Production Tips, including Audio

If you record an audio narration while recording the screen, the audio is included in the recorded file (.camrec). When you import the recording into Camtasia and place it on the timeline, it should be visible there when editing and producing an output file. All of this assumes, of course, that you have recorded a valid narration while recording the screen. You can verify this is the case by previewing the file and listening.

Also, the audio file appears as a "waveform" on the timeline when it is present. If audio is present, it can be included in the produced output regardless of the output format you select, including Flash. I have included a brief tutorial below.

1. With the recorded/edited video and audio on the timeline, select the Produce and Share button or select the menu choice File > Produce and Share. The Production Wizard opens.
2. Select Custom production settings and click Next >.
3. Select the recommended output, MP4/FLV/SWF - Flash Outputs and click Next >.
4. Select the Controller, Theme, and File Format. I recommend MP4 for most applications. However, FLV can be used for full motion video, such as that from a camcorder, or SWF can be used for animations and recordings from PowerPoint slides.
5. Set the video size. I recommend using the same dimensions for the output that were used when recording and editing the video. I have discussed this recommendation elsewhere in this blog.
6. Click the Flash Options button. On the Flash Options dialog:
• Video tab. Most of the settings on the Video tab are OK, but if file size is not an issue (for broadband delivery, for instance), increase the settings for better quality: 24 or 30 fps Frame rate and 100 percent for the Quality setting.
• Audio tab. Place a check in the box Encode audio. Why this setting defaults to "off" is beyond me. However, to get audio in the playback, you must set it "on." For most cases, use a Bitrate of 48 or 96 kilobits per second. The higher the better, but file size will increase and there is no advantage if you recorded your audio on a low-quality microphone.
• Controls tab. Here you can set how your player will behave when the video is produced. Note that if you are not using the player that Camtasia builds for you, none of these settings really matter. If you do choose to use the default player, you can set the About box (author and copyright, for example), how time code is displayed on the playbar, color, behavior at the start of the movie (start paused or play automatically), and a loading flash, if you have one. This last item is handy if you want a progress bar to appear. And finally, you can set what happens when the end of the movie is reached.
7. Click OK on the Flash Options dialog.
8. Back on the Production Wizard, click Next >.
9. On the Video Options page, you can set some more appearance options, such as a watermark. If you are using the default Camtasia flash player, leave the checkmark in the Embed video into HTML box. This will produce the required HTML, CSS, and XML files to play the video in a standalone HTML page that Camtasia builds for you.
10. Click Next > and review the output filename and folder options. It may seem obvious to say "remember where you store your files," but it pays to check this location before finishing. Camtasia always defaults to the last folder location used, even it that previous location has nothing to do with your present project.
11. Click Finish and wait for rendering to complete.

The movie will play when finished. If the audio does not play, review your audio production settings again.

Type and Fonts

I recently completed a "lunch and learn" for a client about using fonts for online media. I was talking about using PowerPoint to make effective presentations, but the principles are the same since presentations are normally projected at screen resolution using either a VGA projector or monitor. To summarize the advice, I asserted that sans-serif fonts are best for online use because modern fonts such as Calibri, Helvetica, Verdana, Century Gothic, Tahoma and a whole host of fonts from Adobe that are delivered in their Technical Communications and Creative Suites are designed to be presented and look good (and readable) at lower resolutions. Serif fonts are fine for body type at printer resolutions (say 300 dpi and up), but sans fonts are better for screen resolutions typically below 100 dpi. Traditional wisdom is that serifs, or type "hints," aid in readability, especially in font sets that do not have other distinguishing characteristics for differences such as lower case "L" versus upper case "i." In many sans-serif variations, they look the same. However, modern readers are able to distinguish these differences in context. After all, we are all becoming speed readers, gleaning meaning from a quick scan rather than a leisurely word-by-word interpretation. Such is the case for help systems. Modern help systems use sans-serif fonts for both body and headings. This is a trend based on today's reader preferences. I see no reason to buck that trend. I recommend the font sets I mentioned above, or any like them. They should be crisp and clear, without ornamentation or needless curlicues. They should not look crowded or densely packed in the help topic. Don't use type smaller than 8 points for most typefaces. Distinguish your headings with larger and bolder type, typically set in the CSS and managed by the HAT.