Enhanced Screen Capture
How is it different?What is an “Enhanced” screen capture video?
In order to answer this question, we must first describe a regular screen capture video. A screen capture video is a video that is comprised almost entirely out of video recordings of a computer monitor. This includes screens, mouse movements, and more. The most common programs for this are Camtasia (PC) and Screenflow (Mac). These programs do the actual recording and then allow you to edit the raw footage.
Unlike a regular screen capture video, an “Enhanced” screen capture video does NOT use a screen capture program. Well… Sort of. For enhanced video we actually take stills of each screen and use them like graphics. Those graphics are then edited in Adobe Affect Effects. Because we are working with stills instead of video footage, there is NO mouse movement. All mouse movements, clicks, etc. have to be manually animated in.
Why is an “Enhanced” screen capture video better?
Without getting too technical, it essentially boils down to the quality of the final product. We can capture stills in a higher quality then we can video, so you can zoom in A LOT and not experience much pixelation. That’s very difficult to do with video. You also have the ability to add other effects that are simply impossible with a regular screen capture video. Finally, since all of the zooms, pans and mouse movements are animated in manually, they are silky smooth. In other words, enhanced videos have a higher production value and therefore represent your company better.
Why choose a regular screen capture video?
That’s easy: They are significantly cheaper.
Which type should I choose?
The answer to this can be complicated and it’s really best to request a consultation to discuss it, but it really comes down to your budget, and your target audience. Because they are essentially animated videos that take a great deal more effort to create, enhanced videos are about double the cost of a regular video. Therefore, if your target audience are established clients that just need to learn something, and you anticipate a video that is several minutes long (or longer), save your money and go for a regular screen capture video. If, however, you are wanting a short video with a lot of punch, or your target viewers are new, potential clients, then it may well be worth it to spend the money on the enhanced video so that your company looks better and you can convert more people into clients.