FreeScreencast.com - A Free Screencasting Publishing Tool

I learned about another screencasting program thanks to Robin Good who pointed out this new free online tool called Freescreencast. It's a combination of a Windows only free software download (currently in Beta10) and a web site that hosts your content.

In his article, "Screencasting Recorder: Upload, Share, Publish, Embed - FreeScreencast.com Is Here" Robin Good describes FreeScreencast as, "a new free web-based service that allows you to record anything taking place on your screen in a simple way. Not only. FreeScreencast takes care of uploading your recorded clip and provides you immediately with an embed code to post the screencast on your site. This is the first easy, and inexpensive screencasting tool that truly empowers online publishers to create and publish high-quality screencasts on their blog sites with the minimum effort."

I haven't tried it yet, but it from what I can tell it's pretty easy to use and according to the FreeScreencast web site you can get started in 3 easy steps.

1. Download the free screencast recording software
2. Create a free account to host your screencasts
3. Publish (You can publish directly to FreeScreencast.com and get embed codes to post your screencast in your website or blog or you can save the .flv file)

This is a demo screencast "Creating screencasts with FreeScreencast.com" embedded below:


The FreeScreencast blog had these useful links on their Blogroll:

• LibCasting
• MakeUseOf.com
• Meredith Farkas on Screencasting
• MyScreencast.com Forums

If you haven't gotten enough of screencasting MakeUseOf.com has a review by Travis Quinnelly of 5 Free Screencasting Apps for Creating Video Tutorials. It includes five of the same apps from Sean P. Aune's Mashable list from the other day (AviScreen, CamStudio, Copernicus, Screencast-o-Matic and Jing.)

Special thanks and acknowledgements to Robin Good for his article "Screencasting Recorder: Upload, Share, Publish, Embed - FreeScreencast.com Is Here" first published on February 26th 2008 for Master New Media.

Mashable - 12 Screencasting Tools For Creating Video Tutorials

Here's another great list of software tools compliments of Sean P. Aune of Mashable who has assembled a dozen options for you to create a screencast. Screencasts are commonly used to demonstrate software features since you can directly record your computer screen activity and publish it as stand alone video. The benefit is that you don't have to use any external hardware and it's done using a software application which gives you a high quality non-scan converted video capture.

Sean intentionally left industry standard screen capture program Camtasia off the list and commented that, "I didn't feel it needed inclusion since I do believe every one knows it." He's right too, because if you're on Windows and have had to produce any screen recording projects then you probably have heard of Camtasia. He added that, "Perhaps we should have called it "Forget Camtasia", but I admit that particular idea didn't cross my mind at the time I wrote it."

So here's the list, some are free and some are commercial products, and you can see his original post for more details along with comments from readers. (Thanks again Sean!)

The following is written by Sean P. Aune for Mashable and originally published on February 21, 2008 as:

12 Screencasting Tools For Creating Video Tutorials

1. AviScreen - As the name would imply, this capture program records the video into AVI files, but can also do BMP photos. It’s Windows only and does not record audio.
2. CamStudio.org - An open source program for capturing your on-screen video and audio as AVI files. Windows only, and absolutely free.
3. Copernicus - A free program for Macs that focuses heavily on making quick and speedy films by recording the video to your RAM for quicker access. Does not include any support for audio.
4. JingProject.com - Beyond recording video, Jing allows you to take a picture of any portion fo your desktop, draw on it, add a message, and immediately upload your media to a free hosting account. You are then given a small URL that you can give to whomever needs to see the image or video. Works with Macs and Windows machines.
5. Screencast-O-Matic.com - A Java-based screencasting tool that requires no downloads and will allow you to automatically upload to hosting. According to their site it works well with Macs and Windows machines, but does have some issues with Linux.
6. Wink - Screencasting software that focuses on making tutorials with audio and text annotation abilities. Outputs to Flash, PDF, HTML, EXE files and more.
   
7. Adobe Captivate - While Adobe is almost always synonymous with quality, it also always means it’s going to be expensive. Pricing starts at nearly $700.
8. AllCapture - Capture in real time, add audio during recording or after completion. Can output to Flash, EXE, ASF, DVD, SVCD and VCD. Free trial available, Windows only.
9. HyperCam - Windows only system for recording screen activity to AVI files along with system audio. Free trial with $39.95 for full version.
10. iShowU - Offers a wide-range of presets that allows you to record directly into Quicktime and up to 1080P in both NTSC and PAL formats. Also does audio and the file is ready to be published as soon as hit stop. Mac only.
11. ScreenMimic - Software for the Mac that offers transitions, audio dubbing, can output to HTML, Quicktime and Flash. Free download and $64.95 for the paid version.
12. ScreenRecord - Outputs to Quicktime directly and can record your clicks and all on-screen activities. Offers a free trial and then $19.95 to purchase.