What I Learned About Using Free Video Screen Capture Software

As an Internet Marketer one of the things I’ve learned about Internet Marketing is that you must always try to find new ways to promote your products and services. One area that I’ve needed and wanted to tackle over the last few months is Video Marketing.

Being on a tight budget just like many of you are, has led me to do some research on things before I jump into them and this was no different. So I needed to find some inexpensive Screen Capture Video Software I could use to make videos from my computer screen.

My Search For Screen Capture Video Software

I did my research in my spare time over the next couple of weeks. I had many options concerning which one of these programs I should pick. There were dozens of free programs, and dozens of paid programs I could use to make these videos.

All the free versions had different limitations when it came to what you were able to record, and editing the videos themselves. The paid versions all seemed to cost several hundred dollars. Not wanting to spend $300 if I didn’t need too, and since I already had Windows Movie Make to edit videos, I decided I’d go with the best Free Screen Capture Video Software I could find.

Choosing My Free Screen Capture Video Software

My research determined that the best free program I could find was one called “Cam Studio”. It was the least limiting as far as what I could record, and I found several different video tutorials online to help me.

I wrote out a really good script for my video and proofread it several times to get it just right. I purchased an external microphone so the audio quality would be really good. Then I started to do a few tests so I could make sure everything was coming out the way I wanted it too.

Figuring Out The Software

I soon found that the software’s default settings weren’t producing the quality that I wanted. So over the next several days I tinkered with all of these different settings (which I knew nothing about) and watched a bunch of different tutorials. After a lot of trial and error, I finally got my videos so they had good quality sound, and picture.

Creating My First Screen Capture Video

Disappointed it had taken me so long to get to this point I was finally ready to create my first video. I got everything I needed ready and started recording. Since this was my first video, I made a lot of mistakes in the first recording, and started over several times. Eventually I decided to just keep going because I could edit out any mistakes afterwards. Finished, I finally imported the video to Windows Movie Maker and started editing.

Several painstaking hours later, I finally got the video the way I wanted it, and saved it. I called my wife over and proudly said, “Check out our first video baby”! About 5 minutes into the video I started showing some websites I wanted to demonstrate. My wife and I both were surprised to see that the writing on the websites were almost impossible to read. Damn it! I’ll have to tinker with this some more and start over again!

I’m Tenacious

This went on for another week. Eventually I figured out how to use the Cam Studio Producer to edit the video, and it seemed to retain the quality better than when I edited it with Windows Movie Maker. I finally got the video as good as I could get it. Now I just needed to post it online!

Wait a minute, where did the video file go? Now I couldn’t find the video file outside of the Cam Studio program so that I could upload it to the Internet. Another couple of days went by and I fiddled with it when I could.

What I Learned

Days later and in complete discussed, I finally decided that I would have been much better off just purchasing the professionally made software program in the first place. I’d spent weeks up to this point and had no video to show for it.

I’m now going to purchase Camtasia so I can finally get this whole video marketing thing going. I still need to learn how to use Camtasia, but if all goes well I should have my first videos online in the next week. I’m keeping my fingers crossed!

Moral of this Story: That which is free can sometimes cost you more!