Creating Screencasts/Preparation

Testing your set-up

Occasionally a software based screen recorder may not be able to capture something displayed on the screen. In particular, 3D graphics and desktop animation effects are often difficult or impossible to record with acceptable quality. Sometimes changing display settings may fix this, but not always. For this reason a quick test-capture of all the programs you intend to record is strongly recommended to ensure you can actually record the screencast.

Preparation

The first step towards creating a screencast should be making sure you have a good understanding of the subject matter to be covered. Once you have that the next step thinking up the workflow, what level of knowledge your viewer should have as a prerequisite and what you viewers should gain after watching the video.

Write down or type up a basic outline of the topics you want to cover and the order you want to cover them in before you start recording. If you want to record multiple programs, it is advisable to launch them before you start recording if you have the resources available to do so.