CamStudio 2.0 is a free screen capture tool that can be used in the creation of tutorials, demos, and such. You can configure it to either output a SWF or AVI file. I prefer AVI because it enables me to edit, add title screens, and do general production tasks before outputting to FLV for delivery. CamStudio gives the user quite a bit of flexibility in choosing the codec used to compress the video. One such codec is the “CamStudio Lossless Codec v1.0” which does a fine job of maintaining high frame rates, while preserving small details and even rendering gradient washes correctly.
The trouble with the AVI files produced in this way is that when brought into Premiere Pro 2.0, the quality takes a nosedive. It seems that Premiere does not interpret the codec correctly and so renders a lot of black space (seemingly due to the encoded alpha channel) and really chunks up a huge portion of the video- the framerate is thrown off considerably as well. When attempting to “Interpret Footage”, turning off the alpha channel helps somewhat, but the framerate is still shot. However, performing the same action in After Effects Pro 7.0 actually does interpret the footage correctly! I am able to ignore the alpha channel when interpreting footage and everything renders great.
So if you are only doing light screencasting work and don’t want to spend the extra $$$ on something like Camtasia or Captivate, and assuming you already have Production Studio– this is a really fine solution.
EDIT: I have had good results using the LZOCodec v0.4 codec with CamStudio and then editing in Premier. You still need to interpret the footage by ignoring any alpha channel data, but the video will function properly on output.
When you are in After Effects what codecs to you recommend for out put? I would like to do my final edits in Premiere Pro 2.0 before creating the FLV files but I need to render my existing Camstudio files first.
Thanks!
-Lary
http://www.EpicUnderground.com
I’d just output to AVI or MOV using standard codecs to bring to Premiere. Uncompressed AVI if you need to retain utmost quality.
Very strange. a 3min avi file created in Cam Studio and convert to FLV using Flash 8 encoder = 5mb in size.
The same file edited in Premeire Pro 2 exported to avi and then converted to FLV using Flash 8 encoder = 10mb in size.
Can you think of any reason why?
thanks,
-Lary
http://www.EpicUnderground.com
Different compression settings, perhaps?
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Good review pertaining to CamStudio: Premiere/After Effects Solution! Always enjoy this blog!
Found you on Google… Answered exactly what I needed to know. I used the LZOCodec and disabled Alpha and it worked a treat. Many Thanks from the Holiday Rental Guy!
Thank you so much for the great information. Using the LZOCodec in Camstudio and importing into Premiere CS3 works like a charm. Thanks again!
Thanks for the info–saved me a lot of headaches and $$$. The LZOCodec played nicely with Premiere CS3 once I disabled alpha.
For anyone looking, I was able to download the codec here:
http://usuarios.lycos.es/lzocodec/
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