E-Learning Curve Blog

Free-to-use E-Learning Development 18: Techsmith Jing Part 2 – Video Capture

Last time, I described the features and functionality of the still image screen-shooting capabilities of TechSmith’s Jing (their ‘lite’ screen capture tool); today, I will discuss the motion-based capture functionality of the program; in the next post in this series I’ll give my considered view and conclusions about the benefits of using the application in an e-learning context, and for rapid e-learning.

In screen capture mode (accessed via the same select-and-activate process used to snag screen shots) Jing allows users to record almost anything on a computer screen, including application demonstrations of up to five minutes in duration.

To initiate screen capture, you simply define the area of the screen or the window to be captured. Then click on the “filmstrip” icon on the toolbar to begin recording. If needed you can choose to capture the entire desktop screen area (see demo below).

Recording
Once Jing’s recording mode is activated, you carry out all steps of your demonstration, in sequence. It’s possible to move between applications without interrupting the recording process. The presenter can pause or stop recording at any time – at which point the software renders the input that has been captured.

Post-production
There is none. This is a free-to-use app: what do you expect?

Well, that’s not quite true. You can edit a Jing recording in Camtasia, but if you have Camtasia, why would you use Jing?

Deployment
The free-to-use version of the application renders video and audio narration to the Adobe SWF file format, which is playable in Flash Player, VLC, and a number of other media players. In my view, SWF is not the best format to use for high motion or longer form video – just ask anyone who has had to distribute 50 megabyte-plus SWFs generated in Adobe Captivate. This is somewhat ameliorated by the five minute duration limit on Jing recordings.

Uses
Once rendered, content is easily distributed to a wide audience. Media can be distributed via e-mail, internet messaging, FTP, your own hosted server, and Screencast.com. I would suggest that if you have access to Adobe Connect or Acrobat.com you could distribute the your video files via those channels too.

Instructional Uses

Jing is popular among non-expert content creators because Jing makes video easy to capture and distribute. This enables instructors to use a “create once, use many times” strategy, especially in courses that teach a given application or computing environment across many learning channels or in a blended learning environment. Many learners appreciate the ease with which Jing-produced presentations can be viewed, especially presentations that are embedded into a web page and shown via their client browser window. The short “how to” video (below) demonstrating Jing’s screen capture and upload processes shows just how easy it is to create and deploy Jing-generated media.

System Requirements

Techsmith say that the Pro version of the tool requires some more “horsepower” than the free-to-use version, but I would assert that their recommendations are a good baseline for both versions of the application.

Next time: My summary and conclusions about Jing.

–

December 07 2009 01:40 pm | e-learning

2 Responses to “Free-to-use E-Learning Development 18: Techsmith Jing Part 2 – Video Capture”

1. E-Learning Development 19: Techsmith Jing (Part 3) - Conclusions | E-Learning Curve Blog on 08 Dec 2009 at 4:41 pm #

   [...] Over the last few posts, I have been discussing TechSmith Jing’s still image screen-shooting and motion-based video capture capabilities. In the end, what did I think of Jing as a rapid e-learning content creation [...]

2. A Toolkit to Develop E-Learning in an Open (XML) Environment | E-Learning Curve Blog on 16 Dec 2009 at 6:08 pm #

   [...] Jing Pt.1|Pt.2|Pt.3 [...]