- Author: Steve Heindl
For those of you who have never taken advantage of ANR’s free subscription to Lynda.com, I can’t recommend it enough. Lynda.com doesn’t just tell you how to do it, it shows you. What’s better than that?
Answer: Creating your own Lynda.com-like video tutorials!
There are several FREE tools out there that allow you to create your own video demonstrations. Post the videos to your own website and pesto! You're done.
1. Jing
This is what I use for basic screenshots and quick small videos. It limits videos to 5 minutes in length and has minimal editing capabilities. I like it because it always sits on my desktop as a little yellow icon right at the top of my screen. No hunting through my desktop to find it. It’s very easy to use.
- Tom: “Hey Steve, I know I asked you this a zillion times, but how do add a photo to my Sitebuilder page again?”
- Steve: “Tom, watch this video I made with Jing.
Click to watch Video: How to add an image to Sitebuilder. Recorded with Jing (no audio)
2. Camtasia Relay
Not every project can get away with the flash file that is produced by Jing. Camtasia Relay supports a wide variety of video formats allowing any lecture or presentation to be viewed by your audience on multiple playback devices. In other words, it will play on desktops and portable media devices like the iPhone and iPad.
- Camtasia Relay is a resource that ANR has purchased for use by all ANR employees.
- Once installed, it sits on your desktop and recording your screen is as simple pushing a button.
- Unlike Jing, you also have the added benefit of editing the beginning and ending of your video screen capture but not the content in-between.
- Unlike Jing, you are not limited to a 5 minute maximum video.
You can learn more about Camtasia Relay and how to download it on the Camtasia Relay FAQ Page.
3. Camtasia Studio
If you’ve never done a screen recording video, it can take some practice. Sometimes, I have to record 3 or 4 versions for a short 15 second clip. The phone rings, an e-mail pop ups, and if you are using audio, it’s easy to trip over your words.
For those who need a more polished recording, ANR Instructional System Development team can take a choppy Camtasia Relay recording and edit it to look more professional using Camtasia Studio. Other features include:
- Professional sounding audio
- Zoom-in and out to highlight important content
- Add additional instructional text
- Add an assessment quiz or survey
While this service is only available on a recharge basis, it’s well worth it if you’re recording is going to be seen by a lot of people or a few very important people.
Example: A few months ago, the Budget Department wanted to do some training on how to develop a recharge rate. One element included filling out a somewhat lengthy form. Instead of just telling the learner what to do, we decided it would be useful to show them. The subject matter experts recorded themselves filling in the form and I used Camtasia Studio to spruce it up.
The result was their own video library of how to complete the Rate Calculation Worsksheet.
Contact Us
If you need help creating your own video training library using any of these resources, please contact me.
Steve Heindl
530-754-4650-work
415-971-9284-cell