There are lots of tools to use for screen captures, but one of the most useful and intuitive applications to use for screen cast video capture is Jing by Techsmith. It’s available for Windows and Mac. There’s a free version and also a Jing Pro version for $14.95 per year. (Note: Jing Pro is retired; use Snagit instead.) Screen shots and videos can be easily saved and shared on your favorite social media site; that’s the beauty of Jing. Your Jing account is connected to a Screencast.com account with 2 GB storage for easily storing your videos.
Once you sign up for your account, and install Jing, you can begin recording immediately. If you want to record audio, be sure to plug in your mic first. You can also set your Preferences by clicking on the gears on the sun logo before your first recording.
To begin recording, click on the plus sign on the sun logo, and drag the cross hairs from the upper left corner to the lower right corner. You’ll also see the control buttons. Click on the video icon; your screen will let you know that the mic is on, and give you a 3-2-1 countdown.
You can pause, mute the mic, or restart the recording whenever you like. Jing Pro allows you to also record with your webcam, so you can switch between the webcam and the screen. When you’re finished recording – there’s a 5 minute limit – click the stop button.Then you’ll have some choices about how to share your video. If you haven’t set the Preferences for social network sharing, you can choose to upload the video to Screencast.com. You’ll be given a link or embed code to share your video. You can also login to Screencast.com to get the link or embed code, if you want to share your video later.
Next edit your Jing sharing buttons so that you can quickly share your videos with your friends using your favorite social media. In addition to uploading to Screencast. com, options include YouTube (for Jing Pro only), Flicker, Facebook, Twitter, your blog, or your website.
Jing Pro allows video to be saved as MPEG-4 Video, as well as SWF. Free Jing only saves to SWF. Jing Pro also allows unbranded videos, webcam recording, and sharing to YouTube.