Aw: Video Documentation Tools?

[e -dot- dickinson -at- gmx -dot- net]

   Hello Frank, hello All,

   I have worked with DaVinci Resolve too, mentioned it. It is like
   Lightworks and Premiere Pro an NLE.
   IF I am not mistaken, DaVinci is a little while now - you can try
   finding in the settings the option where the dark background can be
   made lighter, I seem to remember similar to premiere Po that is
   possible.

   OR try Lightworks. Lightworks lets you completely customize all and any
   colour of your interface with the settings under "Appearance". It is
   very similar, as far as import of clips and usage of the timeline goes,
   to the other two. And is also available in a very powerful free
   version.

   And I agree with Steve, you can use online tools for voiceovers.
   Another one is amazon's 'Polly', also fine voices available, most of
   its functions for free.
   sonix.ai makes automatic transcripts of audio and video files, either
   via upload or a link. You can edit them right there and export as
   subtitle files too (SRT for example).

   Kind regards
   Nina



   Gesendet: Donnerstag, 19. September 2024 um 15:41 Uhr
   Von: "Frank Dissinger" <frank -dot- dissinger -at- cgs-oris -dot- com>
   An: "'Steve VE'" <vaneschs -at- outlook -dot- com>
   Cc: "TechWrite List" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
   Betreff: Video Documentation Tools?
   Thank you for the link. I read the discussion. Indeed, turning off all
   lights in my office improves UI contrast to some extent. But I have no
   shutters in my office. So I could only use DaVinci Resolve during the
   evening and night time or perhaps on a very cloudy day. Not really an
   option...
   Von: Steve VE <vaneschs -at- outlook -dot- com>
   Gesendet: Donnerstag, 19. September 2024 15:24
   An: Frank Dissinger <frank -dot- dissinger -at- cgs-oris -dot- com>
   Cc: TechWrite List <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
   Betreff: Re: Video Documentation Tools?
   Sorry to hear that! It would seem that it's not possible to switch to a
   lighter theme: [1]https://forum.blackmagicdesign.com/viewtopic.php?f=21
   <[2]https://forum.blackmagicdesign.com/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=113327>
   &t=113327
   Too bad. Personally, I find Camtasia works fine so perhaps you can keep
   it and try Descript all the same. The amount of time we save using
   Descript more than justifies the monthly cost.
   On Thursday, Sep 19, 2024 at 09:18, Frank Dissinger
   <frank -dot- dissinger -at- cgs-oris -dot- com <mailto:frank -dot- dissinger -at- cgs-oris -dot- com> >
   wrote:
   Thank you, Steve.
   I have installed DaVinci Resolve. The user interface has a very poor
   contrast and I am unable to work with it. All controls are gray on a
   black background, only a few are white. The gray color turns white and
   contrasts well on mouse over. Can I switch to another theme with a
   better contrast? How?
   Best regards,
   Frank
   -----Urspruengliche Nachricht-----
   Von: techwr-l-bounces+frank -dot- dissinger=cgs-oris -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
   <mailto:techwr-l-bounces+frank -dot- dissinger=cgs-oris -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- co
   m> <techwr-l-bounces+frank -dot- dissinger=cgs-oris -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
   <mailto:techwr-l-bounces+frank -dot- dissinger=cgs-oris -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- co
   m> > Im Auftrag von Steve VE
   Gesendet: Donnerstag, 19. September 2024 12:36
   An: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com <mailto:techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
   Betreff: Re: TECHWR-L Digest, Vol 219, Issue 3
   Camtasia is a fine tool but if it's not meeting your needs, you are
   willing to learn a new, relatively complex tool, and you have the
   processing power for it, consider daVinci Resolve
   ([3]https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/davinciresolve). The
   basic version does 95% of the full version and is free. The full
   version is USD$300 which is a serious bargain for the power of this
   software.
   Consider Descript for your captions
   ([4]https://www.descript.com/captions). Drop your file into your
   browser and the captions are created automatically. You can also
   dispense with making voiceovers as Descript will create those
   automatically as well ([5]https://www.descript.com/ai-voices). You can
   use your own voice or a voice from the library. The time saved with
   this tool is enormous.
   ----------------------------------------------------------------------
   Message: 1
   Date: Wed, 18 Sep 2024 16:15:18 +0200
   From: "Frank Dissinger" <frank -dot- dissinger -at- cgs-oris -dot- com
   <mailto:frank -dot- dissinger -at- cgs-oris -dot- com> >
   To: "TechWrite List" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
   <mailto:techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> >
   Subject: Video Documentation Tools?
   Message-ID: <000401db09d5$308a5de0$919f19a0$ -at- cgs-oris -dot- com
   <mailto:000401db09d5$308a5de0$919f19a0$ -at- cgs-oris -dot- com> >
   Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
   Hi list,
   I am looking for a suitable tool for creating and editing video
   documentation. I am working for software company which is rather small
   and I am the only techwrite person there, so the tool must be
   affordable with a small budget.
   We purchased Camtasia in 2018 and I have used in in a few occasions.
   Maybe it?s a good choice, maybe it?s worth updating it to the latest
   version. But perhaps there are better tools. What is the state of the
   art?
   I would like to create a series of small modular instruction videos
   for our new product, composed of screen recordings and perhaps
   recordings from a camera because I also have to show tasks to be done
   on a printer and scanner. Subtitles may be easier and quicker to
   create, edit and translate than voiceover. I imagine that I can create
   a video project with multiple subtitle tracks, each for a different
