ScreenFlow Video Review and Giveaway
It’s not often that you find an app that totally changes the way you do a task. As a video blogger for MacApper, I use screen recording software all the time, and never has it been easy to create a beautiful and professional screencast.
Not until ScreenFlow. ScreenFlow from Vara Software takes screencasting software to the next level. With a beautiful and simple interface, ScreenFlow uses all of Leopard’s Core Animation features to the max, providing an environment for you to capture, edit, and output your screencasts with ease.
Want to add an animation? Just click a button and make your changes. No confusing waveform or curves to adjust. And even when dealing with the most CPU-demanding effects, ScreenFlow handles it with ease. No need to render your clip when editing. No need for dropped frames. ScreenFlow truly redefines what good screencasting software is. For a look at some of the things that make ScreenFlow revolutionary, check out this video review made entirely using ScreenFlow.
Vara Software, the makers of ScreenFlow, have generously given us one license of ScreenFlow to giveaway on the blog. All you have to do is leave a comment with one feature you would like to see added to ScreenFlow, and you will automatically be entered into the random giveaway. The giveaway will end on March 1st, and the winner will be announced shortly after. If you don’t win a copy of ScreenFlow in our giveaway, you can pick up your own license for $99 USD from their website.
For more giveaways and video reviews like this, subscribe to the MacApper podcast in iTunes and the MacApper RSS feed.
I’d like the ability to export to FLV or SWF.
Great app! But I’d like to see a direct export to YouTube, Vimeo, etc.
Would love to add text over the video – titles and subtitles
Callout actions are great, but I believe that they can be made even better, by allow highlighting of arbitrary regions, and by allowing highlighting of the currently active UI element, like text fields.
Examples of usages would be highlighting code in a programming screencast, or highlighting form elements on a web page.
I would like ichat integration included>
Cool app, but I’d like to see some iMovie like library thing for my recorded screencasts.
if it is possible to record the screen and the video from the isight at the same time, so i could explain what i do and everyone could see me at this
but great program anyway…!!!!!
I would really like to be able to edit text and see more editing features like slowmotion and stuff.
It would be nice to have a way to slow down the display of modifier keys. I find it’s way to fast for the viewer to see it. Of course you could hold the key combination for longer but the principle of ScreenFlow is based on the ability to edit your screencast after recording.
All over, this is just an amazing application.
An FTP uploader would be great too and why not with a simple HTML page generator to include your video. I know, I am lazy, but hey, that is what i said, ScreenFlow is all about after-processing, so why not push it to the after-after-processing.
Thanks for this great app.
I’ve been trying out ScreenFlow for about a week now, and I think there are a few things which could be improved.
Firstly, the view of the video being recorded from the iSight camera should be viewable throughout the recording, not just before you start. It should be possible to then have ScreenFlow ignore that in the recording, so it doesn’t show in your final product, obviously, but rather you can position the video anywhere (just as you can do now).
Secondly, the callouts could be improved by offering a wider variety of effects. For example, on mouse clicks, the area around the click could move in slightly, as if you were poking an image on a piece of cloth.
Thirdly, you should be able to define a smaller area to record right from the start, as you can currently do in any screenrecording application. This should reduce the load on the CPU during recording, allowing for more smooth recording, especially if you are recording CPU intensive tasks.
Fourth, integration with other apps/services, for example the possiblility to export straight to youtube or your blog/podcast. (This could potentially be a big on, cutting out the requirement of another app from the equation – one required to post it to your blog/podcast. For this to really work, a basic interface for uploading to an FTP server and add some text would be needed. Alternatively, support could be added only for certain services, such as Wordpress blogs, to make compatibility easier.
I make screencasts of my own and since i am an audio guy i try to keep the best audio quality i can get. So forth i record my Mac Audio seperately from my Voice. Then edit these two files in Logic and then i bring them back in into my video app.
Are there any ways to handle those two tracks any better with ScreenFlow? If not…this is my feature request
I played around with recording via screenflow for a few hours and I’m not sure if Its already there and I missed it but I would really love to see some inbuilt way to pause your screencast (rather than stopping and joining another one after) and to then return to it – in other words, a way to do it so if you forgot something part way in, you could relatively easily and quickly pause it, check out something else (possibly restoring window location after – e.g. so the video doesn’t appear to suddenly change) and then come back to it.
I used SnapzProX until now but ScreenFlow has got me really excited. Most of my wishes are directed towards export options: for example I would really like to output flash files to embed straight into web pages and the idea of being able to send your screencast directly to YouTube would be a killer.
