Putting Video Tutorials on CD

[Jeff Emery]

Greetings,

I'm looking some information regarding putting tutorials onto CD (not DVD) so clients can play them on their computer (that may not have a DVD-Rom).

I am using Camtasia Studio to record my computer screen and my voice as I create video tutorials. I record the whole screen since I want the tutorial to appear as if the "student" were watching over my shoulder as I teach. I record as an .avi.

After saving the video file, I playback on my computers using Windows Media Player. I have a machine running Vista and another running XP. The videos playback fine on both. Even after burning to a CD, the videos playback with no problems on my machines.

However, I have a client who is not able to get the video to play on his machine. Audio is there but no video. After doing some research, I found the problem is caused by not having the proper codec installed on his machine for the avi. I've read comments in other forums that updating to the latest WMP version did not solve the problem.

So I suggested my client download and install the VLC media player. No word back yet.

I need the video tutorials to play full screen at very good resolution so "students" can see and read the text clearly. And, I need it to be simple for users so they don't have to endure a hassle to use the video tutorials.

Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated.

Also, is there anyone here putting video tutorials on CD (not DVD) that would be willing to share their methods for getting hassle-free results that just plain work regardless of what codecs are or are not installed on a clients computer.

At this point, I'm planning to include the VLC MP on the CD so if the client's computer does not have the right codec for WMP, they can install VLC and use that.

Thanks,

Jeff

[Seth Bloombaum]

Reading through your workflow, it seems likely that you are distributing Techsmith's TSCC codec within an AVI wrapper.

If this is what you're doing, VLC might not help - I don't believe it includes the TSCC, which is proprietary to Techsmith/Camtasia.

TSCC is not usually thought of as a "delivery" codec, which is the reason that Camtasia includes several other output formats. Not a delivery codec unless you are able to, or have confidence that others can do an install on their PC. That install would be Techsmith's TSCC codec package, or, the Camtasia free player.

The other method would be to encode to a format/codec that your audience does have. Eg., one of the Windows Media Screen Codecs, for Windows Media Player. If you want your clips to play properly in WMP, just go into the Custom outputs and select "Windows Media Player". There are some good presets there, and those encodes *will* play in WMP, with no further codec installations needed.

[Chris Davis]

Camtasia Studio has some good tools for sharing your video. Look in the help file for "Produce Video As" or something similar. Since you're targeting Windows computers, I'd share the video in WMV format.

Here is a tutorial on sharing Camtasia videos: How to Produce with Camtasia Studio 5

[Jeff Emery]

Thank you for the input.

I have solved the problem by inclyding the VLC player on the disc. No need to do anything else.

I am making the videos available for viewing online.

Thanks again
Jeff