mixmkr

CakeAlexS
Nvidia cards only...
http://www.geforce.co.uk/...-experience/shadowplay

not sure what you're trying to convey...but see what Sony has to say about what cards can be utilized with their software.  HUGE discussions and I think the verdict is still out for version 13 on both Vegas and Movie Studio.  IOW, they don't have a recommended card(s) yet listed on their specs, like they have on previous versions. 

 
? I have nothing to convey.
 
That was merely a link to nvidia's own FREE screen capture software.

oh....didn't see the software.....  I just thought it was a Nvidia graphics card recommendation. (without an explanation why the link was there)  I'll keep on moving... ;-D

$300 for Camtasia...OUCH...I had no idea...jeez
 
Seems a little, shall we say, expensive? 

mixmkr
oh....didn't see the software.....  I just thought it was a Nvidia graphics card recommendation. (without an explanation why the link was there)  I'll keep on moving... ;-D

 
You simply click on it to find out ;)

 
Short of trialing it I had a nosey at new Snagit. It's probably just fine ... but it is $50.
 
I see it has basic edits similar to that offered in Microsoft Expression Encoder 4 (free).
(I didn't mention above that MEE4 also requires > .Net 4 (included with Win8) - easy download/install).
On the downside the MEE4 solution is perhaps a bit more initial setup than an 'out of the box' offering.
On the plus side it is quality, highly configurable and free/inexpensive.
I'm very happy with it.
 
Hypercam 2 is probably fine. I do see the later version is payware (although reasonably priced - $40 ... and appears to be another company / publisher(?)).
 
I'd prefer to have a local solution than online (e.g, Jing).
 
Frankly there are many options and the basis of a comparison is here.
 
There are a couple of reasonably priced others I'm aware of too that aren't mentioned in the list:
- Litecam HD - $38
- Mirillis Action - $30
 
Some things to look for:
- light/reasonable CPU footprint
- audio in/outs (although as mentioned VoiceMeeter might fix that).
- good audio syncing (although SONAR can assist here (X3 at least)). 
- file formats, sizes
- video quality -framerates, bitrates, aspect ratios
- editting features
- watermarks (either not there or user assignable)
- ease of use, well presented GUI / workflow
- web integration / streaming
 

 
I just spent an hour with Hypercam 2.
Whilst I wouldn't write it off in it's entirety ... it's hasn't met my demands in that time.
 
Firstly, be sure to decline the crapware during install!
 
The features are quite good but my main issue was the audio syncing when video framerates were put to something decent (aimimng for 30fps 1920x1080).
Syncing was best at a mere 5fps record/playback.
I guess you could look at syncing in Sonar but ... ain't nobody got time for that!
 
Microsoft Expression Encoder 4 Screeen Capture SP2 (MEE4SCSP2 ) has no problems at full 30fps (and you have tweakable bit rates - I set it to 10000).
 
My PC (laptop):
OS:  Win8 64bit
CPU: i7-4700MQ (8-core), 2.4 GHz
RAM: 8GB
GPU: 2GB NVIDIA GT 745M

I downloaded and trialed SnagIt 12.1 (15 day trial) (well an hour or so thus far - although I was/am aware of previous non-video versions).
 
I was moderately impressed ...

• Snagit excels in Static Screen Capture / editing
• the video features are of good/sufficient quality, only MP4 H264 ~20fps / AAC Stereo 44100 Hz

(more below)
 
Why wasn't I more impressed ...
Because I've got a pretty similar solution via various utilities already (free(ish)).

