniques for more info]
Visible Keystrokes
Often times while creating tutorial/instructional screencasts, it is useful to show a visual indicator of what keys are being pressed instead of just describing them in the narration.
One option is the standard OSX system 'keycaps' utility (in 10.3/10.4 this is no longer a separate utility. See
http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php? ... 9080237544 for info) to show indicate what keys are being pressed. Just open the floating Keyboard Viewer window and position it in a convenient corner of your recording area. Now viewers will be able to see exactly what keys you press in your screencast.
There's another neat utility that does something similar to the Keyboard Viewer, but keeps a short history of what you type.
Keycastr
http://stephendeken.net/software/keycastr/ is a freeware app that opens a small floating window on your desktop and shows your keystrokes as you type them. For instance, instead of just describing the keys you press in your screencast, viewers of your movie can actually see 'Cmd-c' (or whatever) in the floating window.
Although the window displays everything you type (typos and all), you may find this method much easier than adding this in post-editing.
[I learned about Keycastr from reading Wincent Colaiuta's posting
http://wincent.com/a/about/wincent/webl ... ting_s.php ]
Creating Windows screencasts.
- Yeah, I know there are Windows-native screen recording apps, but I prefer to work on my Mac even when creating screencasts of other platforms.
- One way is to record a VirtualPC session. This actually works pretty well for small screen sizes, but since VPC is such a processing-heavy app, this isn't always an ideal solution.
- Another method I use a lot is to record a remote VNC (or RDC) session while connecting to another (real) PC. This works great since your Mac just painting a display from incoming network data rather than doing processor emulation. Of course, you'll never get any native PC audio with this method. I like to use UltraVNC as server on the Windows side and Chicken of the VNC as client on the Mac side.
[Updated: Added Desktop Curtain and Isolator links. Added section on Visible Keystroke utilities. Updated Audio Recording tips]
