Camtasia Studio support of MP4, SWF, and FLV file formats

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What video sizes and frame rates will the new Camtasia support? I have never used your product but we are considering a purchase. I like the move away from FLV for h.264. Overall you will get a better picture. When we shoot events they are always shot in 1920x1080 60i so it would be awesome if Camtasia will support a 1920x1080 format even it is has to be progressive.

Thanks.

Hi Phil,

We do support 1080p resolution for both import and production. It will be progressive and a max of 30fps (the editor edits at 30fps internally).

Randy

Thanks for the quick reply Randy. I tried looking on the site but could not find any info about recording specs. I would use Camtasia to record a Power Point and then edit bits and pieces into a video of the presentation. So being able to keep everything the same resolution is extremely helpful.

Thanks again.

Hi All,

I used Camtasia Studio 7 to create FLV video without any problem. I just upgraded my Camtasia Studio to 8, but cannot find the FLV video output. Please help. Thanks!

Kind regards,

Mel

This reply was created from a merged topic originally titled
How to Create FLV Video in Camtasia Studio 8.

Where I understand everything said above, I also use Captivate to create eLearning modules, which will only let me import FLV files and not MP4, therefore, I have to go through a second conversion now, which reduces the quality.

I Just purchased BlueBerry Flashback Pro and I solved my problem

In Camtasia 78 there was an Express Show production preset that let me produce .swf files from short video clips. I can't find anywhere in Camtasia 8 to adjust the Flash Options. What am I missing?

This reply was created from a merged topic originally titled
SWF objects.

For all of you that need FLV I would recommend producing in high quality avi then running through a product like sorenson squeeze to create your FLV video, should you need swf buy Adobe Flash, while you may invest another $600 to $1000 you should be able to create the files you desire.

Guy's stop taking away useful features in a new version of the product, giving users less choice is a backwards move. FLV is still useful and is used on some platforms, I don't want to have to re-encode twice in a separate tool, that wastes time.

I have to add my voice to the others who think the elimination of flv and swf is a significant setback. I just spent the entire day trying to identify the implications of going from SWF to MP4 in my circumstances. Here are some observations and comments:

1) The MP4 videos are bigger than the SWF videos I used to get (I have to degrade the MP4 video and audio settings significantly to get the file sizes down to reasonable levels). I'm not sure how my customers are going to react to this.

2) From what I can tell, the implementation of the controller, pause on start, hotspots, quizzes, closed captions and tables of contents in MP4 requires a bunch of extra utility files and folders in addition to the MP4 file -- where SWF could implement most or all of these features within the single SWF file itself. In a nutshell, I used to be able to give my customers a single SWF file and that was all they needed for things like hotspots and tables of contents. With MP4, it now looks like I will have to give them an MP4 file, 2 SWF files, 2 html files, 1 xml file, 1 css file, 2 png files, 1 scripts folder (with 6 js files in it) and 1 skins folder (with 1 file and another folder in it). I find it a bit ironic that SWF utility files have to be used to implement this functionality with MP4.

3) I now have to work with my customers to change processes and web site setups that we have had in place for years. They are (or will be) unwilling and unhappy about having to do this. I try to explain to them that I have no choice if I am to continue using current versions of my software -- and that my software vendor forced me into this situation, but they still aren't happy with me about it. This move might be good for your business, but it's not good for my business.

4) It would have been nice if you would have given us more warning that you would remove this functionality. I didn't find out about this change until after I purchased and installed Camtasia Studio V8. When I saw that the SWF and FLV features were missing, I had to dig around to find out what was going on. I am not accustomed to investigating new versions of software I have used for years to find out what features the vendor has removed. It is bad enough to remove longstanding features from a product, but at least give us plenty of proactive warning and a version or two of upgrades before pulling the plug on such features.

5) Recommending that people who need SWF and FLV continue using Camtasia Studio 7 or lower (and never upgrade to V8 or higher) is not a very good strategy. You are putting your customers in a position of having to choose between necessary functionality and new features.

6) The process of upgrading from V7 to V8 has cost me a lot of time, effort and goodwill from my customers. I hate to put it this way, but that is a mean thing to do to me and your other customers in a similar situation.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do at this point, but if your software is going to cost me time, business and a good name with my customers, it makes it very hard to continue using your software. I have been a good Camtasia customer for years and enjoy the product, but it is difficult to stick with the product when you make decisions that cause me to have to absorb these kinds of costs and stress.

Sorry if any of this comes across as terse or impatient, but you really pulled the rug out from under us. I'm trying to be as constructive as I can, given the circumstances.

Please reconsider your decision to remove this functionality. Thank you.

thanx for info, but as for me, i prefer to convert video to flash using this tool http://www.macvide.com/Macvide_VideoF..., it's simple and nice!)

It's for this reason that I always recommend keeping the previous version installed (for backwards compatibility and deprecated features. I agree, the future is most certainly MP4/HTML 5, but it does seem shortsighted to throw all the format options out when they're still very popular in real world.

I have been producing the majority of my videos in .MP4 for a while. However, I have a learning management development program that allows me to create software simulations required for many lessons and it will only accept .swf and .flv.

