Hello and sorry for the OT question but it is related to my continuing adventures with Sonar and digital audio in general. I have been extraordinarily jealous of you fancy dudes and dudettes with your magical abilities to make videos of what you are doing in Sonar. I have seen over and over again that Camtasia was the program to have for this typo of thing and that many of you (especially the Bakers) use it. I was also mistakenly under the impression that it was only $99 but much to my chagrin found out that that is the Mac version price and the Win version is a whopping $300 that I simply cannot justify spending. I looked at variously other freeware/open source screen cap programs but by all accounts they are inevitably buggy, crippled and/or filled with spyware.
 
So as I was mourning my shattered hopes of owning Camtasia I saw that the same company produces a light version called Snagit that SAYS it does video screen capture stuff and has a few extra tools.
 
The question(s) is/are... Have any of you guys used it? Is it powerful/flexible enough to make looooong video tutorials/examples? Does it record audio simultaneously and if not how difficult is it to splice in audio (or how hard would it be to drag the vid into Sonar X3 and splice in the audio there)? Does it allow for light editing (like splicing clips together)? Does it allow for simple graphic stuff like overlaying text (like credits or subtitles)?
 
Alternatively I'm curious as to what other programs people are using and how they are getting along with them and/or prices.
 
I want to join the fancy video tut club!!! ;-)
 
Thanks and have an awesome day.

Beepster,
 
I have been very happy with Movavi Studio Capture.
http://www.movavi.com/screen-capture/?gclid=CKnVvM6d478CFQgKaQodhkMA-Q
Its about $50 with some kind of $6 charge when ordering.
Good HD quality.  Capture of anything you can see and hear on your screen.
There is video editor.. eh...OK I guess.  But the capture app is excellent with many format exports.
Also pretty easy to use.
Free trial period, but distorted here and there.
 
Disclaimer....only contented user....excellent capture especially for the price.
 

Hey Beep,
 I have used SnagIt since 2003.  It is a great program for getting any kind of screen grabs, one pic or a scrolling screen.  They just released V 12 with a good video grab program, but not with all the goodies that Camtasia has.
 
The grabs can be saved in any number of formats, including SNAG, which allows you to completely edit the screen, install words, arrows gab boxes, etc.
I use it everyday.
I believe that a demo version is available.  Hope this helps.
 
You might look at Sony's Vegas Movie Studio in a few different flavors.
 
http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/homestudio
 

Thanks for the input, guys.
 
In regards to Sony Vegas... That is another name I see come up frequently but I thought it was for more traditional video purposes. Does it do computer screen grabs as well? Because that would be good... very good. I'm under the impression that it is has more editing power than some of the alternatives which would be helpful.
 
Thanks, again. Cheers.

I did all the Sonar Advanced Workshop videos with Hypercam, and it's free (I also used the Techsmith codec, which seemed to work best). It's not particularly user-friendly, but it's a workhorse.
 
Vegas does not do screen captures, although it it a great program. It's what I used to edit the Advanced Workshop videos.

Beepster
I was also mistakenly under the impression that it was only $99 but much to my chagrin found out that that is the Mac version price

The Mac's Preview program already does screen video captures, so there's less incentive to buy a third party program unless you need its unique features.

Thanks for popping in, Craig. I am looking to achieve (and dare I dream exceed) the same professional quality of your work so that is astoundingly helpful. I don't mind doing a little extra study/work if it helps me redirect funds to other imperative purchases.
 
I will also need something to edit live action video as well but I'm assuming tracking down software for that at low cost should be easier and I do have an old version of Premiere kicking around here that may or may not be up to the task.
 
I am also somewhat curious about potential conflicts between programs that seem to occur when recording audio at the same time as video (ie: playback from Sonar and something like Camtasia running as well). I have seen it mentioned that using a virtual machine setup and running the screen capture program within it can be helpful in this regard. Any thoughts? I am looking into the Oracle virtual machine app that is supposedly free but honestly I'm not quite sure how all that would fit together.
 
Lots of stuff to learn, test and acquire now that some of my shackles have been loosened a bit. :-)

FCCfirstclass
Hey Beep,
 I have used SnagIt since 2003.  It is a great program for getting any kind of screen grabs, one pic or a scrolling screen.  They just released V 12 with a good video grab program, but not with all the goodies that Camtasia has.

+1

 
I've used SnagIt for static screen capture not video capture. I wasn't aware it did video capture, but do know it has developed a lot over the years.
 
Here's my very inexpensive, but quality solution (Full HD, Low Latency, Live DAW playback, Commentary, PiP webcam) ...
 
I use Microsoft Expression Encoder 4 SP2. From memory I think it includes the Screen Capture Codec, otherwise download here. Don't worry about things you might see/read about 10 minute record limits - restrictions were removed with SP2. You can also record a Picture in Picture webcam. Basic cuts/edits/media inserts. Price - FREE.
 
When recording a DAW, with it's audio in/outs redirected, live commentary/playback is often not picked up by screen recording software. I get around this with Voicemeeter. This is a very versatile piece of software (Virtual Mixer) and allows low latency through continued use of ASIO. They also have other virtual cables which you might find a use for. Price - Donationware - flick'em $20 if you find it useful and continue to use it.
 
... and you can use Handbrake to transcode to various formats. Price - FREE.
 
[Update]: Just a quick update on editing.
I actually use the software that came with a piece of kit of I've got (Roxio Game Capture HD Pro).
Your copy of Premiere is likely suitable for the task. (Hmmm, then again, modern formats/codecs(?)).
Other free offerings include:
- Windows Movie Maker - (part of the Essentials Suite, recognise other bits you may be installing - Photo Gallery, OneDrive, Family Safety, Mail, Writer)
- Lightworks - (720p max output for Free. Check out the linked comparison of Free vs Pro - from all accounts Free is capable)
 
[Update]
I wouldn't have thought a virtual machine environment would be 'necessary' for this (unless you were generally looking at that route for other purposes).
Also - I suggest Oracle Virtual Machine is more business oriented vs Oracle Virtualbox.
VMware Player would be another candidate.

I've been using SnagIt for years and it's great. Unfortunately I've never upgraded it and I'm still on version 6, which dates from 2003, so I can't really comment on whether the current version does what you require.