Recording Screencasts with Camtasia

Here you’ll find screen recording instructions for Camtasia for Windows and macOS.

 Windows

Devices Selection

Before screen recording, verify your headset is selected as the recording input device.

1. Right click the sound icon in your taskbar and select Sounds. If you don’t see a sound icon, you may need to reveal it. To do so, click the small triangle/chevron next to the other icons in your task bar.

   

2. In the window that opens, select the Recording tab.
   
3. Right click the Logitech USB Headset and select Set as Default Device.
   
4. Disable every other device by right clicking each and selecting Disable
5. Next, right click on Logitech USB Headset and select Properties
6. Select Levels and set the Microphone to 100 and Microphone Boost to 0 dB. This is a good starting point for recording levels.
   
7. Click Apply and then OK.

When needed, repeat these steps to set another device as the default.

When recording with the headset, make sure you have your microphone properly placed and unmuted. The microphone is muted when the red LED is illuminated.

Display Settings

Before doing any screen recording, always adjust your display settings to increase readability.

1. Right-click anywhere on your desktop and select Display settings

   

2. Set the Scale to Recommended

   

3. Set Display resolution to 1280 x 720 or the closest option to this.

   

 Tip

Be mindful of the size of your content when recording. Zoom in  to make your content as large as possibly. This will optimize the viewing of your recording when its embedded in your course.

View Example

Content Zoom Example

Close

Recording

Camtasia Studio 8 (legacy)

2. Launch Camtasia Studio
3. Click Record the Screen in the upper left corner of the main window
4. Select Full Screen in the Screen Recording Control Window

   

5. Click the down arrow next Audio button and make sure Logitech USB Headset is selected as the Microphone

   

6. With the headset on, speak at normal volume and observe the Audio Meter. When speaking the meter should hover in the yellow region. Make any necessary adjustments.

   

7. When ready click Rec to begin recording
8. To stop recording click the Camtasia Icon in the taskbar to return to the recording controls window and push Stop

   

9. Click Save and Edit and then Save As to save your recording. We strongly encourage giving your recording a descriptive name (e.g., psychology100-lesson1-screencast.mp4)

   

Camtasia 2020

1. Launch Camtasia
2. Select New Recording
3. In the Recording Toolbar
   1. Set the Recording Area to Full screen on
   2. Set Camera to Off
   3. Set Microphone to On and click the down arrow next to the icon to verify that the Microphone is set to Logitech USB Headset
   4. Set System audio to Off
      1. In addition
      2. Select Tools > Options
      3. Click File options
      4. Select the Ask for file name option and click OK
         
4. Click Rec to begin recording
5. To stop recording, click the Camtasia Icon in the Taskbar and push Stop in the Recording Toolbar
6. After hitting Stop a Save dialogue will appear and you can enter a name and location for your file. (This should be a .trec file). We strongly encourage giving your recording a descriptive name (e.g., psychology100-lesson1-screencast.mp4).

 macOS

Devices Selection

Before screen recording, verify your headset is selected as the recording input device.

1. Click the Apple Icon in the upper menu bar
   
2. Select System Preferences
3. Select Sound
4. Click the Input tab
5. Select the Logitech USB Headset
6. Speak at a normal volume and observe the Input Level. Hovering in the middle is ideal and it should never go all the way to the right. Adjust the Input Volume as needed
   

When needed, repeat these steps to set another device as the default.

When recording with the headset, make sure you have your microphone properly placed and unmuted. The microphone is muted when the red LED is illuminated.

Display Settings

Before doing any screen recording always adjust your display settings to increase readability.

1. Click the Apple Icon in the upper menu bar
   
2. Select System Preferences
3. Select Displays
4. Set the Scale to 1280 x 720 or the next closest option
   
   

 Tip

Be mindful of the size of your content when recording. Zoom in  to make your content as large as possibly. This will optimize the viewing of your recording when its embedded in your course.

View Example

Content Zoom Example

Close

Recording

Camtasia 2020

1. Launch Camtasia
2. Select New Recording
3. In the top menu bar select Camtasia 2020 > Preferences
   
4. Select Recording
5. Change After Recording to Prompt to Save and then exit out of Preferences
   
6. In the Recording Toolbar
   1. Make sure your desired monitor is selected if using more than one
   2. Set Camera to Off
   3. Set Microphone to On and it is set to Logitech USB Headset
   4. Set System audio to Off
      
7. Speak at your normal volume and observe the audio levels . Ideally, it should hover in the range of -25 db to 0 db, but never go over 0 db. Adjust as needed.
8. Click Start Recording to begin recording
9. To stop recording, click the film strip icon in the upper menu bar and select Stop Recording
   
10. After hitting Stop you’ll be able to save your recording (.trec) to a location of your preference. We strongly encourage giving your recording a descriptive name (e.g., psychology100-lesson1-screencast.mp4)

Published on June 03, 2022 at 1:14:26 pm CDT. Last modified on September 27, 2022 at 9:40:20 am CDT.