Add Chroma Key editing (green screen) to Camtasia Studio
I would like to see Green/Blue screen (or Chroma key) editing functionality in Camtasia. I have a video of a person talking and shoot against a green colored background. I would like to merge this with a regular screen recording. Other software can do this (such as the one at www.tubetape.net). There is a filter to switch-out the green colored background and let the screen recording show through where ever the green color was located. You can see this on evening news programs, esp. with the weather forecaster walking in front of a map and pointing to items on the screen. That's the effect I want to produce.
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EMPLOYEE
I’m
grateful for all the ways you help us improve
Hey all - I know it's hard to wait and the wait has definitely been longer than we anticipated. But the release that contains the chroma key feature (along with a number of other goodies) is currently in testing with our technical preview / beta group. Some of the "under the hood" changes are pretty far-reaching, which calls for extensive testing. That process is not perfectly linear and predictable. If an issue surfaces during testing, we take the time needed to fix it properly and test some more to make sure no new problem was introduced.
We have internal conversations about when and how much to reveal about the product roadmap...always in the context of what's best for the customer. In this case, we decided to be a bit more open than usual by letting everyone know a particular feature was slated for the next minor release. But perhaps despite our best intentions it was not helpful to share that information? We appreciate feedback on that, too. -
EMPLOYEE
7You’ll notice that we’ve changed the status of this post from “Under Consideration” to “Planned.” Yes, we’re pleased to share the news that chroma key/green screen editing is planned for the next minor release of Camtasia Studio 8. This means the feature will be free for all existing Camtasia Studio 8 customers. We sincerely appreciate your feedback. You were all very clear about your request! Thank you so much.
I know your next question will be “when?!” We don’t have a date confirmed, but we can tell you that this first minor release of Camtasia Studio 8 will have several of our users’ most-requested improvements and features. This means that we still have some testing and building to do before we release. If you click “+1” on this post, you will receive an automatic notification when we update this post the same day the build is available.
Thanks again for all of your feedback.
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Please, please, please guess at a timeline. I need to purchase other software if this isn't going to happen somewhat soon. I already have three colleagues that went elsewhere, but I am trying to talk people into "standing in the pocket" and waiting for the Chroma Key release. Is this anytime soon? I need this!!!
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In Camtasia for MAC, the user can remove specific colors (i.e.) green screen. This is very basic and I'm surprised at this point in time its not in both versions. There may be other features in the MAC that are not in the PC and visa-versa.
In addition, TechSmith should make a better effort to keep both editions, PC/MAC, up-to-date in comparable feature sets. This will make for happier and more loyal customers.
This reply was created from a merged topic originally titled
Add Color-Key Feature to Camtasia PC like in the MAC version. -
I haven't said anything about chroma keying for a long time, because I fully expected this to be the main new feature in version 8. I'd guess there are others that were lulled into thinking this same thing too. I was totally surprised and caught off guard when it didn't show. Anyway, please, please, please, Camtasia developers, for the love of good user experience, please add chroma keying with top priority!!!
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EMPLOYEE
4Ever since the "Remove a color" feature appeared in Camtasia for Mac ver 2.1.0, we've been overwhelmed with requests for this on the Windows side. The bad news is that this feature didn't make it into Camtasia Studio 8.0.0. The good news is that we've taken a giant step toward making this and other visual effects possible in Camtasia Studio 8.
There are a ton of performance improvements in Camtasia Studio 8, and frankly, those had to come first. With the rendering engine we had in Camtasia Studio 7, adding chroma key was too CPU intensive, and would have been a very poor experience. Camtasia Studio 8 gives us a brand new render engine, and a foundation we can build on. I can't promise features or talk about our future plans in this public forum. But I can promise you that the team is tuned in, listening to your feedback, and excited to add new features that will help you take your screencasts to the next level.
We do appreciate your feedback. Please keep it coming. -
Personally, I would just like to see fewer disparities between Camtasia Studio and Camtasia for Mac.
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Hi Anthony,
Thanks for the idea. It's nice to see users request something that I personally would like to see go into the product.
It's something I know we have toyed around with, but there's no commitment to add it yet. One thing that's tricky about chroma keying is the user experience. Getting a good result often requires careful tuning of a handful of settings, since chroma keying is a fairly complicated algorithm. In most image/video editors that support that functionality, it's perfectly alright for them to have half a dozen sliders because the user needs training on the software to use it effectively anyway. Camtasia Studio is all about ease-of-use, so it's important that we find a way to make the process simple for the average user, yet produce a result with acceptable quality. There would also be a performance vs. quality trade-off, since chroma keying is essentially an image processing technique being applied 30 times/second.
