Dear all, welcome to this super short guide dedicated to Camtasia,
one of the best tools you can use to record and edit your videos for both
Windows and Mac! In just 12 minutes we are going to see all the
features and tools you need to know to start using it!
When opening Camtasia, the new Home dialog opens with several options on
the left, such as Get Started to start working or Learn and Resources to
get additional tips and tutorials on how to use Camtasia.
On Get Started you can start from a new video project or from any ready
template that you can download from the official Techsmith library. You can
also open an existing Camtasia project or go for a new recording.
Let's start from a new project. The main interface is very simple, with
several features on the left, the project timeline at the bottom and the
main preview on the center.
You can import your own videos, pictures and audio files by dragging and
dropping these into the Timeline directly. You can find other visual and
audio samples from the Library section as well.
All these files will be listed under the Media Bin panel and represented on
the Timeline as blocks within rows called Tracks. Each block shows the
file name, a simple thumbnail and the complete audio waveform through time.
You can check these better by zooming in and out with the horizontal
sidebar above the Timeline itself.
Use the Record button in the top left corner to start recording. At this
point choose what to record such as your desktop screen, webcam, your
microphone and your system audio by turning ON or OFF their respective
buttons. You can click at the bottom to change the source to use and adjust
the volume level of your microphone with its dedicated bar.
When recording your screen you can go in full screen mode, pick any
standard HD resolution or any template for social media. Choose Custom to
set your own region by clicking and dragging on the screen, moving and
resizing it as you need. You can also check and adjust its size precisely.
When you are ready, use the Record button!
Then you can pause the recording,
delete it or use the minus button to minimize the
dialog box if you don't need it.
Whereas use the Stop button to save the recording and come back to the main
editor. You can find it under the Media Bin panel as a .trec file, ready
to be imported as done with other file. This .trec file can't be uploaded
online or played directly: you must render it first as we will see later
in this video. It includes one clip for the webcam recording and another
for the screen recording.
Use the Preview to playback and check your project in progress, following
the main marker at the bottom. You can click and drag on the timeline to
place it and check different sections of your project in no time.
If multiple media overlap in time, the clip placed in the top Track is
always shown in front of all the other clips lower in position.
The Preview resolution and frame rate options are set on File, Project
Setting.... Make sure that the preview resolution (or canvas) matches your
files or you get black bars or cropped media clips if not adjusted.
On the left side you have quick buttons to manage the content on an entire
Track. Use the eye button to disable or enable the Track content; the
magnet button to remove any time gap between clips automatically and the
lock button to block any modification made on such Track.
Now let's see how to edit and adjust media. You can click and drag any clip
to move it in time or in another Track. You can also separate audio from
video frames by right-clicking on these.
To cut, copy, paste or delete any clip just right-click on it. Whereas to
split any clip click on it to select it, place the marker at the correct
time position and use the S key or CMD+T on Mac. Remember to use the
Undo and the Redo buttons on the extreme left to undo and redo your actions
in the same order.
To adjust any clip length click and drag from its edges. This cuts part of
the content from videos and audio files as well. To avoid this you can
right-click on the clip and go to Add Clip Speed to change its playback
speed, in order to edit its length without cutting any content. Just drag
from the watch icons, stretching the clip to make it slower and shortening
it to make it faster.
To perform adjustment on clips open the Properties panel on the right. This
shows all the visual, audio and graphic properties depending on the kind of
clip selected.
You can set size, opacity level, inclination and position of any visual
clip using the bars or typing precise values on these. You can reset all
with the revert buttons on the right. You can also act on the Preview
directly, clicking and dragging the clip to place it or using its nodes to
resize it. You can also enable the Crop button on top to crop the clip from
its blue contour.
On audio files you can adjust the overall volume level or act directly on
its green envelope curve. In this case you can also double-click on it to
add points and change the volume level in time as you like most.
Now let's see the most important features on the left side.
From *Annotations* you can drag and drop on the Preview colored callouts,
arrows, shapes and pieces of text over media clips.
Each of these creates a clip that can be moved and edited on the Timeline
and on the Preview as seen. Moreover you can open the Properties panel to
adjust the text font, style, color and alignment and also the appearance
and color of bubbles, shapes and arrows as you like most.
Under Transitions you find loads of transitions that you can drop on the
edges of any clip or between two clips to go from the first to the second
one with a very great effect. You can select the transition and adjust its
length to correct its speed if needed.
On Behaviors you find special effects you can apply to any clip, especially
to text and annotations. These add Behaviors properties that you can adjust
while introducing (In), animating (During) or ending (Out) the text clip.
With Animations you can add motion animations from a starting point to an
ending point. You can place it anywhere on the clip in time and select the
ending point to adjust and customize the final destination for such motion
on the Properties panel. To remove the animation just right-click on it and
go to Delete.
With Zoom-n-Pan you can apply zoom and pan animations on all the clips
by moving and scaling the rectangle as needed.
This can also be applied in series.
From Cursor Effects you can add great effects to your mouse cursor such as
smoothing its movements or adding effects when left or right-clicking. This
works on .trec recordings made with Camtasia only.
In Camtasia 2022 you also have the possibility to customize the cursor
movements. On the cursor properties click on Edit Cursor Path to edit the
existing path or create a new one. This path is defined by several nodes
put together: drag any node or its handles to customize the path and each
curve, setting where the cursor must go, its speed and its smoothness from
the right panel. You can check the cursor position frame by frame through
the green node on the path. Use Finish Editing to apply all.
You can find amazing audio and visual effects that you can drag
and drop on clips. For example you can use Remove a Color to remove any
color - very useful for green screen - and Motion Blur to make your
motions more realistic. You can adjust the effect properties under the
standard visual properties for the selected clip.
Now let's see how to save and export your project! Use CTRL (or CMD) and S
to save your Camtasia project in order to open and edit it any time.
Whereas to export your project or recordings in a final video go to
Export in the top right corner. You can choose either to sign in to any
social website or go to Local File to render and export your own video.
Camtasia 2022 has a new export dialog where you can set the file name,
destination and file type. On Advanced Settings set the video resolution
up to 4K, frame rate, quality and audio bit rate.
If you are more familiar with the older export method, you can find it on
Legacy Local File!
Thank you very much for watching this tutorial! Make sure to visit our
YouTube channel and our website for more extras and free content!!