Camtasia Studio 7 Test with HD Video and Output

Video Settings for HD Video and Camtasia Studio 7

The video was shot on a Canon VIXIA HV40 and the sound was recorded using a Sennheiser EW 100 G2 system with a lapel microphone. One Sennheiser pack plugged directly into the camera microphone jack.

The settings for the video camera are as follows:

* HDV * AF Mode: I.AF * D. Zoom: OFF * AV/Phones: AV * Comp Out: 1080i/480iAudio Level: Off * LW 1920x1080 * Microphone Attenuation: On

For the audio, I was getting a lot of background noise, so I changed the following settings:

* Transmitter: 20 dB * Receiver: AF Out: -30

The video was recorded to tape, then later transferred into Pinnacle Studio Plus for editing.

After working in Pinnacle Studio, the file was output as DIVX 16:9, 1280x720.

In Camtasia Studio 7, I edited the video even more, adding callouts, captions and picture in picture. After that I output the video using a variety of quality test settings for both Youtube and Vimeo

Camtasia Studio 7 Output Settings Using the Production Wizard for Output to Youtube Best Quality Settings

* For an MP4 Output * 1280x720 * Expresshow with PIP * Fit in: 1280x822

Flash Options Video

* MP4 * Frame rate: 30 * Key frame rate: 10 * Encoding Mode: Quality * Quality: 100%

Audio

* Encode Audio: enabled * Bitrate: 512 kbps * Initial volume slider position: 100% * Audio Format: AAC * File Size: 205,864 kilobytes * Time: 1.06 minutes

Camtasia Studio 7 Output Settings Using the Production Wizard for Output to Vimeo Best Quality Settings

* MP4 * 1280x822 * Custom Production Settings * Expresshow with PIP * Fit in: 1280x720

Flash Options Video

* MP4 * Frame rate: 30 * Key frame rate: 10 (Vimeo asks for 30, you can only go to 10 in Camtasia Studio 7) * Encoding mode: Quality * Quality: 100%

Audio

* Encode Audio: Enabled * Bitrate: 320 kbps * Initial volume slider position: 100% * Audio Format: AAC * File size: 205,985 kilobytes * Time: 1.06 minutes.

Output and Playback Results for Youtube and Vimeo Youtube

I tried an output test using the best quality settings for Youtube using the FLV format, but the file size was enormous, roughly 500MB for 1.06 minutes. So I didn't use it.

Another option is to output the file using the built-in Youtube setting, but it's not possible to adjust it. The resulting file size is: 6,408 kilobytes. When I tried to upload it through Camtasia, it failed, despite retrying it 3 times. Fortunately, there was an option to save the file to my hard drive and did so, then used the Youtube uploader. It worked perfectly.

Having said that, while the file size is quite small, the video quality is poor.

I also tried other output results, to see about maintaining the quality, while reducing the file size. I found that the video is very sensitive to compression. It doesn't take much before the quality starts to degrade and when it does so, it happens quickly.

The Best Quality Settings in Youtube yielded an excellent result, even when played back at the 320p setting in the full screen view. The graphics were clear and even the text around the icons was quite good. The color saturation was also excellent. If you're on a slower connection, trying to use the 480p or 720p setting will really slow down the download. If high quality is a must, I recommend this setting. The down side is having to make shorter videos since the file size can mushroom quickly.

I also tried several other output options which you can test out for quality. As I mentioned above, the Camtasia Youtube preset resulted in a small file, but the quality was quite poor.

Here are the other test results to check out:

* Quality: 82% * Audio: 128 kbps * File Size: 107,844 kilobytes

* Quality: 75% * Audio: 320 kbps * File Size: 65,213 kilobytes

* Quality: 62% * Audio: 256 kbps * File Size: 26,413 kilobytes

* Quality: 50% * Audio: 256 kbps * File Size: 11,148 kilobytes

Vimeo

When I used the best quality settings I was unable to load the video to Vimeo directly.

Looking for a solution, I came across the Vimeo Uploader program. I downloaded it and used that instead. It appeared to work, but when I looked at my account, the video didn't transfer over. Vimeo noted that the program is new and they haven't tested it thoroughly. They got it out fast to meet user demand, but the end result is I couldn't output the file, so there was no way to test the results.

Following a similar formula, here are my other Vimeo results. Note that in this case, I kept the audio at 320 kbps as per the Vimeo upload instructions. I only changed the quality setting.

* Quality: 82% * Audio: 320 kbps * File Size: 110,008 kilobytes

* Quality: 75% * Audio: 320 kbps * File Size: 64,305 kilobytes

* Quality: 62% * Audio: 320 kbps * File Size: 27,313 kilobytes

* Quality: 50% * Audio: 320 kbps * File Size: 27,313 kilobytes

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