Tips

Here are some tips that our group has come up with:

1. Remind students they can use their iPod ear buds with a computer to listen to your Camtasia projects.
2. When downloading music clips, add the length to the file name so you know at a glance how long the clips last.
3. Before you begin a project, create a folder for all the files which will also include the source files. For example, if you are narrating PowerPoint, add the ppt file along with all the project files.
4. When working with captions, you will probably need to make hard breaks in the preview panel so you can sync the audio with captions.
5. This is an observation. I couldn't get the caption panel to close even if the project was saved as Flash. I'll contact TechSmith to see if there's something I'm doing wrong.
6. If you're using Office 2007, you can get a free pdf plug-in. Convert handouts to PDF to significantly reduce file size. To find the plug-in, click the Office button and select Save As.... Then select Find Add-in for other file formats. A Word Help dialogn box will open and you'll need to scroll down till you find the text "Go to the Microsoft Save as PDF or XPS Add-in for 2007 Microsoft Office programs and follow the instructions on that page. " Click on the link to download and install the Add-in.
7. You can copy symbols from Word into Camtasia. For example, if you want to add the copyright symbol into your project info, type (c) in Word and then you'll be able to copy the symbol to Camtasia.
8. Remind your students that they'll need the Acrobat Reader and Flash Player in order to view all your course content. And, provide links to the web sites where they can easily find and download the software.