TechSmith releases Camtasia Studio 4

I’ve been working with Camtasia Studio 4 for a while now and have been looking forward to this announcement and official release of Camtasia Studio 4. Along with many improvements in Camtasia Studio 4, is the integration of a new service being offered by TechSmith: ScreenCast.com. ScreenCast.com facilitates video uploading and sharing of the videos that you upload, retaining the quality of the uploaded screencast. In addition to the ScreenCast.com integration, TechSmith has also included the ability to format your videos for Apple iPod.

We use Camtasia Studio to record all of the Software InkShows that we present here on GottaBeMobile.com . It is an indispensible tool for what we do, and we highly recommend the Camtasia Studio 4 to you.

Here is a list of some of the other improvements found in Camtasia Studio 4:

• Support for portable media player video formats, including M4V for iPod video, to reach the widest possible audience
• Ability to create multiple files simultaneously so users can produce a single screencast in a variety of formats (e.g., Flash, iPod, MP3, PowerPoint, etc.)
• Audio enhancements so users can remove background noise and volume variations with one-click to easily deliver professional-sounding screencasts
• 30-second previews that allow users to see how the first 30 seconds of a screencast will look and sound based on different production options before producing the entire video
• Closed Captioning so users can synchronize voice narration with text displayed on the screen video to create videos that are accessible to a broad audience
• hareable production profiles that allow individuals to share their screencast settings with others, helping organizations standardize the look and feel of all screencasts and get new users up and running quickly

Vista RC2 users: I really feel for TechSmith who has had to hit a moving target with all the releases of Vista. Up until RC1, Camtasia Studio 4 was working great. However, some of the saving functionalities error out on RC2. If you are beta test Vista RC2, change your default output to .avi instead of .camrec. In addition, turn off the auto previewing option in the Record options.

You can download the Camtasia Studio 4 trial by going here. And here is a snippet from their press release.

TechSmith Corp., the world’s leading provider of screen capture and recording solutions, today announced the availability of Camtasia Studio 4, enabling individuals with no programming or multimedia expertise to create screencasts of software demonstrations, interactive training, online marketing content, and PowerPoint-based video presentations that can be delivered to portable media players including the Apple iPod.

Camtasia Studio 4 is also integrated with the new Screencast.com service, which is currently in open beta testing. The integration between Camtasia Studio 4 and Screencast.com facilitates fast and easy video sharing. Unlike other online video services, Screencast.com retains the original quality, size and professionalism of the uploaded screencast.

“With the release of Camtasia Studio 4, our customers can reach their audience anywhere,” said Troy Stein, Camtasia Studio Product Manager at TechSmith. ““iPod owners have access to information that goes well beyond the typical movie and music options they can download from iTunes. With Camtasia Studio 4, bloggers, presenters, marketing professionals, educators, and trainers have a powerful way to visually reach their target audience on the go.”

Sample screencasts can be viewed at www.screencast.com.