I am not sure if the program can import layered Photoshop files like my Avid Xpress Pro editing software. That’s probably expecting too much of a $99 app but still… that would be great.
1) Add text windows and subtitles.
2) Stop/back/forward button to defined frame.
3) SWF export.
1. i would like too see decent publish options like Skitch has. http://plasq.com/skitch#demo
So direct publish to own site’s, to you-tube and to other (maybe with ‘Vara’ space, like Skitch).
2. another idea is im- & export for more video and Flash formats with drag ‘n drop in to and from the video window.
3. improved callouts, more simplerer and with more eye catcher effects.
4. direct email export functionality so even big ‘movies’ just fit’s for mail.
5. please keep up this good work
I would like to use Mousepose and/or OmniDazzle as a call out.
Wow, this is a pretty sweet app. It makes me want to record screencasts just for the heck of it.
In my short time playing with it, I’d have to say the biggest feature I hope for is more control over the keyboard callouts. The default text is kind of ugly and in many cases goes by too fast.
Also, not really a feature, but more of a bug. When I blur the background on a mouse callout, the video gets a little choppy. Maybe something they could work on.
Otherwise this is an amazing tool for screencasts. I don’t know what kind of voodoo these guys are doing, but for it to be able to capture my screen at full resolution AND a video feed AND keep track of window positions, mouse cursor, etc. is simply stunning.
ScreenFlow appears to have thought of everything. The only thing I can think of that is missing that would be useful is the option to export to SWF.
I would like it could show the keystroke on screen
and export to Youtube would be nice, tooï¼
Needs SWF Export feature.
Maybe direct publish to YouTube?
I love this app, and I’m probably gonna use it from now on for my developer tutorial screencasts. But there are two features that I really miss:
1- I often hesitate between writing a text tutorial and do it in video, because I often have some code in my screencasts and video doesn’t allow the view to copy/paste it directly. I would love to be able to copy text on screen.
2- I often want to offer my screencasts in several languages, like English and French. So subtitle and synchronization handling would be great.
A bonus feature would be integration with GarageBand to export screencasts as a video podcast.
Subtitles, definitely.
I would like to see different export options: direct export to swf/flv, or upload to video sharing sites, like youtube, viddler, vimeo, etc.
I would love to show text (such as instructions) on the screen, and the ability to upload the movie via FTP or to sites like Vimeo and YouTube would be extremely useful as well.
Improved keyboard callouts would be nice as well. Because of the time it takes the effect to move across the screen the typing disappears way too fast to see. Also, if you’ve cropped the screen to one window, the keyboard callouts get cropped too — instead of adjusting to the new screen size.
I’d like to have an export&upload feature, for easy uploading finished videos to a server, or a service like youtube or blip.tv.
It seems to have just about everything I could want, the only thing that I think would make it better is to have a post to YouTube! and other video sharing sites function and maybe a post to blog function.
I would like the ability to use Universal Access Zoom while recording, but output in normal size. This would help people who have a hard time seeing the screen to record screen casts for anyone. This should be a user defined option (eg. record the zoom, or record un-zoomed)).
Really great application.
The feature I would like the most is a special inspector for all video actions/callouts:
- first, unify video actions and callouts a a single concept. A callout is just a video action that add an effect instead of modifying video/audio properties.
But they are really the same concept, start/end time and duration.
- then a specific inspector pane to control them :
- list all video actions for a specific track
- list all video actions for all tracks
- start time, end time and duration of all video actions, fully editable
- enable/disable video actions with a checkbox
- lock start time/end time/duration of video actions, so that you can change something in it with the mouse without being frightened of changing it all
- order of video actions, so that you can have several video actions on different parameters/effets at the same time
- ability to nudge a video action with the keyboard
That would be really great, and put a better emphasis on the video action part of the software, which should be, in my opinion, a special strenght of it.
A lot of times in my screencasts I’m working with hyperlinks. Rather than just TELLING the user “go here” and showing them the hyperlink, or even giving them the link on the webpage that the screencast is showing on, I want the movie to be interactive. The user should be able to click on the video or a specific section and go to the link. I know this isn’t possible with Quicktime but it would be possible if it published to some flash format. No one else I know is doing this, and is killer for a lot of videos and product reviews, ESPECIALLY screencasts.
While you’re at it, add the commenting system where people can comment at certain types of videos that some sites HAVE done before.
The one thing I think what would be really cool if when you video from your webcam the ability to add some cool effects like in Photobooth and the ability to do a compositing. This I think would make the app a really pro app.
