CamStudio is a computer program that you can use to make a video of whatever is happening on your computer screen. CamStudio could be very beneficial if you needed to make training videos or other educational materials. You could use CamStudio to record screen shots of travel information when planning your next vacation. If you found a place that you may want to visit but needed to look at more, you could just record the information on the page, place it in a file, and keep looking. CamStudio could be used to record a recurring problem on your computer, when you contact support you can show them exactly what is happening. Videos demonstrating how to use software programs is another use for CamStudio.
Below you will find the history of CamStudio exactly as spoken by the latest person in charge. You may need to read this a couple of times to understand CamStudio’s journey. It has been around the block and back a few times, but managed to hang around:
CamStudio was originally released by a company called RenderSoft who were subsequently bought by a company called eHelp who used some of the technology in their program, RoboDemo ...
Some time later, eHelp was bought by Macromedia who wanted RoboDemo (which was to become Captivate) ...
Knowing that CamStudio did some of the stuff RoboDemo did for free (mainly export to streaming Flash), they released a newer version which fixed some bugs but most importantly, removed certain features. Gone was the ability to create SWFs, added was the requirement to register to use it, and over time, links to the various webpages that had CamStudio and its source code, became broken.
However, I managed to find an earlier version complete with the related CamStudio video codec and the source code for both then put the website up so people could download them.
CamStudio has the ability to record all screen and audio activity on your computer and create industry-standard AVI (audio video interleave). CamStudio has a built-in SWF(Shockwave Flash) Producer that enables you to convert the AVI file to SWF.
I did not understand all of this AVI, SWF, Flash, Codec stuff so I had to do a little research.
AVI(audio video interleave) format is for playing videos on your PC or mobile device. SWF(flash) is used to stream videos online.
Some of CamStudio’s features include the option to highlight the cursor path while recording, highlighting the cursor makes it more visible and easier to follow. You can also choose to just entirely hide the cursor.You also have panning and the ability to record with sound. The sound can be from a microphone or your computer speakers. In the settings of CamStudio, you can audit your audio and video parameters, as well as configure other parameters. The quality of your recordings depends on the codecs you are using.
Codecs – I didn’t know the definition of Codec but I know I saw the word used in several instances, so I googled it. The definition of Codec is compression/decompression. Codec is a program that takes large files and shrinks them, making them playable. Video and music files are typically very large, codes were developed to shrink the files for transmission then decode the files for viewing and editing. Without codecs, downloads would take 3 – 5 times longer. There are codecs for audio and video, streaming media, video conference, playing MP3, speech or screen capture. Some people that share files use other obscure codecs, making it very frustrating for the person downloading the file. Some codec examples are MP3, WMA, Real Video, Real Audio, DivX, and XviD.
CamStudio comes with its own Lossless Codec that produces crystal clear results with a much smaller file size compared to other popular codecs.
Other features of CamStudio include:
ü Toolbar with integrated player controls.
ü System tray menu and customizable keyboard shortcuts make starting and stopping effortless.
ü Screen annotations- you can annotate video with shapes, objects, and text. You can create and save layouts.
ü Picture-in-picture – this feature allows you to display a second feed on the page, for example, you could have your face displayed on the screen along with whatever you are recording.
ü Effects – options include custom timestamps and Stopwatch time stamp options. Captions and watermarks can be added. Each effect has its options too.
ü With CamStudio, you have the ability to set the screen area that you want to record. You can record the entire screen, or you can just record a portion of the screen.
In addition to the video tutorials included with the program, CamStudio has an excellent forum and a FAQ page. The FAQ page has some standard questions answered but you can also post a question and get a specific answer. I have printed a few of the questions and answers so you can see the level of support offered.
Question/issue #1
When I play back a full-screen AVI file using Windows Media Player by double clicking it, the text and graphics becomes blurred.
Reply:
There are two main reasons for the movie being blurred.One is that you are using Windows Media Player to play back a movie that has a frame size that is as big or bigger than the screen. In this case, Windows Media Player will shrink the picture to fit it on the screen, which causes the text and graphics to be blurry.
Question #2
I record with the default settings of CamStudio and it uses up all my CPU resources. How can I free up more CPU resources for doing other stuff?
