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When you search the internet you will find dozens of tools to create interactive software demos or co-called screencasts. Here is a collection of the few that can really be recommended for professional use.
Tip:
For a checklist of criteria on how to choose the tool that fits your individual requirement best, please refer to Checklist: Choosing a Software Demo Tool.
Captivate
If there is anything like a Swiss Army knife among the authoring systems for software demos, then it is Captivate. The program offers a scope of functions that is by far the largest, especially in view of the quiz functions and branching scenarios. Despite this, the usage remains surprisingly simple.
Advantages: unsurpassed scope of functions, yet rather simple to use; flexible customization of the output; smooth translatability (XML export and re-import); attractive results
Disadvantages: comparatively high price; only very few output formats supported; unclear documentation; slow updates (Vista-compatibility, for example, took nearly one year)
Price: approx. $600
http://www.adobe.com
Demo Builder
Lying hidden behind an uncluttered user interface are more possibilities than you would guess at first sight. Despite the affordable price, there are hardly any wishes that it leaves unaddressed. When a movie is being recorded, the desktop can be temporarily cleared of all icons and running programs. You can record the movie against a virgin background, and after the recording is done, your desktop will appear again in all its original chaos.
Advantages: straightforward, simple and efficient to use; easy to update existing demos; text can be exported for external translation
Disadvantages: the player can be customized only to a limited extent
Price: approx. $250
http://www.demo-builder.com
Mimic
Unlike the other products listed here, Mimic focuses very specifically on the needs of technical documentation. You will frequently feel this, especially when it comes to updating your demos. Here, only Captivate comes close. Unique features are the possibility of using variables while working with texts, as well as composing projects from several individual movies. Individual scenes can also be used several times over, even in different projects.
Advantages: very efficient workflow; results can be easily updated later on; samples delivered are exemplary
Disadvantages: use requires some familiarization; externally created videos cannot be imported; small number of supported output formats
Price: approx. $300
http://www.madcapsoftware.com
ViewletBuilder
ViewletBuilder was one of the first tools on the market for building software demos. Keeping in line with its long history, the software is very mature, solid and professional today. It is one of the few programs that is available for Linux and Mac as well, but here the program sometimes lags a bit behind the Windows version.
Advantages: detailed configuration possible for reproduction quality and file size; comprehensive event control; text can be exported to XML for translation and then re-imported again
Disadvantages: poor documentation; few possibilities for animation; skins cannot be customized by user, but only as service from the producer
Price: approx. $400
http://www.qarbon.com
Camtasia Studio
One of the most well-known tools in the field of software demos and screencasting tools. The approach is purely full motion based, which makes it difficult to make changes to the recorded movies. Animation and interaction possibilities are rather sparse. If required, individual areas of a frame can be enlarged when the focus should be only on the details ("Zoom & Pan" feature). The center of action can automatically be pushed to the center of the screen, for example on small projection surfaces such as mobile devices ("SmartFocus" feature).
Advantages: large number of supported output formats; can even be integrated with external, camera generated "genuine" videos and hence also show actions performed with the hardware components of a product; useful functions for automatic improvement of audio quality (e.g. balancing, noise suppression); various useful add-ons
Disadvantages: hardly any functions for interactivity; navigation elements are placed in a separate Flash file, which makes embedding into online help difficult; demos difficult to update and to translate
Price: approx. $300
http://www.techsmith.com
BBFlashBack
A rather young product with several innovative features. Along with Camtasia, the only program that follows an exclusive full motion based approach. Therefore it is hardly possible to exchange individual frames later on. However, unlike with Camtasia, it is possible to make changes to the mouse movements subsequently and correct them if necessary.
Advantages: low price; easy to use; various innovative features: preview with fast forward and slow motion; speed of a particular range on the timeline can be adjusted with ease; autoscroll function can limit the movie to any given window size, the software automatically ensures that regions where the interaction is happening are displayed in the center
Disadvantages: no scene navigation; hardly any possibilities of animation; subsequent changes to the demos are difficult to make
Price: approx. $200
http://www.bbsoftware.co.uk
TurboDemo
In TurboDemo, some things are missing which are almost a standard today. Even the possibilities for precise timer controls are limited. However, the program has a unique global speed adjustment. The global speed setting can be made throughout the entire project. You can specify "minimum reading time", "character reading time" and "mouse pointer speed". Another plus is the large number of output formats. TurboDemo is the only tool with an export to Java. The Enterprise Version allows the recording (not editing) of demos on MAC OS and Linux.
Advantages: capture zone can be changed even during an ongoing recording; good Microsoft Word export; large number of supported formats; simple use
Disadvantages: high price; ; no timeline; no scene navigation; add-on software (to be bought) is needed for customizing player skins
Price: approx. €400 up to €1,000, depending on version
http://www.turbodemo.com
Wildform Flair
Flair is a bit out of line with the other programs presented here as it is a general Flash-based presentation software. PowerPoint slides, videos and animations can also be integrated. If you wish to create software demos alone, the other programs presented here are more efficient. However, if you are also going to be preparing marketing material or if you are looking for a more universally usable software Wildform Flair is an interesting alternative.
Advantages: wide spectrum of application; excellent import functions, including functions for several video formats and Flash data; imported PowerPoint data remain completely editable and will not be integrated as images, as is the case with many other programs
Disadvantages: since the creation of software demos is just one of several areas of application, the degree of automation here is relatively low; not uniformly Unicode-compatible
Price: approx. $300
http://www.wildform.com
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