Dear followers, welcome to this video! Let's see all you need to know to
start using the newest Camtasia Studio 9 for the first time!
Leave us comments below if you have ideas to improve our future guides
for Camtasia Studio!
Camtasia Studio is a great software used to record your screen and audio,
but also includes a complete video editor where you can edit and customize
your media files and recordings.
When you open Camtasia, a start-up dialog box opens. Under Get Started,
choose what to do. Click on New Project to open the main Camtasia
interface, to start editing your media; click on New Recording to use
Camtasia Screen Recorder, and start recording your own screen or any audio.
If you have any Camtasia project saved, you can straight open it by
checking the list under Recent Projects, or use Open Project to browse
for it.
Below, under Tutorials, you can watch several videos from TechSmith, in
order to get help with the features you need.
Let's start with a new project by going to New Project. Before starting,
you have to import your own media files, such as videos, pictures and
audio, inside the timeline below, which is the heart of the video editor.
On the far left, under the Media tab, browse for all your files to import.
Inside Library, you have a list of video, background and audio samples
inside Camtasia, that you can import by clicking and dropping them on the
timeline below. To import media from your computer instead, you can simply
drag and drop them directly on the timeline.
All files imported inside the timeline are collected inside the Media Bin
panel on the left, and are contained inside several rows, also called
Tracks. Each file is represented as a rectangular block, called clip,
with the file or sample name on it. Then, if the clip is related to any
video or image file, it will show small thumbnails on it, very useful to
recognize each clip. If you have audio clips, its sound waveform is shown.
If a video clip has audio inside, you will see both thumbnails and sound
waveform on it.
If the clips are extended too much in time, just regulate the timeline
zoom by using the zoom bar right on top.
The Preview right on top is very important while creating your videos.
This shows the overall content inside your timeline exactly where the main
playhead is placed. So, click on the timeline to preview a particular
frame of your video, or click and drag the playhead to check your video
more carefully, onwards or backwards. Consider that both the file name
and its thumbnail will be hidden when they meet the playhead.
To fully playback your project instead, use the player right below the
Preview.
Let's better check the timeline. All the tracks inside it are equal, but
indeed their order is very important. For example, if you have video or
picture clips that do overlap during time, the Preview shows the clips
placed on an upper track always above the clips that are on downer tracks
in position.
Also, each track has two great options to manage your timeline content.
The eye icon is used to enable or disable the track. A disabled track
hides all its content inside. The lock icon below locks the track, which
means that you will no longer be able to edit its content until you unlock
it.
To insert new tracks or delete one, just right-click on a vacant space.
Let's see now how to do basic editing on your clips!
Each clip can be moved in time in the manner or in another track by clicking
and dragging them. In case of video clips with audio, you will move both
video frames and audio, as they are a unique clip. But, if you need to
manage them separately, just right-click on the clip, and go to Separate
Audio and Video.
To stretch or shorten a clip in time, just drag from its edges. This will
cut part of its content.
To cut, copy or delete a clip, right-click on it. To paste a clip,
right-click on a vacant space, and go to Paste. The clip will be placed
where your pointer is.
If you want to split a clip in two, set the instant of time by placing the
main playhead, and then use the Split button on the left, or the S key
from your keyboard. Remember to use the Undo and the Redo buttons in case
you make any mistake. These are used to manage all your actions made
inside Camtasia.
Even more, you can edit the clip appearance as you like!
Next to the Preview, you have the Properties button. This shows all the
main properties for the selected clip you have inside the timeline. These
are divided between the Visual Properties, indicated by a frame icon, and
the Audio Properties, indicated by a speaker icon, that are shown
depending on the kind of clip selected. For example, if you select
a picture, just the Visual Properties appear; if you select any video with
audio, both Visual and Audio Properties will show up.
The Visual Properties adjust the clip appearance, such as its scaling and
opacity level, its inclination and position. You can use the precise
settings on the right, or work directly on the Preview. For example, you
can move the clip by clicking and dragging, or scale it by using the nodes
around it. Make sure to use the ones on the clip corners to lock the
aspect ratio. Rotate the clip by using the right node on the centre.
To reset any applied modification, just use the Reset buttons.
Under Audio Properties, you can adjust the clip volume, by regulating its
Gain level.
You can adjust the clip volume directly on the timeline as well. When you
select an audio clip, a green envelope line appears, representing the
applied volume during time. You can pull it up or down to regulate a
constant volume, or, if you double-click on the line, you will add points,
that are used to change volume in time. Just move them up or down to set
the volume level on where they are placed;
or right-click on them and go to Delete to delete them.
You can also crop picture and videos directly on the Preview, by using the
Crop tool on top. Just use the clip nodes to set the clip area you want
to save.
Inside Camtasia, you can also adjust the playback rate for each clip, in
order to play them slower or faster. To do so, just right-click on a clip,
and go to Add Clip Speed. Then, if you stretch or shorten the clip from
the blue icon, you will change the clip duration by changing its playback
speed, so without cutting any of its content. A rate lower than 1, means
a playback speed lower than the original one, otherwise a rate higher
than one means a clip that plays faster.
On the left, under the Media tab, you have other amazing features inside
Camtasia, that we won't see in this beginner tutorial.
Remember to save your Camtasia project in progress, by going to File and
then to Save As... This saves all your status inside your timeline,
including all the settings applied on each clip. But, to obtain the final
video to play and upload, you have to render it by going to the Share
button on the right.
Choose Local File... to render your project inside your computer, after
choosing the file format, the video resolution under the Size tab, and
the video frame rate and quality under Video settings.
Or else, to render and upload your video directly on social websites,
choose the proper one from the Share button list.
Camtasia Studio is also used to make recordings from your screen, webcam
or audio. To start recording, click on New Recording on the start-up
dialog box, or on Record on the main editor. These open Camtasia Screen
Recorder, that appears as a small dialog box with all the main recording
settings inside.
Under Select area, choose Full screen to record your whole computer screen,
adapting the video size to the screen size as it is. Or else, click on
Custom to personalize the recording area, by checking the overall
resolution under Dimension, where you can eventually lock or unlock the
aspect ratio.
Under Recorded inputs, click on Camera to enable or disable your webcam.
If enabled, Camtasia will record both your screen and your webcam. Click
on Audio to enable or disable the recording for the audio part.
Also, if you click next to the Audio button, you can choose whether to
record or not the system audio, and the audio coming from your microphone
each.
More on the right, regulate the volume to be applied to the audio.
You can adjust other important settings going to Tools and then to
Options.... Let's see the most important ones.
Under the General tab, you can choose whether to record a .avi or a .trec
video file. The .avi file is a video that you can straight playback or
upload online, but does not let you record both screen and webcam at the
same time. To do so, you need a .trec file.
.trec files are formats managed by Camtasia only, very useful to record
both video inputs. In fact, when you import this file into the timeline,
two video independent clips are shown, one for the screen recorded, and
the other for the webcam. This .trec file can't be used directly outside
Camtasia, so you have to render it through the Share button before using
it.
Then, under the Inputs tab, regulate the frame rate for your recordings,
by choosing in the list, or typing inside.
To start recording, just click on the Record button! After a short
countdown, Camtasia will hide on the taskbar. When you open it, you can
use its interface to Delete, Pause/Resume, or Stop the recording to save
it. The recording done will be added inside the Media Bin panel, ready to
be imported inside the timeline. If you don't know where recordings are
saved, just right-click on these and go to Open File Location...
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