Video capture software comparison

Camtasia

• Appropriate for recording PowerPoint and video via webcam.

• Easy to edit out mistakes.

• Advanced editing capabilities, including annotations and multiple tracks.

• Optimized for recording and editing PowerPoint presentations.

• Simultaneously record video and screen at the same time.

• Good for pre-recorded presentations.

• Requires some effort to learn.

• Unsuitable for live presentations.

• Manual export and upload of video files to MyCourses.

Camtasia is good for pre-recording PowerPoint presentations. Tutorials are available from Camtasia. The first beginner tutorial gets you started in about 5 minutes. If you have never used Camtasia before, expect to spend about an hour familiarizing yourself with it. 

Zoom

• Zoom is software that instructors are familiar with using for live presentation that can also be used to record the screen.

• Zoom files are uploaded to the Zoom cloud for security and then the instructor links the files to myCourses.

• Can record video and screen at same time.

• No editing required.

• No editing available after you finish the recording, if you make a mistake or want to trim the beginning or ending you will need editing software like Camtasia.

If you are doing a live lecture with Zoom, it makes sense to record with Zoom. It’s a simple as pressing record. But the lack of editing options may limit instructors wishing to modify their presentations after recording.

Smartphone or tablet

• The audio and video quality are often superior to a laptop and webcam.

• Can easily record anywhere.

• Need to keep the phone steady.

• Need to export the video from the phone and get it to MyCourses.

• Only limited memory available on phones.

• Cannot record the screen.

If the instructor needs to record a short video outdoors or in the field, a Smartphone is a good choice, but for in-class lectures done with with PowerPoint, it isn’t an option.

QuickTime (Mac)

N/A

• QuickTime was discontinued in 2018 and no longer has patches or updates.

• Is no longer actively supported by Apple.

On Macs, there is a feature in QuickTime that allows you to do a quick screen capture, or an audio, or video recording.  It’s simple to do and uses the same microphone and webcam as Camtasia and Zoom. You will need to save and upload the video afterwards. You can do recordings like this without the internet and then upload them afterwards.