If we can get enough user support for the idea, we can turn it into a feature request, which would probably increase the chances of making it into the product. So, get some friends to vote on it! (because I'd love to work on it)
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Hi Anthony,
Thanks for the idea. It's nice to see users request something that I personally would like to see go into the product.
It's something I know we have toyed around with, but there's no commitment to add it yet. One thing that's tricky about chroma keying is the user experience. Getting a good result often requires careful tuning of a handful of settings, since chroma keying is a fairly complicated algorithm. In most image/video editors that support that functionality, it's perfectly alright for them to have half a dozen sliders because the user needs training on the software to use it effectively anyway. Camtasia Studio is all about ease-of-use, so it's important that we find a way to make the process simple for the average user, yet produce a result with acceptable quality. There would also be a performance vs. quality trade-off, since chroma keying is essentially an image processing technique being applied 30 times/second.
If we can get enough user support for the idea, we can turn it into a feature request, which would probably increase the chances of making it into the product. So, get some friends to vote on it! (because I'd love to work on it) -
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EMPLOYEE
1Thanks Anthony! While our bread and butter is screen recording, things like the inexpensive HD video cameras (like the Flip and Kodak Zi8) push us to consider more live video functionality. This feature could lead to some creative uses.
Would others use this? If so, how?- view 3 more comments
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the argument about it being complicated, yada yada, by TechSmith washes out when it is standard in Mac.
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Please don't worry so much about making chromakey "simple" that it stops you from implementing it. As I think Einstein said, things should be as simple as possible, but not more so. If people have to watch a tutorial or two, or three, to master chromakey, well I think we can handle that. It almost seems like you think Windows people are too stupid to grasp these ideas, but Mac users - well, that's a different story!
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I agree it is a necessary feature, particularly where one is wanting to create a video (PIP) with a professional backdrop. It looks so much better.
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Hi Anthony
You might want to check out WebCamMax. You could maybe use it in conjunction with Camtasia to achieve your goal.
http://www.webcammax.com/
Rick :) -
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Heya Guys!
Camtasia is great.. although I use other software for chroma Key. I think Camtasia would benefit from having Chroma Key added. even raising the cost of camtasia by 50 bucks and it would be a win for everyone.
Tracy -
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I have a really fun project that I'm working on where a chroma key is a great option. Unfortunately, it sounds like Camtasia (TechSmith) won't find it as much fun as I do since editing for a chroma key is unsupported. This means using another software (maybe a 30-day trail version of Sony Vegas, Final Cut) and then trying to find the best output format to import into Camtasia for additional editing and combining with other project elements. If this sounds painful.... Do you have any GREAT suggestions or tips to minimize my frustration during this FUN work project??
Thanks,
Erik-
Erik, buy a Mac, the Mac version of Camtasia, and you're set. It's the long-time Win users who lost out in the deal, with CS/Mac getting it in its initial release.
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EMPLOYEE
1In CS7, we do not have the ability to mask out a certain color, as is typically done with green screens. So this would need to be done in a 3rd party tool.
You can use a keyed video (with per-pixel alpha values) on the PIP track. But there's a trick... it needs to be a 32-bit uncompressed AVI. So if you'd like to composite a lower-third or other keyed video, it can be done in CS7.
Hope this helps. -
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Do you have a tutorial on how that is accomplished on a PC running Windows 7 and a MAC on both versions of Camtasia? That would be a great tutorial to have in the learning center because that topic comes up a lot. Let us know. Thanks for the information and keep up the great work.
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the feature is currently [June 2012] available only in the Mac version
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I would like to see Chroma Key added. I have used Camtasia for many years, doing software tutorials, where the only video I needed was screenshots. Now, I see the need to cut in and out with me in front of the webcam as a talking head. I don't need my audience to see the basement, from which I work. I want them to see me in some other virtual environment. If Camtasia doesn't have this feature, I will have to look for some other tool. I would regret switching, as I have become fairly proficient at using Camtasia. The lack of Chroma Key will become a show-stopper, however. I will have to have this feature. Thanks for listening.
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Hi there network.jd
I totally agree with the need, but I don't understand why you think it's a mutually exclusive thing? Since Camtasia is able to bring in a second video clip that is superimposed on the original, why couldn't you record in another tool that does support chroma and bring that in as the PIP?
