Hello, normally to create documentation for end users, I'd simply take a lot of screen shots using ALT+PrintScreen, import them into Microsoft Paint, annotate them, save them as .jpg files, and then use a slideshow program to assemble them into a slideshow for the end user.

That's an effective but time consuming process.

I'm looking for alternatives that are preferably faster for me to create and better for the end user.

One idea is to create videos like we see in various ASP.NET MVC tutorials.  I do not mean the videos where someone films Phil Haack giving an presentation.  Instead, I mean a real time video screen capture sequence with voice over explaining what happens with certain operations and how to achieve certain results.

Examples:

    How to deleta a ______________________________.

    Ten things to consider when creating a new ______________.

               et cetera

I'm looking for tools that preferably are really good and 100% freeware because, sad to say, I've run out of money.

Any ideas?

Thank you.

Regards,
Gerry (Lowry)

 Camtasia studio is the market leader right now, it's a very good tool, but not free.  They do offer a free trial, if that'll suit your needs for this client, tthough.  http://www.techsmith.com/camtasia.asp

CamStudio is a freeware one, but I haven't tried it to comment or not; a friend says it was acceptable for his needs, though not as feature-rich as CamTasia. http://camstudio.org/

Hi Paul, thank you for your input.  I'll try your suggestions.  I had hoped the get some other opinions too.

Gerry

P.S.:  although I would have marked your reply as an answer, someone did it very prematurely on my behalf.  I've left it marked but set the status of this thread to unresolved because I'm still hoping to get a few more opinions.  Of course, I do value your opinions highly.  Unfortunately, there is so much "to know" that no one person is likely to "know it all".   g.

Hi Paul ... I've finally looked at CamStudio's web site ... they only do .swf AFAIK.

CamTasia does not specify formats.  It's manufacturer does have a good name from it's long lived SnagIt product.

I was hoping for something that does PowerPoint presentations.

Thank you, again ..... Gerry

 You can, iirc, export to wmv as well, which can be embedded in ppt.

Hi Paul, this is from TechSmith, makes of Camtasia Studio:

Camtasia Studio produces to most industry standards. It can create any of the following file types:

*         Flash player compatible files: MP4, FLV, SWF

*         iPod, iPhone, iTunes compatible: M4V

*         CD/DVD/lossless export: AVI

*         Silverlight-compatible: WMV

*         QuickTime: MOV

*         RealMedia: RM

*         Animated GIF

*         Audio only: MP3

Lots of choices.  The Camtasia Studio product seems well designed.  I'm currently testing the fully functional 30 day trial.  I installed WireShark and used Camtasia Studio to record the install as an experiment.  It works well since I had little clue as to how to use Camtasia Studio.  They have several very informative tutorials to get a new user a bit of a jump start.  I ended up with a .wmv that was not bad for an incompetent like myself.

Gerry

Camtasia is pretty good. One tip - record a clip and play it back. If you don't like it, delete it and record the clip again. Forget about editing clips, it's far easier to rerecord them.