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Best results for using Camtasia in Higher Ed
December 20, 2018

Best results for using Camtasia in Higher Ed

Mark Nowowiejski | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Camtasia

We use Camtasia on a regular basis for online course modules as well as in the creation of technical training materials. Its preloaded call out effects, pan and zoom feature, and simple linear editor make it a fairly usable for even more novice faculty to use. Additionally, we've also noted quite a few enhancements and they've worked to make the Mac and PC versions more consistent than they were originally.
  • Easy to use
  • Pre-canned special effects, transitions, and callouts
  • ability to integrate/publish to your LMS with the additional of the RELAY software (recommended)
  • The export process can be slow and it can monopolize your machine's RAM. It is difficult to do other tasks while Camtasia is rendering your final product.
  • Old versions can be temperamental and occasionally corrupt/refuse to open if you don't practice good file management. Keep your files organized in with a master project folder!
  • The built-in Screencast hosting solution isn't very good. We usually end up rendering and hosting elsewhere. (private Vimeo Channel, YouTube or Kaltura)
  • It's allowed us to produce more media at a faster rate
  • The license model isn't great, we'd love to be able to buy it in bulk but there doesn't seem to be much cost savings there if any
  • Faculty generally like it though some are intimidated by the UI at first.
  • Student overall love the end product, especially when callouts are utilized. The screencasts are consistently one of the most highly rated items on our end of course evaluations.
Premiere overall all is a more robust software but it requires a level of expertise most of our everyday user don't have as with Adobe After Effects it really requires formal education/training in videography or multimedia to be able to properly capitalize on. We also use Google Loom with has some similar features but lacks any post-production editing or enhancement features.
It's pretty industry standard software at this point and it integrated well with TechSmith's other software like Snaggit, JING etc. A hardcore multimedia/video person can learn it easily but may find it restrictive and prefer to use a more robust tool such as Adobe Premiere or After Effects. However, it is still a solid capturing tool to start with. Unfortunately, the program's native file type (.cmp?) doesn't really carry over well to anything else. We typically convert to .mp4 or .mov and go from there.