Yes, I've heard about it ;-) ......

It seems the blogosphere and the Mac community is awash with talk about this new fangelled screen capture utility called ScreenFlow from Vara Software.

It does something called "ScreenCasting" and apparently is "the Bee's Knees"

As you might have guessed, I've had a lot of emails and tweets about the new package and people asking me for my thoughts (in case you didn't know, I've been screencasting for nearly three years now, and I make my living from it, so I could be considered a professional screencaster).

So what are my thoughts about the product.....

Now if my self preservation instincts kicked in, I probably should dismiss the product and try and persuade people away from trying it. I've spent the best part of 3 years developing the complex workflows and assembling a host of professional (read expensive but extremely powerful) tools to both record and edit my weekly screencast and the last thing I need is a simple but powerful screencast tool to come on the scene and threaten my livelihood!

But I can't!

I've tried the package and I have to admit, it's pretty amazing!

It's really in a class of it's own due to some pretty unique features I've never seen before, all of which I presume come from the new technologies present in Leopard. Not only is the package a pretty competent capture tool, it also allows you to edit the resultant video captures and apply all sorts of effects and enhancements. I can replicate all of the enhancements in Final Cut Pro (the current tool I'm using for video editing) but the problem is it's taken me an enormous amount of effort to develop my skills in FCP to the point where I'm proficient. Even with the skills, it's still difficult and time consuming to apply these effects manually. What ScreenFlow does is to make the inclusion of these effects a trivial task and something that anyone can master with just a few hours work.

Now all is not completely rosy as using the application as a professional screencaster, I've come across several technical issues and usability issues that need some attention, but as a V1.0 product, it's pretty amazing.

With respect to the technical trouble, I hit a snag on my triple monitor Mac Pro production machine and raised a support request. I couldn't export without the application crashing. I received an immediate response with a debug version to try. Ran it, sent off the debug info, was asked a few questions and then sent a new build of the app within a couple of hours. It worked! Later that afternoon, I received a note from the support team advising that they'd released a new build v1.0.1 available to everyone that fixed the problem I was having - all in an afternoon! Outstanding!

I've actually used the product this week to create some of this weeks ScreenCastsOnline show (available tomorrow to Extra! members only (if you want more information on becoming a member - click here :-) ) or subscribe to the free HD feed in iTunes.

You can see the trailer here but you can't really get an appreciation of the ScreenFlow contribution, you'll need to see the full show or wait for the free show next week!

PLEASE NOTE!!!! I only used ScreenFlow to do the capture and some of the editing and zoom effects, so it's really a hybrid show. All the Titles and overlays were done in Motion and the final assembly edit was still done in Final Cut Pro. So don't expect to be able to do all this with ScreenFlow.

There are still some issues I'd like ScreenFlow to address in the realm of timeline navigation and exporting but I've put together a nice list of enhancements I'd like to see in the product following my experiences this week. After making contact with the support team, they seem to be delighted with the feedback so hopefully they'll include some of them for the next release. In the meantime, I'll probably work out some alterations to my workflow to try and compensate for some of the niggling issues (mind you, they are probably non-issues if you're not doing this on a daily basis) and see how the next few weeks develop. I doubt I'll ever be in a position where I'll be able to use ScreenFlow as the only application for creating my show, but I can see it becoming a major part.

Oh and my comments about it threatening my livelihood, although slightly tongue in cheek, it's only natural to have those kinds of thoughts. The thing is though, ScreenFlow is still just a tool, a pretty powerful one at that, but still just a tool. It's what you do with the tool that matters, so I hope that my blend of creativity, plain speaking and overall approach with ScreenCastsOnline and the topics that I cover will keep me in good stead and enable me to carry on making a living at ScreenCasting.

I suppose some competition is a good thing - right?

Technorati Tags:
ScreenCasts, ScreenCasting, Podcasting

Comments

[linkerjpatrick]

I just tried thanks to this post. This will open up to doors of screencasting for a lot of people but you still have tons of experience and know how to optimize the content which is the important thing.

[Tim Verpoorten]

Thanks Don,
You took the words out of my mouth, I was going to talk to you about the app when we recorded the podcast. Great info.

[Gazmaz]

Don having a chisel doesn't mean you can carve, I don't think you have anything to worry about, and if a little competition comes along you'll just raise your game I'm sure, and I think we've said this before content is King.... :-)

[erwin blom]

Don, i would say Screenflow helps you as well. I expect your brilliant screencasts 3 times a week, now you can stop fiddling with Final Cut Pro!

[Victor Cajiao]

Don, thanks for your input on this. Saved me an email. This space is moving rapidly and I tool tried this application a bit and am amazed at what it can do for a v1.0.

Someone's opened the floodgates on screencasting, but we all know who was in the water first. I too have learned a lot with some very small screencasts and I still love what Don does as it's worth more than the price of admission. I learn in front of my ⌘TV while watching some of the best HD stuff out there. I agree with Erwin now we can just expect more content.

[Queco Jones]

Cool. :)

It sounds like a good app. My question is, how easy (approachable/forgiving) is it for someone [very] new to screencasting? I'd like to record a few for friend but, have never found something that worked for me...

[Don]

It's too easy :-)

Best give it a shot with the fully functioning trial.