TechSmith

TechSmith Corporation
Industry Computer software
Founded 1987
Headquarters Okemos, Michigan, US
Key people
 William Hamilton
Products Screen capture, recording, and editing software
Website www.techsmith.com

TechSmith Corporation is a software company developing screencasting tools, including screen capture, recording and editing software, for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS such as Camtasia and Snagit. The company provides software for office professionals worldwide through corporations, educational institutions, government agencies and small businesses.[1] The company was founded in Okemos, Michigan in 1987 by William Hamilton.[2] In 1990 they created Snagit, their most popular and best-selling product.

From their main corporate offices within Okemos, Michigan, and Tokyo, Japan;[3] they run and operate all products including Snagit, Camtasia, Jing,[4] Screencast.com, Camtasia Relay, Morae and, most recently, Coach's Eye.[5] TechSmith made video instruction tools for ordinary people like Camtasia Studio for video creation and editing.[6] Many of their products are seen as education-based tools used to teach or instruct others with video and screen recording, voice instruction and on-screen drawing and effects editing capabilities.

Jing

See main article: Jing_(software)

Jing allows the user to record video, capture images, edit, and send to various websites or e-mail.[7] Possible uses for Jing include sharing a screen snapshot, narrating vacation photos, capturing a computer bug in action, and in the case of a teacher, showing students how to do a task and commenting verbally on a students homework.[8] Jing's interface is a sun-shaped icon with three spires that hides on the edge of the computer screen. The spires include the capture icon, the capture history and the additional options. The main goal of this product is to share images and short videos with people quickly while IM chatting or emailing. Jing is free and contains a watermark on its images.[9]

Screencast.com

Screencast.com is TechSmith's private video and image hosting site. A person can store their content on the servers for personal or commercial usage at no charge.[10] After installing most TechSmith software, the user will be prompted to set up a Screencast.com account. The free site offers control over privacy levels, links for content URL's and embed code, content view numbers and allows other users to comment on videos among other features.[8] Screencast.com is not only used for uploading content created by TechSmith's products. Photos and videos from other sources can also be sent to Screencast.com for hosting, embedding and sharing.[11]

Screencast.com also has a paid premium version that offers more bandwidth than the free 2 GB of storage space and 2 GB of bandwidth.[11]

Snagit

Snagit is a screen capture and editing tool, similar to the print screen feature, that captures animation, graphics and text in the form of images as well as video. The software also allows the user to enhance their images with special effects and multimedia features.[1] Snagit allows the user to grab the entire desktop, a region, a window, or a scrolling window. Features include the ability to combine images, blur and magnifying effects, arrows, callouts, torn edges, etc. In terms of sharing, the final capture can be saved in various formats, a URL or embed code can be produced, or it can be added to Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, MindManager, or Microsoft OneNote directly from the product interface. The videos ll not be editable in a real Video editor because of codec use by Jing . Images you capture are automatically saved to the Snagit Library in order to locate past captures.[12]

Camtasia

Camtasia software is available in both Camtasia Studio for Windows and Camtasia for Mac.[5] Both are used to record and edit videos for the internet and mobile devices.[1]

The newest version of Camtasia Studio (8) was released June 2012 and now includes a multi-track editing capability. Possible uses include answering questions with screen recordings, explaining how to use other software, posting PowerPoint presentations to the Web with Picture-in-Picture and produce online training for large groups of people. Training classes are held to learn more about Camtasio Studio and how to utilize the product's features.[13]

The first version of Camtasia for Mac was released in 2009. Similar to Camtasia Studio, users have the ability to create professional presentations, demonstrations, screencasts and training and marketing videos in HD-quality. This is done through the software's recording, editing and sharing capabilities. Sharing capabilities include Apple portable media devices and video sharing sites including YouTube.[14] and TechSmith's own Screencast.com [11]

Camtasia for Mac 2 was released December 2011.[15]

Techsmith Relay (Formerly Camtasia Relay)

