Pre-set animated mouse

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  • Updated 2 years ago
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Respectfully, I got a bit frustrated as I didn't' feel like my inquiry was understood, but rather punted to Tech Support when I was really calling out a Problem/Idea. I've always got the feeling that the TechSmith team is using a bit more than just one product to realize the polish and pizzazz of their tutorial/advertisement videos for Camtasia. 

I know the Techsmith community has been asking for a mouse click animations for years - but nothing seems to change. 

For me, I'm also looking to raise the bar on my screencast/tutorial on product demos for my internal training audience. And I think the two biggest things that jar me from the smooth flow of a TechSmith tutorial is the having to scroll during my recording and the positioning of my mouse. 

I realize I can turn my mouse opacity down, but I wish TechSmith offered a pre-set way to animation a "fake" mouse that could be moved via custom animation and could "click" on cue. 

Thanks, 
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paulwilliamengle

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  • frustated

Posted 2 years ago

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2 years ago
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Jenm

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I agree,  especially the ability to make a fake click ripple would be very helpful.

I can do a fake mouse and click ripple to some degree of success, but it is a bit fiddly and not ideal in time taken or quality.
(Edited)
2 years ago
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Jayne Davids

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Hi,

A workaround would be to use an image of a cursor (transparent background) and use animations to make it move around the screen as you need it to.

Another effect I like to use is the Windows Mouse Properties feature (not sure about Mac). You can program a ripple effect where the cursor is when you press Ctrl which can then be captured during the recording:

I hope this helps, Jayne
2 years ago
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Joe Morgan

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As far as smooth animations goes?

I'm not entirely sure what your referring to. When the cursor fades out it fades out slowly. I would apply an animation and fade out the opacity over 1/2 a second to a second.Whatever looked best. Same with fading it back  in.

I'm confident TechSmith produces their tutorials using Camtasia and no other software.

Could you post a link to a videos and the times of the effects you are referring to?

Regards,Joe 
 
2 years ago
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Jenm

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It is fine if you get the mouse and click in the right place during filming, but sometime it is much easier to fake it. I do use an image of a cursor to fake the mouse, and I can even fake a click ripple by recording one on a plain background and removing that background colour. However it would be much easier, and hopefully better quality, if these were built in to the software as effects or annotations.
2 years ago
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davemillman

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I typically edit 5-minute live demos down to 660-90 seconds. No Internet viewer today wants to watch every mouse twitch or hear every "Um, ah..." in the narration. When it is convenient, I keep the recorded cursor, but as often as not I'll edit it's motion by deleting every frame where it is static or moves very little. If the cursor isn't moving, that frame is content-free.

This approach is massively time consuming, but I don't produce long tutorials, just sales-oriented, highly-polished short demos.

Closing the loop, I fake the cursor wherever necessary. The most common changes I make:
  • Cursor drags across the screen are seldom smooth or constant speed
  • Demo givers tend to hesitate 1-5 seconds over a button before clicking it
  • After clicking a button, the screen may take 2-10 seconds to respond and repaint completely
SO I'm firmly in the camp of faking and modifying cursor actions.
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