World of Apple

Have you ever recorded something from your screen only to find you recorded to long, started to early, or had something come up that you needed to cut out? I know I have, and to be quite honest it’s usually a pain to edit. Enter ScreenFlow, from Vara Software. At first glance, ScreenFlow is a screen recording application much like others in it’s category. However, I’ve taken some time to play with the application and have come away quite impressed with how easy it is to use and its effective feature set. Recording, adding, and editing screencasts has never been easier.

Upon launching ScreenFlow, I found it behaves similarly to applications like Snapz Pro X or Jing – a window pops up with a few simple recording options. Select your recording inputs, press record, and you’re good to go. It seems simple enough. However, ScreenFlow has a recording capability beyond any screen recorder I’ve seen yet. With other programs, capturing video playback or graphic-intensive games never really worked out well. With ScreenFlow, I was able to record fullscreen, high definition video almost flawlessly (It was a bit choppy at times, but I can’t be sure whether that’s the program’s fault or my poor MacBook’s integrated graphics card). For some, that alone warrants purchasing the software. But even beyond that, what makes this software really shine is what I found after the recording had finished.

As soon as you finish recording, you’re greeted with an editing window akin to iMovie. You’ve got a frame view your media, a timeline along the bottom, and an options panel with tabs for editing video, audio, and adding effects. Initially, your recording is added to the timeline for your convenience, but a quick visit to the media tab allows you to add additional recordings or other media off your hard drive with drag and drop ease. From there, editing your video is as easy, if not easier, than using iMovie.

Beyond rearranging and changing the lengths of your clips, ScreenFlow uses “Actions” to create effects in your video. You can add video actions, audio actions, screen recording actions, and callout actions. Video actions allow you to scale, rotate, adjust opacity, and add reflections or shadows. Again, the simplicity and ease of adding these actions makes ScreenFlow not only easy to use, but fun as well. Any action you apply is instantly viewable, with no waiting time for it to render. Audio actions are as you’d expect – a simple tool to adjust volume or mute it all together. Screen recording actions are also fairly straightforward, with options for showing the pointer, zooming the pointer, adding click effects, and showing keystrokes. All these options can be quite useful when demoing a product or giving tutorials. Finally, the callout actions allow you to draw special attention to certain areas of the recording. These are probably my favorite actions, as they allow you to spice up the recording with some classy animation. From highlighting the cursor to highlighting the foreground window while blurring the background and more, ScreenFlow’s callout actions ensure that your viewer is focused on exactly what you want them to see. All these actions are easily added with a click of a button and can be adjusted by simple click and drag editing.

Once you’re happy with your editing you can export the video to Quicktime format for sharing with others. The export window features a number of web presets, making it easy to ensure your video is optimized for your website. More advanced users will appreciate the options to customize the video and audio settings more specifically, allowing them to export their video exactly as they wish. In my tests, exporting a video just over 2 minutes long on high quality web presets took about 3-4 minutes (the time will vary depending on how many actions you’ve added). Not blazing fast, but not slow either. Considering I can see all the edits and actions without any rendering while I am editing, I’ll take it! One thing I do wish the export function allowed you to do is uploading directly to the web, via YouTube, .Mac Galleries, or some other video sites. For me, that would complete the export process and eliminate the need to use any other programs or methods to get the video online. That really is my one and only complaint with the program at this point.

ScreenFlow is available for download from Vara Software’s website and can be purchased for $99.99. Some of you will ask if it is worth the price, considering many of it’s alternatives are less expensive or even free (at least for now). My opinion on the matter – The price may be a bit steep, but it’s worth buying (well not if you don’t have a need for screen recording, but I think that’s a given!) as it is truly a great tool. If you do any sort of screen recording I really think you’ll love this program for its simplicity, ease of use, and feature set. Do yourself a favor and try it out today. You’ll be able to use all the features while trying it out, so you can really get a good taste for how ScreenFlow works for you.

The Breakdown:
Pro’s: Very easy to use, great effects, and it makes screen recording fun.
Con’s: More expensive than other screen recording programs
Verdict: A worthy investment! Definitely check it out.

Price: $99.99
Website: http://www.varasoftware.com/products/screenflow/

Screenshots: (click for full size images)