

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

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.<p>Where could I get help in working with someone on coming up with a 30-45 second short on the product?<p>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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faulkner8
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.

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Turing_Machine
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.

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mindcrime
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/>

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winthrowe
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.

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

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WestCoastJustin
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>

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

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ashitvora
<http://screenr.com>

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jolan
What OS?

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KingMax
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.

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

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

