Ask HN: I'd like to make a 30-second screencast. Where do I start? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: I'd like to make a 30-second screencast. Where do I start?

4 pointsKingMax12 comments

So I've a product prototype that I'd like to pitch about in 30-45 seconds, in animation of some form. I'd love to have something along the lines of Common Craft's "Twitter in Plain English (see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddO9idmax0o), but the problem is I've very limited knowledge of Flash or other similar tools.

Where could I get help in working with someone on coming up with a 30-45 second short on the product?

And to all those entrepreneurs who've done this before...did you come up with the videos in-house, or was it outsourced?

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We work with the Common Craft folks quite a bit. Knowing the amount of time they spend doing each video, I would advise doing a screencast rather than the live action cut-out style that they do.

For screencasts, nothing beats Screenflow. All of the videos on our site (http://wistia.com) were produced using Screenflow. It costs $99, but given that your video will be an integral part of you marketing, it is well worth it.

In terms of production, start by coming up with a script. This will possibly take longer than the actual recording and editing, but will make a major difference in terms of the quality of your video. Keep it short and punchy...people won't watch things they aren't interested in.

Jing is decent, and either free or dirt-cheap depending on which version you get.

http://www.jingproject.com/

The main advantage of the paid version ($14.95/year) is that it lets you save to MPEG-4 video as well as Flash SWF (much easier to edit using iMovie, upload to YouTube, etc.). Also the paid version doesn't slap a Jing logo on your video.

Just Windows and OS X, unfortunately -- no Linux version.

It's not as sophisticated as some of the others, but it's definitely usable for basic work. Maybe try the free version to see if it's good enough, then move on to the spendy stuff (Screenflow, Camtasia, etc.) if it's not.

Is it a web-app, where the client is a browser, or a desktop app with a Linux client? If so, and you have a Linux box handy, it's dead simple to record screencasts in Linux... just use XVidCap. http://xvidcap.sourceforge.net/

If it's a desktop app for Win or Mac, I'm not sure what the best option is, but vnc2swf might work for ya. http://www.unixuser.org/~euske/vnc2swf/

Everyone seems to be suggesting screen capture applications, after looking at your reference, it seems http://goanimate.com/biz might be more what you're looking for, with options for DIY and outsourced. Disclaimer: I have not used any service like this just googled for "make your own animation", any video productions I've been part of have been application screencaps with vnc2swf or Camtasia.

You could use Animoto http://animoto.com/ using some screenshots of your app.

I searched for hours with the exact same requirements. I simply wanted to post a screencast of my product on my website.

I am using recordmydesktop/ubuntu and was able to find all the info needed in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHrFY7vli5k

I've heard nothing but praise for ScreenFlow. http://www.telestream.net/screen-flow/overview.htm

http://screenr.com

What OS?

The OS doesn't matter. The screencast is just a clip that I'm looking to upload on YouTube that I can then send to potential clients.

I was going to point you to something that's dead simple to use but ok.

I've tried CamStudio for recording webinars but would like to hear your suggestion for Windows, thanks!

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