I’d love to see a clip library, there are a few common clips that I use in a lot of my screencasts and it would be great to have a central place in the app to store them.
Wow, awesome app.
I would like the ability to draw on-screen arrows, circles, etc. to highlight or call attention to certain things. For example, when showing a preference pane with several options, it would be nice to be able to draw arrows or circles to call attention to the boxes that need to be checked or unchecked to achieve a certain mode of operation. Also, I don’t know if there’s an option to enlarge the mouse cursor, but there should be because it can be pretty small when you are trying to follow it on a small embedded video (such as on your web site).
Built-in settings to export to Vimeo, YouTube etc.
I would like to see them build a plugin system so other users can build in more functionality for the program. It would be neat to see a system like Photoshop has where you can get different effects, filters, etc. that are produced by third parties, not just varasoft.
I would like to be able to export to swf format.
The ability to add/create custom templates without exporting to another application. Also, adding text would be awesome.
I’d like to able to have an iChat video-conference included in the screen capture so you can have a discussion with another person while recording the screen.
Having good annotation tools would be nice for creating video tutorials.
Can it do live switching between screen and iSight?
Ditto the youtube export.
Nice app.
I am not certain of the performance of this app (since I don’t have it to test it on a real machine) but performance is the HIGHEST priority for me. I don’t want to sit around waiting for the video to compile.
After that is ease of use. Features aren’t important so much as ease of use and performance are. If it gets the job done well, two thumbs up from me.
it would be great to have subtitles and integration of ivison
Other than making the app a bit more reliable (the trial crashed on me a bunch), I’d like to be able to change the count down and have an easier way to add a watermark than adding a new track.
like others have said; export to FLV.. but i have been playing around with the app and missing some kind of “background” music setting cause while recording there is alot of silence as i dont talk all the time
I have to agree about needing a basic text/subtitle type feature. Beyond that, it already has everything else I can think of needing for basic screencast.
Fantastic app. I think a way to organize and manage the screencasts as well as any integration with iWeb or uploading to blogs (maybe a send to MarsEdit or Ecto) would be great additions.
I would like Add Text and Subtitles
It’s been said a few times I think, but direct publishing would be nice. For those who have .Mac Web Galleries, it would be cool to publish directly to those. Or to blogs. Or to YouTube. Etc…
Text bubble would be my first choice to add in Screenflow.
for youtube or other online video sites FLV exporter would also be nice.
Already been said but once again, on screen text annotation would be a nice feature to add.
It would be nice to see subtitle support including extensions like .srt, .sub and more. So that way, it will be more accessible for everybody. I am a deaf blogger/vlogger, I subtitle my vlogs using the freeware, Subs Factory.
Hey Michael, I would definitely like to see transitions and titles. A lot of people don’t like to narrate their screen casts, but instead, play a song, and cut in some titles when needed. This is something you cannot do with ScreenFlow. I would also like to see transition so you can, for example, dissolve into the next video….
Great review michael!
I would like to see the ability to add text titles & images, animate those and have them on their own layer so they’re treated like everything else.
Export to Flash video for embedding on web pages.
I would like to have the ability to add subtitles and text over the screencast.
Instant and built-in export/upload to YouTube, Vimeo, Google Video, etc.
Wow! I do a lot of editing, and from the looks of things, 80% of my projects would be far better done in ScreenFlow. To sort out the extra 20%, i would like to see the option of using a split audio/video timeline and also keyframing for animations/transitions/effects etc, as creating an exponential motion (for example) would require multiple movements dragged to different lengths, which seems impractical and less accurate than keyframing, so i would like to see that option added in the next version of ScreenFlow.
Also the option to export/import in more formats would save a lot of time by reducing the neccessity of pre-converting or post converting video files to the required format.
A metronome feature which detects the BPM of a music track (a la Tangerine), to ease the creation of screencasts set to music. This would help when making things like workout videos or music videos, so you can easily make cuts right on the beat.
Screenflow looks awesome. This app is going to find uses everywhere.
Vara Software does it again. They completely blow me away with another great app!
The feature I’d love to see in ScreenFlow is a feature they built into their Wirecast app and that is the Chroma Key feature. It would be great to modify the background of the iSight camera shot.
The only other features I’d really like to see added in the next update have been mentioned above and that is an FTP uploader and the ability to quickly generate the HTML code in order to embed the video pretty much anywhere you want (MySpace, blog, email, etc).
