Mac Screencasting Made Easy

Whether I am at home updating my blog or at work delivering a demonstration or training video, I often find the need to create a screencast. The most popular Windows screencasting software is Camtasia Studio, which has recently made it's debut on the Mac. 

Unfortunately for Camtasia, when it comes to the Mac it has some stiff competition. Firstly, with the release of Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) you have screencasting functionality built right into the operating system with QuickTime X. To activate a screencast you simple open QuickTime Player and click "File > New Screen Recording". This is perfect for very basic screencasts, however if you need access to power features such as customising the output or video manipulation, you are out of luck. This means, that at least for now, there is still a need for dedicated screencasting software. This brings me to the best Mac screencasting software I have used - ScreenFlow.

ScreenFlow has all the power features you would expect from a professional package, although still feels right at home on the Mac with it's simple to use and elegant user interface.

Once ScreenFlow is launched, a recorder icon will appear in your menu-bar. From here you can start or configure your screencast.

If you choose to "Record" you will be prompted with an overlay menu (shown below) allowing you to set some simple options. As you can see ScreenFlow not only lets you capture from the screen, but also from your webcam, microphone or computer audio. When you are ready, click the "record" button and a pre-configured countdown will start.

Once you have finished your screencast simply click "Stop Recording" from the menu-bar icon or press "Cmd + Shift + 2". The ScreenFlow video editing software will now automatically load. From here you can modify your screencast, by cutting, resizing, cropping, adding captions, transitions, custom music and much, much more. These power features are what make ScreenFlow so much more compelling then the integrated QuickTime screencasting.

The final stage is to chose an output for your video. You can either export it locally (at any resolution) or upload the video directly to a hosting site such as YouTube. If you choose to upload, ScreenFlow will allow you to customise your output by adding details, tags and choosing between SD or HD.

The video below shows a ScreenFlow screencast I created on my MacBook Pro and then automatically uploaded to YouTube in HD. In the demo I open multiple applications (music and video) to give you a feel for the quality.

This screencast took literally two seconds to start and just three clicks to upload to YouTube. However, there are thousands of additional power features beyond just simple screencasting. I recommend you head over to Telestream's website to download the free trial of ScreenFlow to check them out for yourself. Once you are convinced you can purchase the full version for around £66.

Note: All music and video that appear in the "ScreenFlow Demo" are copyright their respective owners and I claim no credit for them unless otherwise noted. If you own the rights and do not wish them to appear in this demo please contact me and they will be promptly removed.