Screencorder
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| MatchWare ScreenCorder | |
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| Developed by | MatchWare |
| Latest release | 5 |
| OS | 98, 2000, XP, Vista |
| Genre | Desktop recording software |
| License | Commercial |
| Website | matchware.com |
ScreenCorder is a desktop recording tool for Windows, developed and distributed by MatchWare. The program allows the user to record everything that happens on their monitor, edit the recording to their liking and then export it to a redistributable video format of their choice.
ScreenCorder is available in English, German and French, and requires Windows 98 or newer.
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[edit] Recording
The recording area is a user-defined rectangle on the desktop, the size and position of which is selected when creating a new project. This frame can be as large as needed, and even span multiple displays, but a very large frame could have an adverse effect on the host computers' performance, depending on the hardware configuration. The framerate of the recording can be set in fixed intervals between 1 and 30 fps. Audio can be captured in formats between mono 11kHz and stereo 48kHz; the source is the standard Windows recording device. After the project has been created neither video- or audio settings can be changed.
While recording, ScreenCorder disappears from the screen completely, leaving only a blinking red frame indicating where the recording is taking place. Any hardware acceleration on the graphics card can be turned off automatically while recording, which can help to better capture certain visual effects.
[edit] Editing
ScreenCorder allows the user to insert, append or overwrite video in an existing recording to lengthen it or replace certain sections. It also features audio overdubbing which lets the user replace the existing audio by recording a new audiotrack in its place. A rudimentary cutting tool is available to remove specific intervals of the presentation, as well as quick methods for removing everything up to or from any given point.
When the basic recording is complete, any number of external objects can be added to it. The program comes with several pictures (a number of which are animated) and some magnifying tools that can be inserted at any point in the recording and last for any number of frames. This can be used to emphasize certain parts of a recording, enlarge critical data, or just block out unwanted information. A number of quizzes can be inserted at any point to make sure the viewer has understood the presentation so far. These quizzes are fully SCORM-compliant, and almost every detail can be configured to suit the needs of the presentation, including which actions to take depending on the total score. The recording must be exported to SWF for these quizzes to be included.
ScreenCorder also supports webcams, and lets the user add a webcam recording to the main presentation, which can then be set to pause or grey out while the extra recording runs.
[edit] Exporting
The final movie can be rendered to four different formats: AVI, WMV, SWF or FLV. The implementations of these export modes can be seen below.
[edit] AVI
The most flexible of the formats. Allows any installed audio- and video compressor with a VFW interface to be used. This allows for the highest quality-to-size ratio, but has the drawback of requiring the end-user to have the appropriate codecs installed for playback.
[edit] WMV
The WMV-export in ScreenCorder has been optimized for web distribution. The choice of audio- and video-codec has been limited to either Windows Media 7 or 9, since these two offer the best quality-to-size ratio and are supported by all players that can play WMV files.
[edit] SWF
This option exports the recording to a Flash presentation, including all relevant files for uploading the result to a website immediately. This export mode can yield slightly larger files than WMV export, but can be played by any browser that can run the Flash plugin. SWF export is the only of the four that supports the SCORM system and the insertable quizzes. SCORM support can be included by checking a checkbox during export.
[edit] FLV
This exports the recording to a raw FLV-file, which is the video component of the SWF-export mentioned above. The resulting file can then be inserted into a Flash presentation or played by a third-party player.