I met some of the developers several years ago when they last attended MacWorld Expo (I always look for them each year but I don’t think they’ve made it back across the great pond). Back then, I was completely blown away by their first two apps (which are definitely worth checking out as well) — Wirecast and VideoCue 2. It is absolutely amazing what these guys come up with and the way they pull it off. My hats off to you, Vara Software. Keep making these amazing apps.
The ability to cordon off an area of the screen to record instead of the screen in its entirety would be nice.
I would love to see a Notes/Comments features so you can add sticky notes and transition them in and out to do instructional videos, as well as an export to Flash with a nice player. This would finally mean I can give up on using Camtasis in a virtual machine, woohoo
Hey guys – I just tried it – You can record iChat video / audio with ScreenFlow. So that’s already there!
Yes, ScreenFlow definitely is a “go-to” app for me now, but I’d like the ability to save presets for actions and exports.
I would really like to see a full quality export so i can take the video into Final Cut or iMovie and have further editing. Also more control over the sound would be nice.
I would like adjust mouse speed and track
Bravo! … It’s rare when a 1.0 version instantly becomes the best in its class.
Feature suggestion:
Improve the audio aspects of the program, for those of us who add the audio after the video. An independent audio track with standard editing abilities — as in GarageBand’s “podcast” mode — would make ScreenFlow even more powerful.
It’d be nice to automatically export the screencast/video to a blog, WordPress, Blogger, whatever suits you. I’d also love MarsEdit integration, which I don’t think would be TOO tricky. Then I could have the ultimate trifecta of interlocking information management tools – NetNewsWire, MarsEdit and ScreenFlow. Well, maybe not “ultimate”, but still a powerful suite. This would be very useful for professors, teachers and instructors who might want to provide video instruction for an at home assignment but without the necessary technical know-how.
I would want iSight capture at the same time. Please.
Polease. Police.
I like to see text blobs added. A bit like the ones on Flickr.
Great App! I saw a lot of very promising previews and would love to experiment myself! I haven’t tried Screenflow myself, but I think that it has everything I need. So the only improvement I can think of is that I want this application not on my computer, but directly on the web, available to me everywhere I go… But the programme itself will do
Hope I win!
Subtitles would be good.
Wow, this is a great app.
Some things I think would be cool are:
1. allow (karaoke style) subtitles
2. support build in animation for photos, like animoto.com does
Well, I think I have to test it for more suggestions. I just bought Snapz pro though
If only I would have known screenflow before.
a lite version, with reduced functionality and reduced price?
Love the features but I agree that direct post to Youtube would be very useful.
I’d like to have multiple audiotracks for different languages.
It would be great to be able to adjust the speed of the presentation, to show actions in slow motion or speed it up.
I’d like integration with third-party programs like Adobe CS3 products or Final Cut Studio.
if this app can export to ipod and can capture video from Wolfenstein ET, put me in the list!!!
regards.
I want easy mosaic or blur effect for protect private info like user name, mail contents, chat logs
Wow is this really version 1, great app!
Feature requests:
- abillity to enlarge the timeline (vertical), more than 2-3 objects makes it harder
- adding text and subtitles
- mark an object in the timeline when it has been customized
Usabillity:
- delete an object using a keyboard shortcut
- it’s probably me, but it is unclear to me when which actiion is available.
Yesterday I played around with Screenflow for 2 hours and so far I find it
nearly perfect. I am absolutely stunned how fast Screenflow is and that
everything you do is processed in real-time without hitting to hard on the CPU
unlike other apps like iShowU, SnapZ Pro X.
The callout functionality is really neat but it would be awesome if you can
define a custom callout region like a rectangle or elipse to highlight a
particular region rather then relying on the mouse or the front-most window.
The timeline cannot be resized vertically which gets a little annoying if you
have a small screen and 3-4 layers in there, the scrolling really kills the
workflow.
The screenclicks function is also a really nice feature but rather than having
such a huge radar effect I would like to customize this a little bit to make
it e.g. smaller, translucent or change the color.
I think it would also be good if you provide a button for narration. The first
time I launched the app I was a little bit confused and thought that there is
no option to narrate the video after I recorded until I went to your site and
watched the tutorial screencasts. It should be a little bit more intuitive
like having a button above the timeline or a menu item called “Add narration”.
“Add additional recording” in my opinion is a little bit misleading as I
thought that I can only add another screen recording and by no means am I a
novice PC/Mac user.
And last but not least video transitions…
This is the best screencasting app that I’ve encountered. However, the price is quite a bit steeper than the other options as well. I would like to see separate express and pro versions at the appropriate price points. This would allow casual users to get in at a convenient price point, while professional bloggers could go for the full-on pro version.
