Screencasting

Ok I read the newest SJL article about screencasting and with upcoming projects for second and third graders that involve very simple tasks that are complex for them and with a lot of click this, type that involved I decided to give it a try. In my library I have an old dell machine, the techs have tried to keep it up but it is still very very basic. I think that is my only problem, these programs require more RAM to run and more energy than my old computer has.
Nevertheless, I tried wink and loved it. It is not fancy but I made a screencast about how to find a book in the OPAC, and that worked so well I did one about Photo Story. I used my cheap microphone to add my voice and figured out how to add a caption or two and a play and replay button. Nothing fancy but it works. The only problem is the only output I could find is flash with three files to make it work so uploading in to any website is trouble (I am sure it is possible but I had a hard time with it). I was doing ok until I tried a longer screencast and the machine kept freezing! Time to try something new....
So I tried a free trial of Camstasia (or something like that) and it was ok but it was still clunky, freezing and the software interface looked very fancy and not all that intuitive and I was having a hard time figuring it out (and I am normally good with computers). So I gave up after a day or so and decided to download a trial of Adobe Captivate. That is it! This one is wonderful! I shot off an e-mail to our tech guy, do we have any money to buy just one license!? It is so easy it practically does everything for you. In wink I was cutting out slides where I had just waited and waited for things to load. Captivate does that for you! In wink I was adding captions. Captivate does that for you. And it looks so nice. My only complaint is that my voice sounds tinny in their software and it did not in wink. I think you can also use computerized voices but that may not be possible in the free trial, it is giving me trouble, but it looks easy enough. I am going back to publish it today but it looks like I have many options. If you want to try screencasting, go strait to Captivate, it will Captivate you!