video tutorial

 

 

 

 

 

Step 1 -- Create the Camtasia project file

1. Open Camtasia Studio
2. Click File -- Save As -- (an obvious name for the tutorial)
1. Save in the desired location 

Step 2 -- Record the PowerPoint segments

1. Open the PowerPoint file that contains the slides that are shown in the chart script.
2. Make sure that each point is animated (use the "fade" effect).
3. Open the audio MP3 file using MS Windows Media Player -- queue up the track then minimize the player so that the controls are only visible in the tray at the bottom of the computer screen.
4. Get the slide show ready: on the "Add-Ons" tab in PowerPoint, there should be a button to record. When Camtasia is loaded on a computer, it inserts a plug-in into PowerPoint that allows users to record PPT files directly from that program.
1. Click "Record."  This will begin the slide show.
2. Get the slide-show ready by advancing to the beginning of the portion that needs to be recorded.
3. As quickly as possible, press "play" on the Media Player and "Record" on the PowerPoint show.
4. As the audio track plays, advance the slide show to match the narrator's voice.
5. Press the escape key to finish. When the dialog box pops up confirming asking if you wish to finish recording, press yes. 
6. Save the camrec file into the proper folder in the Camtasia Working File folder for that tutorial.

Step 3 -- Record the screen-capture segments

1. Arrange the script in front of the computer so that it will be easy to consult and see what's coming next.
2. From Camtasia, click on "Record the Screen."
3. Open the web browser (i.e. Internet Explorer or Firefox) and adjust the Camtasia recording area to exclude the bottom tray (where the Start menu is).
4. Set up the web browser to display the starting point of screencast segment.
5. Open the audio file in Windows Media Player, then queue up the track and pause it at the beginning of the segment that will be recorded.
6. When ready, press play on Windows Media Player and Record in Camtasia.
1. Follow the narrator and the stage direction on the script, making sure to sync the action on the screen with the narrator's voice.
2. When finished recording the segment, press F10 to stop recording

   Step 4 -- Put the components together

3. Using the "Import media" link from the "Add" menu under the "Task List" on the left side of the Camtasia interface, import the audio track and all of the .camrec files that will be used in the tutorial. The files will be stored in the Clip Bin.
4. Unlink Video 1 and Audio 1 tracks by clicking the white bracket next to the word Video (when the mouse is over it, it will say 'click to unlink audio 1 and video 1.')
5. Insert the audio track into the timeline at the bottom of the screen by dragging it from the Clip Bin into the Audio 1 track of the timeline.
1. If necessary, take this opportunity to trim the beginning and/or end of the audio track. This is necessary if there is a long silence at the end of the recording or a "3-2-1" countdown at the beginning.
2. To trim the track, mouse over the end that should be cut, click to grab it, and drag it to the desired length.
6. Working from beginning to end (left to right), insert the video clips in the Video 1 track by dragging them from the Clip Bin and dropping them in the track.
1. If the beginning and/or end of the video track needs to be edited, the procedure is the same as for the audio tracks: grab the end with the mouse, then drag it to the desired length.
2. There can be no gaps in video on the timeline; each video segment will line up immediately after the one before it.

                                                         i.      To extend a frame to allow the narration to continue, right-click on the video segment that should be extended and select "extend frame."  A dialog box with a prompt will appear to specify how long the extension should last.

3. Use the In-Progress tutorial in the upper right hand corner of the Camtasia interface to review the work. Be on the lookout for errant mouse pointers, typos, and any other mistakes that can't be edited out. It's much easier to go back and fix these at this stage; waiting to correct errors means spending time later redoing edits, captions, callouts, etc.

Once all of the video clips are inserted, play the tutorial from the beginning to make sure every part is in sync with the audio track. Also try to catch errors in the other aspects of the tutorial before moving on -- is the script accurate?  Are there any audio 

5. Insert callouts, zooming, and other special effects

1. Use the special effects in Camtasia to draw attention to certain parts of the screen, reinforce important passages of narration, and to add parenthetical statements that weren't included in the initial audio recording.
2. Insert callouts once the audio and video tracks are edited and synced.
3. To insert an effect, position the Camtasia timeline cursor on the segment of the tutorial where the effect is to begin.
4. Under "Edit," choose the desired effect.
5. Link to tutorials describing how to insert each effect.

6. Review whole tutorial, edit as necessary

7. View the entire tutorial from start to finish. This is the last chance to make changes before it becomes a significant challenge to do so.
8. Look out for these common problems:
1. Inaccuracy in the script.
2. Mouse pointer showing in a PowerPoint slide.
3. Typos in bullet points.
9. Any major errors in content will be the responsibility of the script-writer to correct.
1. Produce a draft of the tutorial (see below for the procedure).
2. Place it on the network drive.
3. Alert the scriptwriter that the draft is ready to view.
10. Work out any edits with the scriptwriter until they are happy with the product.

11. -- Produce the tutorial

12. Review the tutorial and make sure that the audio, video, and captions are in sync and all of the special effects are in place.
13. If everything is ready, click "Produce video as..." in the Edit menu.