Mac screencasters like myself are
relatively limited in our choice of options when it comes to screen
recording
applications.
In my humble opinion, the only two worth your time of day are iShowU
and Snapz Pro, both of which offer
different options.
I ditched Snapz a long while back thanks to the instant
rendering and extensive options available in iShowU, which I now choose
to use exclusively.
However, as of this week there is another contender – the
aptly named from Araelium Group.
A Quick Review
I just had a check of the demo, and it holds up pretty nicely.
The interface is nice and pared down, and rather pretty to look
at.
The recordings come out looking great (especially in the
screencasters’ favorite recording codec
“Animation”), and have all of the usual QT output
options.
Of course system audio and mic recording are both options, too.
What makes it stand out for me
(besides being a steal at $29) is the inclusion of three features
missing in our other contenders:
- The ability to show mouse clicks on screen with a little
marker, which otherwise requires the use of either Mouseposé
or OmniDazzle, adding to the apps you
need to use in your screencasts - The ability to show keyboard shortcuts on screen, which is
something you can only do with Mouseposeé at the moment as
far as I’m aware -
The inclusion of a very useful aspect ratio setting in the
recording window selection.With this setting activated, I can scale the window to any
size, and it will always remain within the aspect ratio parameters I
have specified, which is priceless for anyone that wants a crisp,
undistorted video, regardless of the different recording sizes you mix
together.
Conclusions
I haven’t committed to buying it yet, given that
iShowU, Mouseposee and OmniDazzle work well for me, but I am definitely
thinking about it. If you haven’t grabbed yourself a
screencasting app for the mac yet, this one is definitely worth
considering.
The only possible downside is
that the video is rendered after the recording, as is the case with
Snapz. This means that you will have at least a short wait ahead of you
at the end of a recording, whereas IShowU somehow manages to render
files out instantly, which rocks.
With that said, as the files are saved in a nifty little
sidebar, this means that you can export them to multiple formats right
from the app, which might save a bit of time heading over to Compressor
or Quicktime Pro.
Screencast costs $29 and is
available from Araelium’s website,
where you can also download a free trial.
Originally written by Michael Pick, a professional screencaster, web video maker and blogger. Some Rights Reserved.
