DiRT (Digital Research Tools) has a new home! Please visit Bamboo DiRT to explore this excellent collection of research tools.

Definition: 

A screencast is a recording of actions taken on a computer screen, often with accompanying narration.  It is essentially a movie of what is happening on a monitor.  Screencasts are often used as tutorials or instructions of how to perform certain actions or operate certain programs on a computer.

Tools:

• Adobe Captivate: software that "enables anyone to rapidly create powerful and engaging simulations, scenario-based training, and robust quizzes without programming knowledge or multimedia skills" (Commercial, Windows)
• CamStudio: software that records your computer's screen and audio activity into AVI format; can save into Flash format (*.swf)  (Free, GPL)
• Camtasia: screen recording software: "the easy way to demonstrate a process, a product, or an idea...Record onscreen activity.  Edit it into a polished video.  Share with the world." (Commercial; open source, Windows)
• Capture Fox: an easy-to-use Firefox add-on which enables the user to capture the action from the browser window and record his/her voice to make screencasts (Free, web-based)
• iShowU: software "designed to record anything on your screen...both audio, and video" (Commercial, Mac)
• Jing: "the always-ready program that instantly captures and shares images and video…from your computer to anywhere"; the Pro version allows for a wider range of sharing (Free, with Pro services available; Windows/Mac)
• Screencast-o-matic: a free Java-based online application which allows you to create recordings of your desktop (Free, web-based)
• ScreenFlick: "features high performance free online tool which lets you create recordings of your desktop with audio screen capturing for smooth, fluid motion up to 60 fps" (Commercial, Mac)
• Screenr lets you quickly create screencasts which you can easily share on Twitter (Free, web-based)
• ScreenToaster: a free online recording application that lets you record your desktop screen activity (Free, web-based)
• ScreenFlow: well-reviewed screencapture/screencast software for the Mac: "Capture the contents of your entire desktop at the same time as your video camera, microphone and computer's audio" (Commercial, Mac)

• SnapZProX: "record anything on your screen, saving it as a QuickTime® movie or screenshot that can be e-mailed, put up on the web, or passed around however you want" (Commercial, Mac)

• uTIPu: download the uTIPu TipCam, record a video of your computer screen, share online publicly or privately, and even embed into a web site (Free, with subscription service available; Windows)
• WebSlides: for use with Diigo, "convert your bookmarks and feeds and present them as live web pages in an interactive slideshow format - complete with the full conten [SIC] pages, links, comments, and ads"  (Free, web-based)
• Wink: a freeware screen recording and editing software used to create software tutorials (Free, Windows/Linux)

Resources:

See Also: