You’ve probably heard of Camtasia Studio. It’s an excellent tool for recording demonstrations of software, and it makes for a fantastic marketing tool because not only can you demonstrate a software product or web-based interface, but you can also inject enthusiasm into your sales pitch with your voiceover. The main problem with it is the price! $299 can be a lot of money to find. Of course, Camtasia would pay for itself given enough product sales, but it’s still a lot of money.

I’ve been researching this field for a project that I’m working on, and I’ve come across a free alternative to Camtasia Studio. The Windows Media Encoder provides the capability to capture the screen into a Windows Media video file (WMV). You can add your own voiceover, so it basically provides the same functionality that Camtasia provides. It also has other capabilities, like broadcasting a live event, capturing images from attached devices such as webcams, and converting files to WMV format.

The only problem that I’m aware of, and I understand that it’s not a problem with Camtasia, is that WMV files can only be played on PCs running recent versions of Windows such as Windows XP. It’s not a problem for me because I’ll be using the application to demonstrate Windows software, but it’s something to bear in mind.

David Thomas, The Affiliate Marketer

Share|