TechSmith is undoubtedly known for their screencast and screenshot software, dubbed Camtasia Studio and SnagIt. They’ve now started a free project called Jing that provides an alternative for making a screencast or taking screenshots.
They don’t really provide screenshots on their site and curiosity was getting the best of me. I downloaded the Windows version (also available for Mac’s) and had it installed in about 30-seconds.
So how well does it work? It was surprisingly nice although it lacks any advanced functionality. Here is a quick tour of what you can expect after setting up the software:
–Starting Jing–
After I started Jing I was a little confused because there was no window that popped up. After looking around the desktop I noticed a small yellow orb protruding from the top of my monitor. When I clicked on it there were three options that became visible: capture, history, and preferences.
–Select the Region–
Choosing the "Capture" option brings up some yellow crosshairs on the screen. You use these to select the region of the screen that you want to either record, or take a screenshot of. After selecting the area you will be asked what you want to do:
–Save as a Screenshot–
If you choose the "Image" option you can add certain things to it, such as text or arrows:
–Record a Video (a.k.a. Screencast)–
If you go the route of recording a video it will instantly start recording:
–Saving a Video or Uploading it–
Obviously the point of making a screencast is to share it with someone else. So TechSmith lets you upload the screencast to Screencast.com which costs some money to do a commenter below says is free. Alternatively you can save the screencast as a SWF file, but sites like YouTube, Google Video, and DivShare don’t support that filetype in their video players. You would have to use something like ZippyVideos to host the SWF video or Media Convert to save it as another format.
–Overview–
I really think that this project can turn into something big, but I have a feeling that they will be keeping the feature-set quite limited to ensure that Jing doesn’t compete with their other products. The thing that I would like to see the most is the ability to save the screencast in another format, but that isn’t going to happen because they want to limit users to what services they can use.
For the casual user the software is quite nice, but power users will notice it lacks options like framerate adjustments, file format choices, and advanced editing capabilities.
For more free screencast software checkout this post we wrote.
Tried installing it, but got some error during the installation. I’ve been always looking for a good Windows Screencast program. I tried CamStudio, but I’ve been the sound and video aren’t synchronized properly.
You don’t have to pay for the screencast account. Just use Jing to sign up for an account and that’s it. You can start using it right away. No cost.
Have you tried Wink? I’ve always had a liking for that one although it does have sound issues from time to time as well.
Well they could add advanced editing options, but i dont think the software is going to remain free if that happens.
Sounds quite interesting – screen casting seems to have become increasingly prevalent lately as a method for showing people how to do something. Quite odd really, when things are supposed to be getting simpler and easier to do.
I agree…I would rather see the software remain free and simple rather than become another shareware app.
I think the comparisons to other screencasting software are off the mark. TechSmith already has the number one Windows app in that category with Camtasia, and as someone noted today, Jing’s existence suggests a Mac version of Camtasia is on the way.
Jing represents a new genre of user-to-user screencasting. You can pause what you’re doing, hit a hot-key sequence to start capturing your activity, upload the results to Screencast.com, and have a link to email or IM a friend with within minutes. There is no Camtasia (or other conventional screencast software) scenario that gives you that capability.
The Screencast.com account that you get with Jing is free for as long as the Jing ‘project’ lasts. After that, you pay for it. I think it’s entirely possible that Jing will remain free, but you pay for Screencast.com as the way of transparently and instantaneously sharing your Jing results with your friends and colleagues.
We can upload .swf files to blip.tv.
I didn’t know Blip.TV supported SWF files. Thanks for letting me know.
I’ve found better alternative: Jet Screenshot ([jetscreenshot.com]). It uses 12mb of RAM and doesn’t bother me with choise beetwen Video ans Picture. I need only picture