To my new friends from the Orange County Social Media Summit…

Posted on by Mel

Welcome to my new friends from the OCSMS!

OCSMS

For my new friends from the Orange County Social Media Summit (#OCSMS), I’m honored to have met you!  If you have questions for me following our session, feel free to send me an email at:  mel (at) melaclaro (dot) com.  Also, feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn.  You’ll also find me frequenting the “back channel” on Twitter. As a matter of fact, the one below is from today’s Orange County Social Media Summit. Feel free to jump in, Join the Conversation.

[Read more about what I do; I hope you'll connect...]

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Sold out – But, Here’s the Livestream Link to the Orange County Social Media Summit #OCSMS

Posted on by Mel

May 17, 2012

Orange County Social Media Summit - Sold Out

The good news?  We won’t be speaking to an empty hall at the Orange County Social Media Summit (twitter hashtag: #OCSMS).

The bad news?  If you didn’t get your ticket by now, it’s pretty much a done deal.

The silver lining?  There’s gonna be a live stream (here you go) of the #OCSMS event provided by the cool peeps in the Communications team at Saddleback church.  (You can also participate in the back channel on Twitter by following and posting comments on Twitter using the hashtag #OCSMS.)

Although “attending” via the livestream (free, by the way) won’t give you the same “network effects” as being there in person, I’d recommend at least tuning in to the keynotes in the early part of the day.

I posted a program in yesterday’s post – here.

If you’re around for my panel at 4:30 (PST), I’ll “see” you there.  Otherwise, catch my highlights notes on Saturday.

Oh! And, if you’re going to be at the conference in person.  Please make sure and find me.  Say hi!  See you there.

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A preview of this Friday’s Orange County Social Media Summit #OCSMS

Posted on by Mel

May 16, 2012

OCSMS

Yours truly, along with an impressive lineup of Orange County, California professionals (and at least one honorary Orange County resident) who rock at social business and social good programs, will be paneling at this Friday’s (May 18, 2012) Orange County Social Media Summit.  If you’re in the area and are available to attend this Friday, May 18 (9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. PT), then you may still be able to nab your (free) tickets to the OCSMS here.

The venue will be on the spectacular Saddleback Church campus in Lake Forest, California; specifically, at The Refinery building on the Saddleback campus.

The venue is capped at 600 seats… but, just last week, the event coordinators, and my friends, Rochelle Coles (@RochelleVeturis) and her sis Haley Veturis (@HaleyVeturis), informed me that last week saw us already with over 572 verified registrants. So… you do the trend analysis.  (Hint: If you’re in the area and haven’t gotten your ticket(s) yet, then you’ll want to hit that link above — NOW.)

“What If I Can’t Attend, Or I Want to Attend the OCSMS Event But Don’t Live In California?

I’m so sorry. I’m so very sorry. (Just kidding.)

In case you won’t be able to attend live, or you’re one of my readers who live out of state, then you’ll be happy to know that the Saddleback Church Communications team has kindly offered to arrange this Orange County Social Media Summit (#OCSMS) livestreaming website for you on the day of the event.

While it won’t be anywhere near the experience of being live onsite and networking with a lot of cool and well-connected professionals — while giving ME the honor of meeting you and shaking your hand personally, to boot! — the livestream is, well, better than nothing, eh?

Will There Be a Back Channel?

Seriously? You don’t actually believe that a bunch of social medians would get together for a multi-hundred-seat conference and not have a back channel, do you?

OCSMS twitter hashtag

Use — or tune in — to the Twitter hashtag above on Friday.

The Orange County Social Media Summit (#OCSMS) Program

What else am I forgetting…?  Oh yeah, here’s the program.  See you there!

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(Ep. 6) Best Screen Capture Software Comparison Series – CamStudio vs. Screenr

Posted on by Mel

This is the last episode in the Best Video Screen Capture Software Series.

If you’re just jumping into this series, then you’ll want to start with Episode 1: Six of the Best Screen Capture Software – Compared.  You’ll also want to subscribe to my updates on this blog so you get notified when new updates come online.

In this episode:  My recommendations about CamStudio and Screenr for video screen capture

Here’s the high level:

Two questions I get asked a lot is “…which video screen capture software do you recommend…?”  The other one is, “…are there any free software you’d recommend for recording my computer screen…?”  I answer both questions in this video.

