Review of Camtasia 1.2 for Mac - Screencasting Software

If you’re a tech writer who uses Apple Mac products, you’ll be delighted to hear that Techsmith have released Camtasia for Mac. This release comes with some lovely features and is a welcome addition to my suite of technical writing tools.

Before I forget, you can also get Snagit for Mac for FREE on the site also.

Camtasia for Mac 1.2.0

Some of the key features are:

Recording

Recordings with screen video and microphone audio have improved consistency in audio duration

Editing

Add markers to the timeline
Generate a table of contents from markers on the timeline
Automatically generate a table of contents from Keynote and PowerPoint slide titles
Import caption data from SAMI files
Manually caption videos within a project
Import content from Camtasia Relay* for editing

Production

Share videos with table of contents to Screencast.com, Camtasia Relay*, and locally
Share videos with closed captioning to Screencast.com, Camtasia Relay*, YouTube, and locally
Share videos with open captioning in common video formats
Search for slide content from Keynote and PowerPoint after sharing to Screencast.com and Camtasia Relay*
Export captions into a SAMI file

Searchable Video

Camtasia for Mac also produce videos in Flash or sends them to Screencast.com. You can do a quick search of any word found in captions or displayed on a slide in the presentation.

Automatic Table of Contents

One of the nice touches is that Camtasia for Mac can automatically generate a table of contents from any video project you have, giving viewers an easy way to navigate through your videos.

This lets you add video markers manually in any project, or automatically based on PowerPoint and Keynote titles.

Do Tech Writers Use Macs?

As someone who’s started to use a Mac recently, I’ve been a little surprised at how few other tech writers use Macs.

Maybe I haven’t tried hard enough.

How many tech writers do you know who use Macs?

Tagged as: Camtasia, Mac, Review, screencast, Techsmith

Eddie VanArsdall

The Mac is my primary computer, so I frequently use Word 2008. It’s not as good as its Windows counterpart, but I seamlessly share documents across platforms. I’ve already purchased a two-license copy of Office 2011 for Mac, which hits the market on October 26. The new version is modeled on Office 2010 for Windows, so it will be the first Mac version to use the Ribbon interface and include Outlook.

I still have a Dell laptop that I’ve used in a lot of my consulting work, and I run Windows 7 on that. I also have Win 7 installed in a virtual machine on the Mac, and I run that using Parallels 6.

One note about SnagIt for the Mac: It’s only free right now because it’s in beta.
http://www.ivanwalsh.com Ivan Walsh

Hi Eddie,

Good to know I’m not the only one using a Mac and hearing that the Office 2011 will have the Ribbon is a bonus.

I’ve avoided it so far as I’ve heard the Mac version wasnt as good as the PC one. Dunno. Just what I heard.

Good to know about the Beta version. Must get the latest version asap.
Jim Reardan

Most of my “tech” writing is business process modeling: flowcharts, process definition documents, and spreadsheets. My MacBook Pro’s applications handle most of the load, but sometimes I have to run Windows apps (i.e. MS Visio, MS Project, Sparx Enterprise Architect). With Parallels installed, I have the ability to run a virtual Windows XP environment on the MacBook. Parallels lets me switch between the Mac and Windows environment easily.

I work on a project with various other tech contractors. Over the past year, at least half of the new contractors assigned to the project have shown up with Macs. Everyone says the same thing: “I’m sick of all the problems with Windows.”

Jim Reardan
Process1st Consulting, LLC
http://www.Process1st.com
http://www.BPIJournal.com
Ted Rainey

I primarily use Mac and use both Camtasia for Mac and Windows. I found Camtasia for Mac to be nice but not as nice as the version for Windows – it has a better look and feel to it – but a lot of the functions are hidden, making it a little harder to use.
Like the other posters, I run Windows in a VM on Parallels when I have to – which is quite often – I run MadCap Flare in Coherence mode on my Win 7 VM – runs great.
http://www.ivanwalsh.com Ivan Walsh

Hi Jim,

My setup is very similar. I haven’t looked into the Parallels like you mentioned, sounds like a good work around.

Interesting that more TWs are moving to the Mac OS. It’s definitely a joy to work with
http://www.ivanwalsh.com Ivan Walsh

Hi Ted,

…Windows in a VM on Parallels

I need to look into this as I can see it will help with some of the VAs we have on a new project. Great to hear that MadCap works so well. One of my fav suite of tools.