screenflow - best kept secret
June 17, 2019

screenflow - best kept secret

Dr. C. Michael Sturgeon | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with screenflow

I personally use it to assist in my work at Lee University. As I work with students and want to give the "how to" types of instructions that they can follow (i.e. SPSS, Stats with Excel etc) the convenience of providing a video for them to watch saves time for meeting face to face. It solves the problem of students being in another state and/or the problem of face to face meetings being consumed with "how to" instructions. This makes my time spent more efficient and productive. I work with students doing research, so I can share my techniques of finding the materials they seek without meeting in person. Once again, that becomes a time-saver. I first began using it when I started using an iMac as my desktop computer. Now I have two licenses so that I have it on my MacBook Pro in order to do recordings on the spot over the weekend.
  • Allows me to add text easily on top of the video for more thorough explanations that can be read AS viewers listen to the instructional videos.
  • I can highlight my cursor and dim the background. This is useful to #1 - keep the viewer from missing where you are "clicking" when you give instructions and #2 - to keep the rest of the screen viewed from being a distraction.
  • It exports the video fast and at high quality. This is a strength because viewers of today want to see crisp clear videos - otherwise they often leave the video. . The second reason is that I do not have time to allow my computer to be busy exporting for two hours (as other products have done) - Screenflow exports a 40minutes video in approximately 12 minutes at 1080o resolution.
  • It is user-friendly ... minimalist style interface. There are not hundreds of options (I could go to another application if I wanted that). I have five major options - each with about 5 - 7 sub-options. On average, I need two of the primary buttons and make the adjustments in the sub-option. This ia great because I then can avoid having to look up a YouTube video to figure out how to accomplish X. I would dare say it is the most intuitive interfaces I have ever seen on an application of this type.
  • Pricing is reasonable and updates are even more reasonable. I have only had to pay "extra" when the upgrade was a major one. Users get many upgrades at no cost and those that cost are at an upgrade price which is very inexpensive. This is good for the simple reason that funds are tight. We all face that issue once and again. For my department - it is a tight budget on a consistent basis. It isn't terribly difficult to get the funds for this because the price is so reasonable.
  • I would like to see hint names pop-up when I roll over an icon for a particular function. This is one thing I felt that I had to learn on my own.
  • Some of the uses of functions were not completely obvious - though I find the application as a whole quite intuitive, there are some "unknowns" - especially if I skip a few months using it (which is seldom) but it has happened. The suggestion is to make it better understood.
  • When I want to add other media - I then discover that not all media types are accepted. If a list of media extensions (i.e. mov, avi, mk4 -- mp3, flac, etc) were listed it would help avoid frustrations when preparations are made to "mix the various types.
  • Transitions at minimal. When I right-click on the video track and just want to select fade-in fade-out option, they do not always work - the reason isn't given therefore I have to go without. If the reason is given, I can possibly "fix" the issue at hand.
  • As an education, the best way to answer this is that my students improve after viewing my videos. Their success IS my business.
  • It is, as stated before, a time saver. My ROI is more time than I had prior to using it.
  • I save funds by not having to purchase applications that are priced extremely higher.
  1. Beginning with Adobe Premiere Pro - which I still use, it is a computer-power consuming product and has many more options for video production that are needed for training videos. There have been a few times where I have used Premiere Pro and taken the video and added it to what I do in Screenflow. Additionally, Premiere is a subscription-based purchase / rent - which I am not fond of whatsoever. Screenflow is my first choice.
  2. Adobe Captivate is again, too much offered - hence the higher pricing and then the complexities that are not necessary. I can accomplish all that I need with screenflow and at a more reasonable price ... AND it doesn't crash -- in four years it never has.
  3. I keep Snagit on my computer but find it is better for still image / screenshots vs video screen capturing. Screenflow is much smoother, quicker, and complient.
  4. Camtasia has not produced a "Good" Mac version - Screenflow is much better in producing what I want, speed, and compatibility. Not to mention, major price differences.
When training others to use a software application, I find this is amazingly helpful to accomplish using screenflow. The application allows me to video what I am doing in the application while explaining it in details. There are other uses of course, one that I found was to capture myself talking through students' research papers/thesis and explain where changes need to be made. Of course, MS Word has the tracking changes option and a professor can go through sentence by sentence - the downfall of this is that students #1 - do not always understand what is being suggested as we all cut back on words when typed out versus spoken. #2 - students do not always read the added comments thoroughly. Viewers watch the video and listen to a voice quicker than reading remarks. The viewing and voice, in my opinion, are the greatest part of the end product provided to viewers. This tool can assist anyone's work that trains others...be it industry or educational fields.