Sure, it would be great if Camtasia eventually added this capability, but until it happens I would think it would behoove anyone to seriously consider mixing tools for achieving the best overall result.
Cheers... Rick :) -
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Hello Rick and Network.jd:
I believe Networks point is that is it a matter of perspective from the viewers stand point. not to mention that there has been a big trend in chroma key for more than a year now.
Network.jd; I have already moved on to using other software for chroma key. Not to mention that Macs Imovie already come with the ability, you can find plugins for windows live online to have chroma key done. Though I personally use Sony Vegas for video editing. It is rather pricey though.
PiP maybe useful in some cases. However I don't see it as a trend anymore. Trainers don't normally put their face in the picture using pip. They typically Stand in the video if they are going to be in the picture now. That is unless they are using Ustream for a live broadcast.
Cam Studio needs to catch up. or it will be phased out eventually.
Network.jd: I still use the video storage service with Techsmith. I feel it has been the best video service system, and it allows for me to control my content with out a confusing system like youtube. once you understand the video panel, it is cake and easy to use. -
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Please add the ability to chroma key to Camtasia so I don't have to go to another program. Movie Maker is free and makes this easy.so why not Camtasia?
This reply was created from a merged topic originally titled
Want to chromakey on my PC. -
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CHAMP
2I would like to see this implemented into Camtasia Studio for the PC Version as it has been around longer than the Mac Version and I do not want to buy a Mac as of right now. It would be nice to see this implemented into the next version of Camtasia Studio (PC) then I do not have to use a 3rd Party Software and have twice the work to bring it in live while recording.
Put me in for a vote to add it and a Feature Request.
Thanks and have a great Screencastic Day! -
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I sure hope to see the green screen feature in the upcoming version of Camtasia ;)
John Kirk-
Thanks, John! Great to bump into you the other day. :)
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Personally, I would just like to see fewer disparities between Camtasia Studio and Camtasia for Mac.
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another excellent point ... and if a version is to be lacking, it should be the less-established step-brother Mac version.
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I do a lot of video work (pre-recorded and live streaming), and would be overjoyed if Camtasia Studi for Windows would "catch up" with the Mac version, especially with the ability to "green screen". There are other alternatives to Camtasia, but I cureently like and am proficient with Camtasia and don't relish having to learn two systems and work on the files twice. So throw my hat into the ring for adding green screen capability to the Windows version. Soon please! :-)
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OMG YES --- I would be flabbergasted if your bring out Ver 8 and don't have Green Screen for PC !! Been waiting and hoping for it for a long time.
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Definitely overdue for chromakey being native in CS for main and PIP. Having to use another app to handle my blue-screen work isn't high on the efficiency list.
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Chromakey is exactly what I was looking for, for such a long time in Camtasia. I tried several things - even using a separate camera, edit with another program and then bringing this finished film into camtasia - but this was such a load of work. Wow - this feature will save me days! I am really looking forward to this. Will it be included in the windows version of camtasia 8?
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I'm really bummed out right now. I was eagerly awaiting Camtasia 8 release because I was assuming it would finally have the chroma keying I want and need. But no joy. I like Camtasia, but I'll have to start looking elsewhere.
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Adobe Premier Elements 10 does Chroma Keying. However it is fairly new and works on Windows OS only at the moment. listed 80 bucks on adobe site.
however it does not do screen capture, which is what a lot of people use Camtasia for. -
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What?! No chroma keying in 8. Their Mac version which is much cheaper than our version can do it. Well, I've already ordered and needed it for my 64-bit machine. Dang, I'm still going to have to use 2 softwares.
I chroma key with Sony Vegas Movie Studio 11. It's about $60 on Amazon. I also found a channel on YouTube that is wonderful and how I learned (look for TemporalParadox1's channel.-
sucks that the Mac version, so new, has so many features we've been seeking on the PC side, butis so inexpensive -- yet more feature-risk
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EMPLOYEE
4Ever since the "Remove a color" feature appeared in Camtasia for Mac ver 2.1.0, we've been overwhelmed with requests for this on the Windows side. The bad news is that this feature didn't make it into Camtasia Studio 8.0.0. The good news is that we've taken a giant step toward making this and other visual effects possible in Camtasia Studio 8.