   language (two or three only) and then produce the video in each
   language.
   Ideally, there would be a library with material required frequently
   across all video projects, such as intros and outros, company and
   product logos and perhaps some general tasks or text snippets.
   I imagine that it would be extremely helpful if I could easily
   reformat the text snippets (in the subtitle tracks and in the
   libraries) with a few clicks, e.g. by selecting a style that applies a
   font, font size, text color and so on. I may have chosen a certain
   style in the beginning, but then our marketing department may decide
   that another font should be used and I do not want to edit each and
   every callout on every subtitle track. However, this does not seem to
   be possible with Camtasia. Do other tools support this?
   Freundliche Gr??e | Best regards
   Frank Dissinger
   Documentation Manager
   ..........................................
   CGS ORIS GmbH
   Email frank -dot- dissinger -at- cgs-oris -dot- com
   <mailto:frank -dot- dissinger -at- cgs-oris -dot- com>
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   Hainburg
   | Germany Phone +49 6182 9626-0 | Fax +49 6182 9626-99 Commercial
   register Offenbach, HRB no. 21495 Managing directors Bernd R?ckert,
   Christoph Thommessen ?
   ------------------------------
   Message: 2
   Date: Wed, 18 Sep 2024 18:28:52 +0200
   From: "Frank Dissinger" <frank -dot- dissinger -at- cgs-oris -dot- com
   <mailto:frank -dot- dissinger -at- cgs-oris -dot- com> >
   To: <e -dot- dickinson -at- gmx -dot- net>
   Cc: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com <mailto:techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
   Subject: Video Documentation Tools?
   Message-ID: <001601db09e7$d972db00$8c589100$ -at- cgs-oris -dot- com
   <mailto:001601db09e7$d972db00$8c589100$ -at- cgs-oris -dot- com> >
   Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
   Hi Nina,
   Thank you very much for sharing your experience with me.
   Best regards,
   Frank
   Von: e -dot- dickinson -at- gmx -dot- net <mailto:e -dot- dickinson -at- gmx -dot- net>
   <e -dot- dickinson -at- gmx -dot- net <mailto:e -dot- dickinson -at- gmx -dot- net> >
   Gesendet: Mittwoch, 18. September 2024 17:46
   An: Frank Dissinger <frank -dot- dissinger -at- cgs-oris -dot- com
   <mailto:frank -dot- dissinger -at- cgs-oris -dot- com> >
   Cc: TechWrite List <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
   <mailto:techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> >
   Betreff: Video Documentation Tools?
   Hello Frank,
   off of the top of my head I can share some experience in
   screenrecording and editing video:
   The state-of-the-art free and commercial tools for recording and
   editing screen material in the same place are:
   * Adobe Captivate (rather expensive, leader of the field, esepcially
   for eLearning)
   * TechSmith Camtasia (you mentioned it) - I've worked with it (too) and
   it is very well done, for the use cases it is created for.
   * Active Presenter (Atomic Systems), sort of 'little sister' to Adobe
   Captivate, very similar interface layout, the free version already
   crammed full with features; paid you would want to evaluate/try out.
   But less dear than Captivate.
   * (OBS Studio: Very smart screen recording options, but no editing.)
   * IF you really want to heavily not only edit with smart features and
   *keep a sort of styles library*, you may want to look at a
   *combination of an NLE* and the above *screenrecording-geared
   applications*;
   * NLEs being famously Adobe Premiere Pro (commercial), Lightworks (free
   and paid version available, runs smoothly on Linux as well), DaVinci
   Resolve (free and paid) and Shotcut (free). There is Kdenlive, also
   great, but last time I checked, it was a little unstable on Windows,
   highly recommended for Linux, though.
   * *NLE*: "non-linear Editor"; it means that you can import compliant
   files (these days usually h264 codec in MP4 'container') and then use
   the timeline to split, combine, add and delete parts of them without
   the original file being touched. Additionally, you can 're-string' your
   edited clips any way and order you like. Thus the phrase 'NLE'.
   * I work primarily on Adobe Premiere Pro and would recommend it as part
   of the CC. You could use the "nested sequence" feature for example, for
   re-using material, esp. intros, outros, etc. -> Projects inside it are
   based on XML and that way you can copy & paste your sequences, the
   editing is performant, exporting into any and each format breeze,
   including heaps of templates as well as almost unlimited custom
   settings (based in turn on the ffmpeg library, therefore performant).
   * *Note on the side*: I've edited digital video for over 20 years now,
   the creative parts for over 6 and I hope my information is of use. Am
   *not* affilitated to any of those. :)
   *What I'd like to strongly recommend too*:
   * When deciding on a new application, follow the classical approach of
   creating a requirements sheet/list.
   * Watch out for hardware requirements (just saying. :) )
   * Start - or continue, as it were - research along those requirements.
   * Evaluate 4-5 tools.
   * Choose 2 or 3 to test along those requirements.
   * Take advantage of any trainings and free demos the vendors offer.
   * Present to the stakeholders...
   Good luck!
   Kind regards
   Nina
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References

   1. https://forum.blackmagicdesign.com/viewtopic.php?f=21
   2. https://forum.blackmagicdesign.com/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=113327
   3. https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/davinciresolve
   4. https://www.descript.com/captions
   5. https://www.descript.com/ai-voices
   6. http://www.cgs-oris.com/
   7. http://www.cgs-oris.com/
   8. http://www.cgs-oris.com/
   9. https://techwhirl.com/
  10. http://www.techwhirl.com/email-discussion-groups/
  11. http://techwhirl.com/
  12. http://techwr-l.com/archives
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