Techsmith Relay, (Camtasia Relay through version 4.4)[16] is a presentation capture tool designed to streamline the sharing process, especially directed at educators on all levels of education. The recorder used in Techsmith Relay allows anyone to create content from anywhere, and the server produces and publishes videos in several formats to a desired location.[17]

Camtasia Relay (3) was released November 2010. Enhanced features of this version include captioning abilities and video editing.[17]

The newest version of Techsmith Relay (5) was released February 2015. New features include the ability to record speaker with webcam or other camera and add the recording to the final screencast. Additionally, users other than the speaker or professor who recorded the lecture are now able to caption the video. Direct publishing to YouTube is also available.[18]

Morae

Morae is software developed by TechSmith for market research.[1] It gives businesses, market research firms and academics a chance to do usability, product design, hardware and prototype testing, and focus groups as well as qualitative market and educational research. This software is meant to help in identifying site and application design problems.[19]

Morae (3.1) was released in June 2009. Some new features include highlight reels in high-quality flash video, sharing and viewing across platforms, and the ability to share findings on Screencast.com.[17]

The most recent version is Morae 3.3.[5]

Screenchomp

Screenchomp is a free screen capture and recording application available on the iPad, launched July 2011. Educators can use this tool to write and draw with their fingers on a virtual whiteboard.[20] This tool can be used for fun narrating user-generated movies, or as a tool for teachers to explain concepts and record their drawings. Screenchomp allows sharing of these narrated sketches to ScreenChomp.com, Facebook, YouTube, iTunes, Blackboard, etc. It also imports photos from the user's iPad Photo Library for use with the application.[21]

Coach's Eye

Coach’s Eye is a mobile application for the iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, and many Android devices that enables users to capture, analyze and share video. It is designed with the intent that coaches and parents can record athletes, analyze the playback and share it with others. It was launched November, 2011.[22] More specifically, this application enables an instructor to shoot video of an athlete's swing, throw, kick, etc. and then add voice instructions and illustrate the video with simple annotations. Coaches and athletes view the video in slow motion or scrub through the video using the on-screen flywheel, showing precisely what points need to be shown. The finished videos can be uploaded to sharing sites like YouTube, emailed or sent via MMS, giving the instructor several outlets for sharing with athletes or other coaches.[23]

The Forge

TechSmith launched a new web show in August 2010. Common topics of conversation include screencapture, screencasting, tips and tricks, various tools and techniques. There are normally guests that either skype in or come into the studio. The first guest was Jon Udell, a Microsoft Evangelist and long-time screencaster who helped come up with the term screencasting.[24] The Forge is now onto its second season and is hosted on YouTube as well as TechSmith's Visual Lounge (blog site). Matt Pierce hosts the show. The format normally consists of interviews, promotions, and product reviews. Videos created from other users are sometimes featured on the show as well.[25]

ScreenChamp Awards

TechSmith held an awards competition in 2011, looking for the top screencasters around the world. Entries were broken into three categories including education, industry and entertainment. A total of 15 finalists were chosen and the winners were decided by “celebrity judges”.[26]

The ScreenChamp Awards was aired on The Forge (Episode 15) on January 19, 2012 via TechSmith’s YouTube channel.[25]

Social Media

TechSmith is on several social media platforms including Twitter, Visual Lounge blogs, YouTube, LinkedIn, Google+, Get Satisfaction and Facebook.[27] In April 2011, TechSmith began using Get Satisfaction, an online community-building platform. The company used this platform to test one of their beta product versions of Snagit for Mac and gather an exceptional amount of feedback.[28]

