Video Screen Capture Software That Cut It

Being a big screen video fan, I've tried plenty of screen capture software. So, people often ask me to recommend a good screen capture software and if I could recommend one that's easy on the wallet, all the better.

The good news is, there's lot's of video screen capture software out there, many of them can be had for a song. A simple search on your favorite search engine will yield you plenty of options to test for months.

The bad news is, if you want better quality videos, videos in different formats and cool features, then you may need to part with more money than you hoped.

The big catch for most inexpensive tools is not so much the quality than the format of the final produced video. Many of them can only capture to .AVI format which is a pretty universal format but it works better on Windows based computers. It's also not a good format if you plan to play the video on a website.

Videos that can be played on a website is best created in flash format and there in lies the problem. Video screen capture software that produce in flash usually cost many times more. It is rare to find one under $100 and if you do, the quality of the final video often leaves much to be desired.

If you can afford it, aim for Camtasia by TechSmith. Not only is this video screen capture software packed with features, it's also one of the best. You can edit videos (great if you make mistakes and don't have to re-record), create videos in many different formats, clickable spots and more. It is however pretty pricey but worth it.

The other one with similar features is Qarbon ViewletCam. ViewletCam is nice,  creates professional looking players with awesome PowerPoint features. Its price is also much more wallet friendly. It doesn't have as many features as Camtasia which isn't a bad thing since you may not use half of Camtasia's bells and whistles.

Then, there's BBFlashback. This is a pretty interesting tool. It can produce videos in many formats including flash. Price is lower than Camtasia a bit more than ViewletCam although it's features are closer to Camtasia. A good value with great quality.
 
Lastly, there's Adobe Captivate - this is like the rolls royce of video screen capture software but my experiences with it is not as great. I've had to slow down my presentation considerably, something I didn't have to do with Camtasia. The price tag is also a little high but the flash quality is great, better at quizzes and interactive elements and it is overall easy to use.

Finally, there's the good old free video screen capture software Camstudio. This tool is no longer supported but it can still do a pretty decent job, outputting videos in AVI and Flash formats. It works with decent quality and best for occasional videos for web display.