What's On Your Screencast Gift Wish List for 2009?

It’s that time of year… And, I need your help! In the past, we’ve done gift lists for Screencasters in “2006″:http://visuallounge.techsmith.com/2006/12/what_to_get_your_favorite_screencaster_for_the_holidays.html and “2008″:http://visuallounge.techsmith.com/2008/12/holiday_screencasting_wish_lis.html. It’s time to compile the list for what to get your favorite screencaster for 2009.

I’ll get the list started for the screencasters on your ‘nice’ list:

“Storyboard graph paper”:http://konigi.com/store/product/storyboard-notepad – perfect for planning your screencasts and stories. I like that one side of the paper is a story board and the back side is just a dot grid if you need to map out bigger ideas without the constraint of the storyboard.

“Kodak Zi8 HD Pocket Video Camera”:http://www.amazon.com/Kodak-Zi8-Pocket-Camera-Black/dp/B002HOPUPC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1260490790&sr=8-1- I just switched to this video camera because it has an external audio jack. I can use my own microphone with this camera and get awesome audio even when I’m recording in at a tradeshow or other event. It is a nice camera if I want to mix real world video with my screencast.

And, here’s where I need your help. Chime in! What equipment, software or other items would you get for your favorite screencaster? What if they are on the naughty list?!

http://www.InternetProfitAlert.com Brian T. Edmondson

I would get my favorite Screen Caster a Live Scribe 4GB Pulse Smartpen.

http://www.amazon.com/Livescribe-APA-00004-4GB-Pulse-Smartpen/dp/B002DJTMSW/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1260495954&sr=8-2Smarpen

And I definitely second the Kodak Zi8.

I love these so much I already picked them both up as an early holiday gifts for myself

And for the naughty ones? How about Windows 7… (I truthfully don’t know about that, but usually am not an early adopter when it comes to operating systems!)

Brian T. Edmondson
http://visuallounge.techsmith.com Betsy Weber

Brian -

Oh! The LiveScribe Pen! Great idea! I hadn’t thought of that. Tim Fahlberg (Mathcaster) showed me how he was using his LiveScribe Pen with Camtasia. It was really cool.

Yes, I’m liking the Kodak camera a lot so far too!

Thanks for the comments!
http://www.labnol.org/ Amit Agarwal

Have you tried the latest webcam from Microsoft that records HD video:

http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-H5D-00001-LifeCam-Cinema/dp/B002MCZJ78
http://www.edlivescribe.com Tim Fahlberg

Thanks Betsy! My Livescribe blog has a number of Camtasia Studio or Jing videos showing educational ways to use the Livescribe Smartpen. My favorite screencast/post shows how to create a talking test using Livescribe technology (paper and Smartpen) and then a talking test (see http://www.edlivescribe.com/?p=54).

But the main “item” on my holiday wish list is for TechSmith’s President Bill Hamilton to collaborate with Livescribe’s CEO/inventor Jim Marggraff and make their two companies main products work together seamlessly. If you could export out a Livescribe pencast in a video format provided by Camtasia Studio that would be HUGE.

Happy Holidays! — Tim, the Mathcaster
John S. Richards

Storyboard Graph Paper? Try this web page to make your own for free: http://www.incompetech.com/graphpaper/storyboard/
John Kirk

Yes, I have Kodak Zi8 camera. The video quality is amazing. Haven’t really tried out the mic input. Does it sound a little different than the camera audio pickup?
Sara

What is the best flip movie camera to use with camtasia?