A feature I would like to see (in the “pro” version, if it goes that route) would be subtitle creation support with localization. That way, viewers that are not fluent in the native language of the screencaster can still understand what is going on in the video.
I would like a sophisticated built-in clip manager allowing one to use the program as both a recorder and an organizer.
I was experimenting with ScreenFlow recently and the features I would love to see are:
1) Viewable waveform – this is key for doing clean editing of one’s voice (I still say ‘um’ way too much!)
2) Recording audio in a friendly file format (what’s with the weird file names / extensions?)
A feature that I think definitely needs to be added would be the ability to export to youtube and similar sites.
I’d like to see tighter integration with iLife, such as the ability to share via the Media Browser, or to integrate a captured movie into iMovie from within ScreenFlow. Being able to put titles and chapters into the movie would be good too.
Would love the ability for a team of users to do a screencast.
Would like it to be able to use the ‘effects’ that iChat offers, or at least some of them (like blocking out the background) for the video/iSight portion of the capture. And integration with iGlasses would be great for the video/iSight portion.
Really nice app. If I don’t win it in this drawing I’ll be buying it.
I second the person who said “slow down the display of modifier keys” but also it needs to show a modifier key is being held down, and better differentiate left- and right- button clicks.
It also desperately needs a nice titling system, and watermarks. This is a pro app (with a pro price).
This app looks great. Occasionally I would like to record a streaming video and save one video file and file with only the audio. Is that possible? Thanks. Hope I win the drawing!
Transitions.
As I move between scenes that I record, I’d like a way to make my cuts but then have a smooth cross-fade between the new scenes.
I’ve done some scaling transitions with the iCamera track by scaling it down to zero to make fade out.
Ideally I would have options for fade-in/fade-out, cross-fades, or something like that.
This is a fantastic-looking app. I love how it handles zoom/pan and dynamic video track mixing. Some features I’d like to see:
1) Additional callouts – I frequently use blur and shape/text callouts in Camtasia
2) Transitions, like fading
3) Snapshot and “extend frame” options
4) Export to .flv
5) Separate audio track editing – I sometimes add audio tracks to Camtasia recordings, like mixing music into the screencast
6) Title/thumbnail creator – select one frame out of the screencast and use it as the thumbnail/title screen
7) Many people record video and audio separately, so along with the separate audio track would be timing options for the video track
possibility to ad “post-it” yellow notes or arrows for explanation
bonjour de Belgique
Yeah, the ability to write and draw something on the screencast would be neat.
Great app! It’s hard to add something to almost a perfect hit.
I would like to see support for recording dual (or more) screens.
In addition to the ability to subtitle with ScreenFlow, I would like to allow the user to view the Presenter’s notes in Keynote (the script of the presentation).
Wow what a powerful piece of software, all they need to add to screen flow is rotoscope application. Screen flow reminds me of apple motion, Everything is sightly the same.
I teach film, and I’d like to be able to point out aspects of an image or action, or facial expression, and go from one thing to another.
I’d like to be able to use a lasso and adjust the size and shape to emphasise parts of an image. Also: be able to track that lasso so it follows a moving object in the frame.
Also: I’d like to be able to type in words on the sound track line, to keep track of key words that would indicate timings of when visual features would appear, change, or disappear.
I would like to see the ability to capture only the part of a screen highlighted by a selection (or at least be able to just capture a window and not the rest of the screen).
So who won the giveaway of this awesome software?
The winner will be announced shortly.
I wanted to add, that being able to reset to default the warnings and tips dialogs would be nice. I couldn’t figure out how or where to do that.
[...] couple weeks ago, I reviewed ScreenFlow, a brand new application that makes creating screencasts simple and easy. Thanks to the [...]
[...] couple weeks ago, I reviewed ScreenFlow, a brand new application that makes creating screencasts simple and easy. Thanks to the [...]
WOW.. that was an awesome video review & tutorial!
Thanks!
I love it! This awsom program allows me to take notes at school when we learn a software in the faster way!
Like the others, I would like to be able to insert text and edit it without using photoshop like software (it takes too much time).
Thanks!
That was awesome! I have been doing screen capture videos for years now, and use it with training others in online business. I Just got a new iMac 24″ today, was looking for the best screen capture software to get, and this looks like it could very well be the one.
A feature I would love to see, is definitely export to FLV, and possibly in the future, doing streaming live screening. I know that may be another product, but I thought I would mention it.
Thanks for the video, really helpful!