There are a ton of performance improvements in Camtasia Studio 8, and frankly, those had to come first. With the rendering engine we had in Camtasia Studio 7, adding chroma key was too CPU intensive, and would have been a very poor experience. Camtasia Studio 8 gives us a brand new render engine, and a foundation we can build on. I can't promise features or talk about our future plans in this public forum. But I can promise you that the team is tuned in, listening to your feedback, and excited to add new features that will help you take your screencasts to the next level.
We do appreciate your feedback. Please keep it coming. -
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I understand what you're saying. But you handled this wrong. It would have been better to be upfront with us that chromakeying will not be added to this update. Our hopes were built up so high, and then we had to come crashing down.
Regardless, I'm looking forward to receiving the new version, and will look forward to later enhancements. Don't stop working hard.-
Hi Peggy, I don't have time to fish you a link, but an employee was on these forums over a month ago indicating chromakey will not make it into 8.0.0. They have done a very good job implementing user requests and I'm sure they will continue to do so in the future.
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I hope you can Make this happen very fast as I have 250 projects stacked up waiting for this feature. I want to be a Beta tester for it too
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I haven't said anything about chroma keying for a long time, because I fully expected this to be the main new feature in version 8. I'd guess there are others that were lulled into thinking this same thing too. I was totally surprised and caught off guard when it didn't show. Anyway, please, please, please, Camtasia developers, for the love of good user experience, please add chroma keying with top priority!!!
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Although it would be nice to have, I have to agree with Techsmith on this one. Good quality green screen is not always easy to get. It is a mixture of good lighting and knowing all the tweaks in the green screen software. Poor green screen quality is highly distracting. I have found the best results come from a prosumer or professional grade video editor. I use Premiere Pro CS6 and in the past I used Serious Magic until Adobe bought them. Yes this is pricey, but combined with good 3-point lighting it gives the best results. Sometimes I find I don't really need green screen, I just need a head shot off to the side. Then I use a black background on the video and I shoot the head shot with a flat black cloth backdrop. It is not as nice as green screen, but it is faster and easier to set up. With Camtasia 8 I can do the black background much easier and save the green screen for when it is really needed.
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Mark, it's a feature they added to Camtasia Mac -- at a cheaper price.
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Mark, TechSmith obvious understand good keying, as they build chroma key into Camtasia for Mac, the inexpensive infant product, yet left the PC version, despite having developed a new engine for CS8, devoid of the functionality.
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Well for one thing I love Camtasia's editing! But I hate to go to Windows Movie Maker everytime I need a green-screen! So heres my question, is Camtasia Studio 8 going to have green-screen software?
This reply was created from a merged topic originally titled
Is Camtasia Studio 8 going to have green screen software?. -
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I can only confirm that having chromakey function would be useful.
It indeed seems to be in the Mac version - so we have the capability?-
nope, PC users don't, just the crapple fanboy crowd.
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When will you add the Remove Color feature to Camtasia Studio 8? This is such a great feature as we have seen for Mac users in your 2.1 version for them, what about us PC users?
This reply was created from a merged topic originally titled
When Are Your Going To Add The Remove Color Feature In Camtasia For PC Users?. -
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I’m
Sad and frustrated, since I love camtasia but it doesn't fulfill my/our needs, even it seem to be capable (see Mac-Version)
Absolutly, I totally agree. Everyone who want's to create a little better videos for their customers using greenscreen is forced to do this part outside of camtasia, which means: DOUBLE THE WORK! I am honest. I LOVE CAMTASIA, but if there would be another solutions giving me satisfaction for this issue I would see myself being forced by Techsmith to leave Camtasia and use the other software, since I can not affort double work time, just because the software is not delivering that. So please TechSmith: Since I am so in Love with Camtasia: ADD THE GREENSCREEN FEATURE, so all of your Fan-Customers, really using the software, can stay with it - and are not forced to switch over to some other companies software (we don't want to), just because we're forced, since we're not getting from TechSmith, what we really need. I really assume the amount of posts here is giving you a very straight forward feedback what is needed as next step. I really hope you make the race and we're getting this feature soon. Hopefully before we have to wait for another FULL Version... . -
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Can you remove a color using Camtasia Studio - PC version?? I already saw Camtasia: Mac tutorial - not helpful for PC user.
This reply was created from a merged topic originally titled
Remove a color - PC.-
NO not yet.. thats what we are tring to get them to add.
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I want to stop following this topic, but it's not working. I continue to get the emails. What do I need to do? Thanks in advance.