Reply:
In the default setting, CamStudio uses up all your CPU resources to achieve the maximum recording rate possible on your system. You will need to To view the movie in full quality, you will need to switch Windows Media Player to full-screen playback, or switch your monitor to a higher resolution. You may also record a smaller region to avoid this problem. Otherwise you may need to use the Movie Player software that is distributed with the CamStudio package to playback the movie.
Another reason for the cause of the unclear image is the use of Lossy Codec as your compressor. This means the compressor will degrade the quality of your picture to reduce the size of your AVI file.To remedy this, you may either set the Quality settings in Video Options to a higher value, or use a Lossless Codec for your compressor (e.g CamStudio Lossless Codec.)
Question set this capture rate to be lower than the maximum to free up resources for other tasks.To see how fast your computer can go, try recording with a fixed region size at the maximum frame rate (the auto-adjust slider is set to the leftmost point in Options:Video Options). Take note of the Actual Input Rate when CamStudio is recording. This is the maximum frame rate achievable on your system at this fixed size.To free up CPU resources, go back to Video Options and set the capture rate (or playback rate) -- using the auto-adjust slider -- to be less than the Actual Input Rate noted earlier. If you are recording with the same fixed region size, your CPU meter will now show some improvements.
Question #3
My recording crashed after ten minutes (or after a fixed amount of time). How can I prevent this?
Reply
This is usually due to your temporary recording directory not having enough disk space. This is the location where CamStudio creates temporary files to store your video and sound data during recording. These temporary files can become very large and crash your system if you ran out of disk space.
You can change your temporary directory for recording by going to Options :: Program Options :: Temporary directory for recording. You should always choose a directory that resides in the drive with the largest free space.
Question #4
After I've minimized CamStudio, I am unable to find it in the taskbar. How can I restore CamStudio?
Reply:
Starting from ver 1.2, CamStudio is minimized to the system tray instead of the taskbar. To restore CamStudio, double click CamStudio's icon in the system tray.
CamStudio has some very mixed reviews, some are very good, others not so good at all. It seems that there are download, malware and adware issues. Here are a few reviews, you decide.
Review #1
"compact, simple and fun"
· 7.0
· 7.0
· usability8
· Stability7
· Installation6
· Functionality9
· Appearance6
It's a smart little tool and takes only a few clicks to record activity on your desktop. You can select the region to record and if you want to include sound or not. I found it useful to film the way I used a program (where I clicked on the page, how things changed). I think if you have a webcam you'll find an original way to use it.
Bad point: it only records to avi. Why not other formats?
Pros
· Compact
· Select region to record
· Add or remove audio
·
Cons
· Only records to AVI
Review #2
"Camstudio did not work well and crashed after the first download"
Just after downloading camstudio i captured one small video and it worked but in the next attempt the file was crashed and did not worked
Pros
Cons
· auto save feature
"i dont know"
Review #3
i downloaded allready 3 times and what is does it keeps downloading blank. i dont know what is wrong. I click on 'open with' and it says text edit. I tried opening it with preview but still no change. when i try to open the software it is only text edited and i think it is in word pad style i dont know. please reply whats wrong to my computer or your site? I dont know please at least let me know whether it is my computer or....help?????
Pros
i dont know
Cons
i don't knoe
Overall the reviews and comments regarding CamStudio were more positive than negative. One of the best “positives” of CamStudio is the price. There are other options for screen recording programs but they are usually priced in the $300 range. To me, FREE doesn’t give you much room to complain. There are also other free screen recording options but they don’t offer all of the features you get with CamStudio.
The “Cons” on CamStudio were always the same – Limited format (only saves in AVI) and the other complaint was the malware and adware in the program. I don’t understand how some people downloaded with no problem and others picked up malware, but there are more people that complained than those that did not. Oh, there was another problem mentioned a couple of times- if you try to record a video that is more than 3 or 4 minutes you will get an error message “unable to copy video file” but it doesn’t give you a solution. The person that complained of this problem said it took him hours to figure out the file was too large, but he corrected the problem once he identified it. You also need a lot of disk space to run the CamStudio, it can slow your computer and in some instances cause it to crash.
I personally did not download this software. I don’t have a lot of reasons to need recorded video and I just went through a big issue with my firewall on my computer. I did not want to take a chance on another virus or crashed computer. I do believe that if you are in need of a program that can record tutorials and other projects, and if you need it to be economical, then CamStudio is all you need.
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