• Video Capture (Screencasting) - Microsoft Expression Encoder 4 SP2 / Screen Capture codec - (Basic Editing on par with SnagIt, MEE4 exceeds SnagIt for configurability)
• Audio Mixer / redirection - VoiceMeeter (you may still need this with SnagIt and LIVE DAW playback (?) - untested yet) - Donationware
• Static Screen Capture - FastStone Capture v5.3 (the last freeware version - 2007) - (similar to SnagIt, including scrollable grabs) - FREE
• Transcoding - Handbrake - FREE
• Many means of 'Sharing' to Applications, Web, Mobile devices - FREE

 
What SnagIT does additionally/better (?):

• Brings it all together under one modern environment, actually 2 modules - the Capturer and the Editor (basic video edits).
• Allows 'Profile' task automation
• Good array of in built 'Share' options
• Integrates well with Mobile devices (and via Techsmith Fuse Mobile Apps - FREE)
• As a paid product it'd have Support.

 

Okay... I seem to have survived the Single Sign In stuff.
 
ShellstaX... I really appreciate you spending the time to check all this stuff out and providing your thoughts on it all. You (and everyone else) have given me a lot of options. Based on your latest post I think my initial research may have indeed led me to the correct solution for now and Snagit would be worth the bucks for the sake of simplicity however now I am certainly curious about the other options in regards to the MS releases. Unfortunately I am on Win7 on all my machines (and will likely remain on Win7 because I like it, don't want to pay for 8 and am not buying any new preconfig'd machines any time soon). If I am reading you correctly I may still be able to check those options out anyway but for now I may just drop the fifty bones and get Snagit to start creating content right away. Thank you very much and know that due to your persistent helpfulness and knowledge I have started really paying attention to your posts. Good stuff.
 
Alex... I will look into that nvidea option as well. I believe my DAW graphics card is NVIDIA and now I'm curious. Unfortunately my laptop is Radeon and as you know I like to do a lot of my experimentation on that system first and a lot of the work I intend to do will be on that system because... well it is always running whereas the DAW only gets fired up when I'm ready to do DAW stuff.
 
As to everything else mentioned here I appreciate the input on the other apps. I had heard looked into many of them so knowing they are working for some people is good to know. There is a lot of horror stories as far as weird stuff installing alongside some of those BUT that may be mostly due to the third party distributors tossing their own weirdness in and not the actual software.
 
Man CNET has really been doing all they can to ruin their reputation lately, aye?
 
Cheers.

 
@Beep: No Wuz - you obviously sparked a streak of interest . Me persistent? - No more than a dog with a bone!
(ASIDE: Single Sign On - I'm missing products / still seem to have old store acct (?) - to deal with).
 
@Alex: NVidia Shadowplay ... I was thinking 'who's going to incorporate GPU assistance' - none better than NVidia themselves I guess. However review showed up a few things:
- It's only for top end (GTX) cards (and only Nvidia, as you might expect (and you've pointed out)). My GT 745M is in no-mans land in the GE Feature Support Matrix.
- It's part of the Geforce Experience program - BigData / BigBrother! OK a mild case of paranoia - and they do say no personal data is connected. OK - data it is toward game optimization and Shadowplay is a plus. There is an opt-out ... but they'll have already grabbed a bunch of info.
BTW: TechSmith Snagit installs as opt-in to the improvement program too (without option). You can opt-out but that must be done in 2 places - both the Capture and Edit tools.
 
The one that sparked my interest for further investigation is Mirillis Action. Whilst perhaps Gaming focussed it does talk of overlays and Microphone Commentary. I've downloaded a trial - watch this space.

Thanks for the heads up about the opt in thingie. I hate that crap. You sound like you got a bit of the OCD like me (which can be a good thing for us music types especially now that we have to deal with computers as well). I've just been going obsessive about a pile of other things so figured I'd save some time by asking. If I have the time later today I'll probably download the Snagit trial and see what it can do. Might try out Jing to as long as I'm on the site.
 
I also need to get a webcam or preferably an inexpensive digital camcorder for live action stuff. Whatever I get needs to be high quality enough to capture fast movements (my fingers during guitar lessons/examples) but under $100 so I'll probably be stuck with a wired webcam. I also need something that has a standard camera mount (not just the clip on silliness) so I can put it on my mini tripod. I could however jury rig something I guess. Like use twist ties or something and attach it to a mic stand. hmm... yeah that might work.
 
Sorry... just thinking out loud.