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How to Create a Screencast for KnowledgeBase

Introduction

A screencast is a video of someone showing how to do something on a computer.  The screencast software captures what is happening on the computer screen along with an audio recording of the speaker explaining what he or she is doing.  Many people enjoy learning online procedures from screencasts, and the KnowledgeBase makes frequent use of the screencast format for teaching people how to use or deploy our software.

You can create your own screencast and contribute the resulting video to KnowledgeBase.  There are four parts to creating screencasts:   1. Planning what you are going to present,  2. Choosing screencast recording software, 3. Making the recording, and 4. Producing the final screencast video. This guide will walk you through those steps.

Planning

First, select the topic of your screencast.  Good topics for screencasts are ones that show people steps for completing a task online.  The viewer will be watching a recording of your computer screen, following your mouse movements, and listening to your explanation of what you are doing.  To the extent that your recording is clear, interesting to watch, and instructive, your screencast will be a success.  Here are some guidelines for planning your screencast:

• Pick a topic from the KnowledgeBase table of contents for DSpace or Fedora.  Make sure you give your screencast the same name as the KnowledgeBase topic you've chosen.
• An effective screencast lasts in the neighborhood of five minutes.  It might be necessary to go longer if you are describing a process that needs to be presented in one piece.  On the other hand, you may want to divide your topic into two or more screencasts, if appropriate (e.g., "Getting Started with DSpace Access Controls, Part One" and "...Part Two").
• Do you need to write out a script for your screencast?  Perhaps, but not necessarily.  A simple outline might do, or just some reminders on a page.  Informal, extemporaneous screencasts are not at all uncommon on the Internet.  You may find it easier not to juggle a written script while you're navigating through the flow of screens.  In any case, you will probably want to rehearse your presentation a couple of times before recording it.
• Make sure your computer software is configured for the screencast.  In addition to the screencast software (more on that next), you will need to have an application environment set up for whatever you are going to demonstrate (e.g., Internet connection, if required; applications installed; test data pre-configured, etc.)
• Your best bet for quality audio is to use a headset with microphone.  We have found that the Logitech USB headsets work very well, but most any USB headset should do nicely.

Choosing Screencast Software

There are a number of software products that are suitable for creating screencasts.  Some of them are open source or otherwise freely available for download, others are licensed for a fee.  Techsmith's Camtasia Studio is a very full-featured commercial product for Windows or Mac. We have had good results with Screencast-O-Matic, which features a free online product for all platforms and is fairly simply to learn and use.  Quicktime, as available on the Mac, will record screencasts, though you will need a video editor like iMovie if you would like to do post-production edits.  There are a few Linux-only products that may be used. as well.  Consult our charts of Video Tools below for more information.

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• The optimum video resolution for your finished product is 1280 x 720, also known as widescreen, 16/9, or High Definition (HD) video.  Try to record at this resolution and define your video output the same way when you save your recording.  That will make it easiest for people to view the details of your screencast when they maximize their viewer to make it readable
• Save your screencast output as MP4, AVI, FLV, M4V, or MOV. 
• The products are usually not very complex, but all of them require a bit of a learning curve.  Get to know your way around the product you choose to the extent that you can comfortably configure, start, and stop the recording.

Making the Recording

Here are some guidelines for making a successful screencast recording:

• Do a test first.  Fifteen seconds or so will give you a good indication of whether your recording level is fine.  You may need to tweak it.
• Pause a few seconds before you begin speaking
• Speak slowly in a natural voice
• Begin with a one-sentence introduction of yourself and your subject (e.g., "Hi, this is........and I'm going to show you......."
• Viewers will be focused on your mouse pointer.  Try not to make extraneous movements or move around too fast
• With each on-screen action, tell people what you are doing to make sure they are following you.  (e.g., "Next I'm going to..." , "Now we will look at...")
• Small flubs or pauses are not necessarily reasons to restart the entire screencast! You don't need to deliver an award-winning performance, just one that effectively conveys what you are trying to teach.  If you are using a screencast product that includes editing capabilities, you can usually cut out the portions you don't want to be in the final recording. 
• No need for a concluding sentence if it's clear where your lesson ends, but a brief recap of what you have shown is fine.
• When you are finished speaking, pause a couple of seconds before stopping the recording.
• Be sure to save your recording right away!

Producing the Final Screencast Video

Your screencast will require some post-production work before it is ready for "prime time".  It's not a lot of work, but it does require learning some more features of the screencast software.  Minimally, we need go through the following steps:

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If you prefer not to do this part yourself, that's fine.  We will do it for you.  Simply send the video to address@duraspacejjmarkow@duraspace.org along  along with the title, your name, and your organization for the credits.  If you do want to try the post-production work, and your screencast software allows you to do this, here are some guidelines.

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Remember, if you prefer, we are happy to do your post-production work for you!When finished, post your screencast at xxxxx.xxxxx.org and send an email notifying someone@duraspace.org.
We are looking forward to receiving your work!

Kristi Searle\

Follow-Up on:

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When finished, post your screencast to the specific KnowledgeBase subject page your screencast is about

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or you may notify jjmarkow@duraspace.org. 

We are looking forward to receiving your work!

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