While I understand the need to follow the industry trends and standards; I don't see the harm in maintaining a feature that many of your customers find useful and necessary. Especially if you've already developed the capability - why take it away?

thanx for info, but as for me, i always use this flash to video converter http://www.macvide.com/Macvide_FlashV..., it's simple and nice!)

I also have problems with browsers. I bought version 7.1 and should not do the upgrade from version 8. Also did not like the exclusion tool Theater ...

I can confirm that updating to Flash Player 11.4 solved the problem with our video in Firefox (Mike S: also checked your site's video and it works for me too).

Now if the Camtasia video player could check for Flash Player version and warn the user that would be all we need.

If Techsmith is going to address this issue and add a Flash Player version check I would suggest to have a look at SWFObject and how it is used in Flex.

It does SWF embedding, minimum Flash Player version check and express Flash Player updating if needed. You only need to make a single Javascript call to have this all done for you.

For a developer that is familiar with Flash and Javascript this should be a simple job to do.

Whatever the reason, you could have retained the .swf output format in Camtasia. If not in Camtasia, please provide the option in SnagIT to convert an .AVI file to .SWF

This reply was created from a merged topic originally titled
Please allow saving as .SWF.

Firstly I agree to all the negative comments above here.
I use CS very often, like weekly. I mostly create web-videos in SWF format, sometimes FLV.
I was very happy with my V7.

Recently we bought CS8 and now I am struggling to create my videos in MP4 format. It is actually impossible to create videos that have the same quality like my SWF videos. Also the player is different and there is the ugly black background.

This + the less intuitive and less responsive interface of V8 (yes it feels like I'm using a different program with other shortkeys) make me unhappy.

CS8 for me is a disappointment.

Well, I just updated to the latest Adobe Flash (for the 4th time), but still can't get Camtasia default-level MP4's to play in Firefox. I get a window in my browser that I can right-click and pull up a Flash context menu, but I have nothing that will play. A timeline is at the bottom, and I can click play/pause (even see the video duration), but nothing happens; the timeline never advances to even one second of the duration.
The same thing happens in I. E., with security on medium-high defaults.
However, I CAN open the MP4 directly in Win Media Player.
The problem seems to be more than a Camtasia issue though, because I can't play YouTube videos in Firefox anymore, but I CAN in I.E. Not sure what gives...

I created a video in Camtasia 8, produced it in MP4 and uploaded to my screencast.com account. When I went to embed the file and share it on my training website, Screencast says, "Embed not allowed, download only" or something. Was it because it was a 33 mb file size? I was kind of bummed that it wouldn't embed. Thanks,
Mike

Hi Mike,
That doesn't sound like normal behavior unless the folder privacy level is set to Private. The size of the video file has nothing to do with its ability to be shared, embedded or otherwise. Perhaps a screenshot of the exact error, or a quick screencast of you experiencing the problem would help.

Otherwise, you might be best served by our technical support staff. You can enter a case by visiting: http://techsmith.custhelp.com/app/uti... You'll need to create an account if you haven't before. Your Screencast.com credentials won't automatically work with our support site...yet.

Hope this helps.

Sincerely,
Dirk Frazier
Product Manager

Ok, thank you for the reply. I do have the folder set to "hidden". maybe that is the issue? I guess I could leave it public as it probably wouldn't get caught in any search engine results.

Mike,
Hidden folders should allow content to be embedded and public content has the chance of being crawled. I suspect something else is going on. I would keep the folder hidden and get in touch with our technical support staff for assistance. I'm sure they can help!

- Dirk

I WANT to use the FLV format. You should keep all options CAMTASIA earlier and not try to tell me what format should I export or not. I paid $ 300.00 for software that does not do what I wanted to do: export to FLV format. I want to have the FREEDOM to choose the format that I'm using ...

When can we have an official response on if FLV will be introduced back into Camtasia again?... most of us agree that FLV is still useful and it was a short-sighted move to remove it at this point in time. If it's not going to be introduced I won't be upgrading or buying any new versions of this software.

In response and defense to any software company. Think of it like this people. The newest and latest greatest product just come out (open) in the market and you decide to purchase it. Then 1 month or 1 year later it is discontinued or a new similar product is taking over. Would you still use the old discontinued or going out of style product or upgrade and try the new?

I guess what I am trying to say and give my 2 cents worth here is that TechSmith is looking into the future for this issue as FLV is being faded out and replaced with new and better format(s). So, you have to decide what you would like better. Choices are one thing in life we all have and can make. I like the new mp4 format that is giving better quality than the flv for what I use it for. So, it is not that they are ignoring paying or any type of customer(s) they are just trying to keep their software updated with the latest technologies and they do listen but, they in turn have to decide what is the best and not so best for the company in the long run. With FLV fading out it is probably not a great decision they see to keep it implemented when it will eventually be by the way side. Ok, I am done with giving my feelings on this. You all have a great day and take it for what it is worth.

Nobody here is saying not to invest in MP4 and for me don't need to invest in improving FLV. What we want the OPTION conversion exists. Whatever I choose the format you want and not the company chooses for me. I want to have the FREEDOM to choose what format I'll convert my video. I do not want the company to choose it for me. In Camtasia 6 this has not occurred? Once back in Camtasia 7. This program is not going to free for me, and I hoped that the features of Camtasia 7 were maintained and some improvement occurred for the new version and old features that were not removed.