In this video i'm going to show you step by step how to make a software demonstration video
Hi I'm Andy from TechSmith where we help you show what you know
Look, you could hire a professional to create a demo or explainer video for you,
but that could run you eight thousand dollars or more just for a 60 second video
If that seems a little crazy to you. I'll walk you through the exact steps
you need to make your own product demo video for a fraction of the cost
I'll even give you a simple tip that lets you quickly recreate demo videos for different products or features
so you never have to start from scratch again. So let's get started with step number one:
Plan your video. There are four main sections you should include in your product demo videos
The first thing is to describe the product. Provide a high level introduction to what your product does, but keep it brief
There's no need to go into every single detail. Next explain your solution. While it can be tempting to focus
exclusively on the features you're gonna show, be sure to call out the problems or pain points that your product can solve for your audience
Then show how your product works. Demonstrate the product in action. Remember not to go into too much detail, though
A demo video doesn't necessarily need to show all the steps. It just needs to give a high level overview
The fourth section is where you give your audience a clear call to action
At the end of the video provide a clear specific next step for your audience to take. You can have them download a trial,
request more information, or even buy
Adding each of these four sections in your script or outline will give you a perfect foundation for your product video
And now that your plan is in hand. It's time for step number two: get a template
You might think you have to create a product demo video from scratch,
but i'll let you in on a little secret,
you don't need to recreate the wheel or stare at a blank screen. Instead use a template
We have a simple product demo template that works perfectly with Camtasia
This template is called 'Feature Demo'
And as soon as you bring it into Camtasia
you'll see the entire video is already laid out on the timeline for you. And best of all
it's completely customizable. So you can change colors and fonts,
add your logo, and more to fit your product branding. It even comes with a default music track
Once you've opened up your template, It's time for step three: record your product demo
Once you have your product pulled up on your computer
walk through the demonstration a few times for practice before you hit record. When you're ready
open Camtasia and select the record option. You'll be prompted to select the region you wish to capture
You'll need to select the audio sources as well system audio, microphone audio, neither or both. Using system
audio means anything that would normally play through your computer speakers will be captured
This could be important if sounds are important to your product demo, but it will also record any sounds such as email or meeting notifications
So make sure to silence those if you do this
If you choose to record your narration as you're demonstrating you will want to capture your microphone too
However, if you've prepared a script
You should treat this microphone recording just as a scratch track and then use your real voiceover separately.
Now it's time to hit the record button and walk through your demonstration.
When you've finished showing how the product works hit stop. Use the same steps to capture any additional recordings
outlined in your planning state. Keep in mind
It's easier to remove or trim down any unwanted footage than to have to re-record a missed step later
Now comes the fun part step four: editing your video. With the template already laid out on your timeline
It's as simple as taking your screen recording and dropping it onto the placeholder
It'll give you a few options, but I recommend that you choose 'Ripple Replace' which
adjusts the length of your placeholder to fit your recording. Either shorter or longer
This will not move the other items from the template though
So everything is customizable just move the transitions and lower third graphics as you need. There are options for device frames in this template
so you can easily drag your clip into a scene to make it look like it's on a computer screen and then
Transition into the full screen of your recording pretty slick
Now that you have your demo video built out the way you like it. Here comes the great part
You can repurpose this template. Once your video is done. You can actually save your finished demo video as a template
So the next demo video you make will already have all of your brand elements ready to go
The only thing you'll have to do is swap out some text and your screen recording it actually
Is that easy to quickly turn the video you just made into a custom template
There is one key step you need to take replace the screen recording from this product demo with a placeholder
This is done by right-clicking any piece of media on the timeline and choosing convert to placeholder
Then go to file save as template and provide a name for the template file
This saves the template in camtasia on your computer to produce a template file to share with your team. Go to file
Export template and name the file camtasia exports a camtasia template file known
Cleverly as cam template send the file to colleagues or place it in a shared location
All they have to do is download that template file and double-click
Camtasia will add the new template to their templates menu where it can be selected anytime
the camtasia template file works on both windows and mac
So no worries about sharing between different platforms and there you have it in just a few steps
You can create your very own product demo video
If you enjoyed this video give it a like and let me know in the comments if templates are going to be helpful for you
And if you don't already have camtasia, there's a link in the description for a free trial. Thanks for watching