Shruthi,
Q: I want to do some tutorial videos and do some voice overs for the skits that we often do. I have put all money into purchasing a good Camera, so can’t invest in software products. Are there any open source software that will let me record the computer screen and also do voice over or voice narration to my skits — all for free ?
For editing my video’s from Camera, I have got software
along with the cam itself.
Words Wisdom!
Just three years back I was using the word “Softwares” for referring to multiple copies of software and multiple software products, but it’s wrong usage. There isn’t a word called “Softwares“.
Usage Example:
Our company has 1 software product.
Our company has 2 software products.
Screen Capture + Audio Capture:
Authoritative
Good Video content is usually seen as authoritative by the users. People usually prefer to watch, than to sit and read. There are wide variety of devices from iPod, iPad, iPhone to a wide range of smart phones which enable easy viewing of video content, thus making it more consumable.
Part of the reason for considering video content creators as authoritative is because they stand out from the crowd: the crowd which usually produces text content.
Some Facts
The matter of fact being, YouTube is receiving more than 2 Billion hits per day. And more people who watch videos comeback and watch videos again, than people coming back and reading the same blog again when there is new content.
Free Software
There are two pieces of software to accomplish this. They are open source.
For Screen capturing use CamStudio.
For Audio recording, Audacity is the best.
CamStudio isn’t that sophisticated, but it has all the basic features with which you can easily start screen recording and produce some professional looking video tutorials without hassle.
Why Audio Record Separately ?
If you are using your Camcorder to record the video skits and later want to record the voice over! May be because your camera audio recording isn’t good and you don’t want to put extra money into purchasing an external voice recorder device for your camera.
Audacity is by far one of the best, free voice recording tool I have seen so far. It has lot of useful features and enhancement plugins. There are versions for Windows, Macintosh as well as for Unix/Linux. Give it a try.
Screen Capturing Software Also Capture Audio
All the above mentioned screen capturing tools also capture system sound as well as audio from external Microphone, but for people who want to voice over separately and want a open source one, check out Audacity.
Online Screen Capturing
You can even try Jing, it’s an online screen capturing tool from TechSmith.
Paid Software
If you can afford and want to look at some paid software, then make sure to consider:
Camtasia for both Windows and Macintosh.
Screen Flow for Macintosh.
I would recommend to check out “Free Trial” of these paid software; they are worth trying.
There are many other software for screen capturing and audio recording, if you have used any – please share your experience with us in the comment section.