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Peggy, near as I can tell it's an all or nothing thing. You either get messages from all posts or from none. Sorry.
Perhaps configure an email filter that just plops the messages into the trash bin when you get them? -
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Thanks, Rick. When I get the email, I click "Stop following this idea." Then on the page it reads that I'm no longer following...but they keep coming. I'll have to create a rule in Outlook to send them to trash, and I shouldn't have to do that.
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Seeing the videos mistakenly made me think that the version of Camcasia 8 (i had 7) for PC has this feature. I was sad to discover that its missing, and this made me think about the lack of WARNINGS about the differences of the MAC and Windows version in the tutorial videos.
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The bad news is that this feature didn't make it into Camtasia Studio 8.0.0. The good news is that we've taken a giant step toward making this and other visual effects possible in Camtasia Studio 8. use Premiere Pro CS6 and in the past I used Serious Magic until Adobe bought them. Yes this is pricey, but combined with good 3-point lighting it gives the best results.
I really hope you make the race and we're getting this feature soon. Hopefully before we have to wait for another FULL Version.
thank you.
bizworldusa -
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So people what software are you using to edit green screens? I am sure there are some free/basic programs that have this. Kind of surprising that with the price of this it isn't here! Been a long-time user and I have 7
my kids got a klutz book with a link to their free green screen editing online software:
http://www.klutz.com/index/page/stati...
sure there are better options?-
I chroma key with Sony Vegas Movie Studio 11. It's about $60 on Amazon. I also found a channel on YouTube that is wonderful and it's how I learned (look for TemporalParadox1's channel.
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I have Sony Vegas Movie Studio 11 and it sure does support green screen. Also, there is a free product called Lightworks that supports Chroma Key editing. http://www.lwks.com/index.php?option=...
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Hi! I was looking on how to add green screen to camtasia studio but when I figured out that you only can do it on mac. So I want to ask if someone from the camtasia developers can add green screen feature to windows. Please add this. Thanks. :)
This reply was created from a merged topic originally titled
Add Green Screen to camtasia 8 on Windows. -
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Hi! I just woner if the camtasia team could add a green screen feature to the windows version. I really need it for a video. And it would be very great if it easy to use. =) Hope that it will be added! :)
This reply was created from a merged topic originally titled
Green Screen on Windows. -
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Coming soon to Camtasia 11. Just after they reintroduce the Extend Frame function taken out of v7!
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To be clear, we did not remove the Extend Frame function in v8. We did change it, and we have received a lot of feedback that it's not useful in its current form. We are listening to this feedback, as well as to those requesting green screen effects. I can't talk about future features, fixes, or dates, except to say that these things are discussed with the team, and your voices have an impact on the things we work on. So please know that you've been heard.
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Thanks for your insight Dave. In my opinion, chroma keying should absolutely be at the top of your ToDo list there, in order to meet customer expectations for reasonable and minimal functionality (even if it is technically a harder task to do). You need to keep up with other products on the market at a minimum, and continue to shoot for superior features (like your screen grabbing) in order to excel in the market. You guys are so close to having a really, really great product, but not having chroma keying really undermines everything in my opinion. Please make us happy as soon as possible, and visualize how powerful our word of mouth promotion will be afterwards!
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Whew! I almost upgraded to v8. I am SO glad I checked to see if Chroma key was in 8.
I'll stay at 7 and switch to Sony Vegas 11.
Bye TechSmith you just lost an upgrade customer. -
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I'm Happy, if Chroma key is added on Camtasia Studio 8.0.3 or higher. Please Add this request feature. Because I love CS 8. if chroma kley is available, CS 8 is the best Video editor and recorder for windows. and one benefit of Camtasia studio. please add this feature 'Chroma key and Green Screen". Thank you
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WAX 2 has a decent Chroma Key config. Eyedropper to pick the color, slider to adjust the sensitivity.
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EMPLOYEE















https://www.youtube.com/user/Eilaithen1
http://download.cnet.com/VideoPad-Vid...
thank you for the support if u decide to have a look.
I dont care mutch for video pad its kind of bad but it got the job done when i had no money so....
And, my copy crashes horribly
Sign me,
Disappointed
Also, the team is tuned in right now and listening. If you have feature requests besides green screen, please create a separate topic and post them. This gives others the chance to chime in with their +1 on your idea, and gives us a picture of what people would like to see in future versions.
We appreciate your candid feedback. Please keep it coming.