Here’s the summary:

  • Screenr – for free video screen capture software to record Q&D-type (“quick-and-dirty”) screencasts
  • Camtasia Studio – for professional grade video screen capture software if you’re using a PC platform
  • Camtasia Mac or Screenflow – for professional grade video screen capture software if you’re using a Macintosh platform
  • Snagit – for capturing the occasional (and highly frequently used) stills on your computer screen

Related episodes:

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Update: Best Screen Capture Software Series – Camtasia Mac v2.1 Now Sports a Chroma Key Effect

Posted on by Mel

Camtasia Mac v2.1 - see what's newIn Episode 2 (Camtasia Mac) of the Best Screen Capture Software Series, I showed you some of the nifty features that earned Camtasia for Macintosh a Mel Rank of 5 out of 5 for professional grade video screen capture software tools.  With this week’s version 2.1 update, they (the cool kids at Techsmith) have kicked it up a notch.  Among other tweaks and updates, they’ve added the following features:

  • Remove a color (similar to chroma-key / green screen effect in video editors).  This effect lets you superimpose a live action video subject onto your screencasts.  This feature is huge.  As a matter of fact, I haven’t seen this feature in any other video screen capture software — including Camtasia’s PC cousine, Camtasia Studio, nor Techsmith’s closest rival, Telestream’s Screenflow.  Traditionally, this effect has been limited to the realm of video editors (i.e., iMovie, Final Cut, Adobe Premiere, etc.) … then again, I’ve maintained that Camtasia for Macintosh is, in my opinion, pretty well a different animal entirely from its PC-based cousin.  Cam-Mac straddles a nice little sweet spot between video screen capture and video editor that few other video screen capture software programs have matched.  (One exception I’d say is Telestream’s Screenflow.  But, this update, plus my assessment in Episode 4: Screenflow, highlight the lead that Techsmith continues to gap ahead of Telestream.)

  • Clip speed effect.  Finally!  The addition of this effect in v2.1 I think adds one of the features that has lagged behind Camtasia’s PC-based cousin and Telestream’s Screenflow.  In fact, when I produced the Mindmap Evolution: “Group Think” video, I had to revert back to Camtasia Studio (the PC version) because it had the clip speed effect, whereas Camtasia Mac was still working on incorporating it.  But, now there’s no need.  I can take care of all that inside Camtasia Mac without having to splice-in video rendered via other programs.

The Bottom Line

If you work off of a Macintosh, and are hunting for a robust and very capable video screen capture software program, you’ll do very well to check out Camtasia for Macintosh.

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(Ep. 5) Best Screen Capture Software Comparison Series – Jing (and Snagit)

Posted on by Mel

Did you see what I did there?  In the title?  You already know something’s up.

Turns out, Techsmith is retiring Jing Pro….

jing-pro-retirement

(Click to enlarge)

Beginning February next year (2013), they’ll be reverting all Jing Pro subscribers to the free version of Jing.  In the meantime, encouraging new users to try the new version of Snagit which, beginning with version 2, now sports the ability to for video screen captures.

And that’s not at all a bad thing.  As I say in the video, Snagit — although not what I would consider a robust video screen capture software tool — is definitely a piece of software that should be in your toolkit if you plan on producing screencasts professionally.

So, all this begs the question:  With all the choices out in the wild, which video screen capture software should you use for professional screen capture projects?  Check out the video; I answer all those questions for you.

[Related:  Best Screencasting Software Series]

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(Ep. 4) Best Screen Capture Software Comparison Series – Screenflow

Posted on by Mel

If you’re juuust jumping into the series, then you’ll want to start with episode 1 in this series: Six of the Best Screen Capture Software – Compared (Ep. 1).  You’ll also want tosubscribe so you get notified when new updates come online.

In this episode: Telestream’s Screenflow

Screenflow is Telestream’s client-side video screen capture software that’s made for the Macintosh.  In the  features we’re using for comparing the different software in this series, Screenflow came out with an overall “Mel Rank” of 5.0 (out of 5)*.

  • Cursor effects/animation: 5 (out of 5)
  • Multiple video tracks:  5 (out of 5)
  • Multiple audio tracks: 5 (out of 5)
  • Animation of annotations and/or callouts:  4.5 (out of 5)

*  Note:  While Screenflow actually scored a Mel-rank of 4.5 out of 5 in the annotations/callouts area due to some limitations I mention in the video about the pixelation feature, I decided to give it a “field promotion” to an overall Mel-rank of 5 out of 5.  I thought Screenflow’s feature of capturing keyboard button-key combinations during the recording stage was an extra bonus.  (Hey Techsmith – that’s a good feature to have for Cam-Mac!)  :)

Summary

So far in this series, Screenflow and Camtasia for Macintosh have come out on top.  Each has earned an overall Mel-rank of 5 out of 5.  Interestingly, at a price point of $99, each is actually very cost effective.  Next up in this series, we’ll take a look at Techsmith’s Jing product.

[Related: Best Screencasting Software Series]

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