Since posting my article “One Way Inbound PR 9 Links For Free” I have received many inquiries about the software I used to generate the video which captured the computer desktop.

The Night Shift

It took me over 5 hours to find the software I used. I started by looking at www.tucows.com and www.download.com - Maybe I’m slow, but I had a heckuva time figuring out the correct keywords to search on. Many of the terms would yield simple print screen, regular camera video recording or video editing software packages – none of which were going to meet my need for the project. I finally figured out the correct search terms were “screen recorder” or “screen recording”.

The goal was to find FREE software if I could – I wasn’t able to find anything for hours, so, I finally found a package that was free to try. After downloading it, I set up the options, got a brief script ready and started recording. Immediately, I received a message that it would only allow 15 recordings before I would have to pay for it. This was pretty discouraging because I was doing a test video on the first recording and I could see how quickly I was going to use up all 15 recordings. “Ah well,” I thought, and braced to pay for it…

Tech Support?!? We Don’t Offer No Stinking Tech Support!

After recording the first video – it did not work very well, the *.avi was corrupted, and buggy. So, I worked a way around it, and recorded again. The file sizes were out of control, 230Mb – 350Mb. I found a setting to change in order to use a better encoding, but it was buggy and wasn’t working correctly in the trial. So, I emailed the company and asked if they could provide some support – that if I couldn’t get the encoding to work, I wouldn’t be able to buy the software.

They emailed me back suggesting that I purchase some video conversion software. Basically, they were telling me to “screw off” and expecting me to thank them for it.

On The Road Again…

So, I began my search again, looking for other screen recorders. My plan was to download many and use up all of their free to try periods before deciding on which one to buy… then I noticed – All the user interfaces I ran across looked alike! I mean, they did not resemble each other, they looked exactly alike!

One Of These Things Is Not Like The Other

Then I ran across a review by Hax0r on C|NET’s download.com where he said the following about one of the screen recorders which is “free to try” but you have to pay to get the full version:

Rip-off of open-source program

Pros: Well, it’s an alright, though CPU-inefficient program… but…

Cons: This is obviously a rip-off of the open-source program, CamStudio 2.0, available at camstudio dot org. They might very well have taken the open-source code, changed the names and are trying to sell it. I highly recommend that you check out the aforementioned program, CamStudio 2.0, before downloading this.

Posted: 28-Nov-2006 03:55:22 AM

Jackpot!

I went to CamStudio.org site and there it was… the free software Hax0r had referred to, available for download and FREE to use at SourceForge.net

Ethics – A Little Cleaning Up To Do

I reported the possible licensing violations to the author, not sure if these are real violations, but wanted to let him know there is a possibility that others are profiting off of his open source work. You can bet this guy gets a donation from me! If you end up using the software, I would encourage you to donate, as well.