Hopefully this section can be used to capture a few salient points to use for guidelines to our screencasts. Our thoughts first:

• Screencasts should be short (3-5 minutes)
• Point of need placement
• Include audio - clearly spoken, no 'umms'
• Include info on webpage about how long the screencast is (or podcast) and perhaps give important time stamps that show change of topic.

Here are some notes from our Camtasia studio training:

First agree on:
Learning Objectives
How to evaluate? Flash quizzes?
Who is your audience?
What connection speed might they have?
What are their expectations and requirements eg. Disabilities
How will it be delivered: via web, cdrom, etc.
This has implications for the file type and size, especially for web delivery.
What format for the content – screen capture, PIP, voice narration
Consider watermarking with regard to Intellectual Property
Where to save our files. Suggestion: flash files to web team drive (through Pete?), project files & cd menus to shared drive for future use & access by all
Whether to include toolbar in screen capture
A template background to be used on opening & closing screens for consistancy

Tips and tricks:
Film first, narrate later.
Length of show should be ‘reasonable’
Consistency of style
Don’t overdo the gimmicks but use:
Transitions, captions, callouts, music, narration, zooms
Indexing and signposting shows
Create Table of Contents
CD menus and Theatre views to display shows.
A 'text callout' looks the same as an overlaid caption but without the start & stop recording hassles
Your eyes can't be in two places at the same time so don't have text to read and the cursor demonstrating things at the same time in different places of the screen.

Before you start, check:
Screen Resolution - recommended 800x600
Recorder settings (cursor, etc)
16 bit colour depth (from 32 bit)
Your mic's working & the imput level is low - we don't want to hear every pop, click & breath as you talk
That your topic really suits this very visual format