Flipped Classroom

The flipped classroom is a recently developed concept in education (see Flip teaching). Clintondale High School, in Clinton Township, Mich., is the first to fully embrace this concept in 2011 in an effort to raise the school's failing grades. TechSmith products were used as their primary software, and the company also gave the school a grant to start the program. Teachers record lessons online for the students to watch at home and then the students come to class to do their homework. The videos normally consist of an overview of the lesson, the content and concludes with a summary. Voice, video clips, images and annotations can be included via TechSmith products like Camtasia Studio or Camtasia for Mac to enhance the lesson. These same products as well as Camtasia Relay give teachers the ability to share their content on a variety of platforms. Students can view the lessons on any computer or mobile device.[17] This gives the students more class time with their teachers to work through problems rather than trying to work them out alone at home.[29]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Dun and Bradstreet, Inc. (15 February 2012). "Techsmith Corporation". Hoover's Company Records (Ta-Tl).
  2. ↑ "About Us". TechSmith Corporation. Retrieved 2010-06-15.
  3. ↑ "Contact TechSmith". Techsmith.com. Retrieved 2010-06-15.
  4. ↑ "Jing | Add visuals to your online conversations". Jingproject.com. Retrieved 2010-06-15.
  5. 1 2 3 "Products". Techsmith Corporation. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
  6. ↑ Brown, Byron. "The e-text revolution Apple bites into the core of the school textbook monopoly". The News Tribune. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
  7. ↑ "Share Video Captures and Huge Files for Free". PCWorld. 2007-07-25. Retrieved 2010-06-16.
  8. ↑ Horton, Steve. "Techsmith Jing review". PC Advisor. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
  9. ↑ "TechSmith Debuts Screencast.com Video and Multimedia Service for Business and Academic Professionals. | Goliath Business News". Goliath.ecnext.com. 2006-10-18. Retrieved 2010-06-16.
  10. 1 2 3 Bush, Jake. "Screencast.com vs. YouTube". R-Tools Technology, Inc. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
  11. ↑ "TechSmith Snagit 10". Newegg Inc. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
  12. ↑ "TechSmith Camtasia Studio for eLearning Training Course". Sterling Ledet & Associates. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
  13. ↑ Close-Up Media, Inc. (1 September 2009). "Techsmith Ships Camtasia for Mac". Entertainment Close Up.
  14. ↑ "Techsmith Launches Camtasia for Mac 2". Business Wire. December 6, 2011.
  15. ↑ https://www.techsmith.com/techsmith-relay-self-hosted-version-history.html
  16. 1 2 3 4 Close-Up Media, Inc. (12 November 2010). "TechSmith Takes Wraps Off Camtasia Relay 3". Business and Economics Close - Up.
  17. ↑ "TechSmith Announces New Version of Camtasia Relay at EDUCAUSE 2011". Business Wire. October 17, 2011.
  18. ↑ Close-Up Media, Inc. (3 June 2009). "TechSmith Corp. Releases Morae 3.1". Entertainment Close - Up.
  19. ↑ Wilson, Jeffrey. "ScreenChomp iPad App Brings Digital Whiteboards to the Classroom". PC Magazine Digital Edition. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
  20. ↑ Sande, Steven. "TUAW's Daily iPad App: ScreenChomp". AOL Tech. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
  21. ↑ "New 'Coach's Eye(TM)' iPhone App Changes the Game for Coaches, Provides Instant Video Analysis to Improve Athlete Performance". Business Wire. November 8, 2011.
  22. ↑ Lanier, Xavier. "Coach's Eye for iPhone: Video Analysis App for Any Athlete". Notebooks.com: Mobile News and Reviews. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
  23. ↑ Weber, Betsy. "Join TechSmith on... The Forge". The Visual Lounge. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
  24. 1 2 Pierce, Matt. "And the Winner is...". Channel Techsmith. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
  25. ↑ "TechSmith Seeks Top Screen Videos for First ScreenChamp Awards Competition". Techsmith. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
  26. ↑ "Connect with us on your favorite social networks!". Techsmith Corporation. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
  27. ↑ "TechSmith Saves $500,000 by Crowdsourcing Snagit on Mac Development Research in Custom Get Satisfaction Community". Business Wire. April 16, 2011. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
  28. ↑ Alvarez, Brenda. "Flipping the Classroom: Homework in Class, Lessons at Home". National Education Association. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
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