Want to see a Mac version of Captivate? Let Adobe know.
We've mentioned a few screen capture and screencasting apps here recently, but interest in finding new and shiny tools for the job still seems high. There are a couple of possibilities on the porting and development front that might excite the screencast community:
First, Jing Project developer TechSmith - long a dominant vendor for Windows screencasting tools - has indicated that further Mac development is in the cards: the Mac plans page says "...we are actively pursuing a Mac version of Camtasia Studio" and evaluating a release of SnagIt for the Mac. I've used Camtasia on the Windows side and I like it, which makes me optimistic for the Mac version's future. You can sign up for email updates at the TechSmith Mac page, or follow the feature request link if there's something you can't live without.
On the other side of the fence is Adobe's Captivate 3, a high-end screencasting and presentation tool for Windows that's aimed at instructional designers and training applications. While it's pricey, casual users can leverage it to create podcasts or 'casual learning' environments quickly and easily. There isn't an official roadmap for Captivate development on the Mac yet, but Adobe representatives were clear in a recent conference call on the product: if you want to see Captivate come to the Mac, let Adobe know via the company's feature request form.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Johnny Thrash said 1:37PM on 8-01-2007
I'll send the suggestion to Adobe, cuz I sure don't need a Windows version of anything.
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Quix said 2:20PM on 8-01-2007
SnagIt on Windows rocks. It's one of the few Windows-only apps I envy. I'd love to see a Mac version.
Ditto Camtasia and/or Captivate.
The screen capture niche on the Mac side is woefully inadequate. SnapzPro is a joke (sorry, but it is), and while Skitch looks promising, it still doesn't compare to SnagIt.
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John Oeffinger said 3:27PM on 8-01-2007
Thanks for adding the link. More importantly, thanks for including information on Camtasia. I am using Captivate 2 with Boot Camp. Adobe needs to port this over, but they have lost so much of their luster they are turning into a mini-MS.
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Brandon Collins (Cool OSX Apps) said 3:34PM on 8-01-2007
I have contacted Adobe with my suggestions, as it would be a dream come true to see this available on the Mac platform.
Kind Regards,
Brandon Collins
CEO, Owner & Webmaster - Cool OSX Apps at http://www.coolosxapps.net
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Paul said 4:29PM on 8-01-2007
Everyone always says SnapzPro is a joke, but they never explain why. It does videos and photos better than Camtasia and SnagIt, in my opinion. After using all three, I'd have no interest in switching.
I would, however, be interested in Camtasia and SnagIt changing their products so the default video format it records in isn't Windows-only.
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Vasco said 6:49PM on 8-01-2007
Snapz Pro X suits me fine. It has all I need, so I really have no desire to switch.
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Shunnabunich said 8:48PM on 8-01-2007
Screw Captivate, I want Audition on OS X! But what I *really* want to see is the ability to round-trip spectral audio readouts from Audition (as high-res as possible of course) to Photoshop and edit them with first- and third-party plugins, such as Flaming Pear's stuff. Now THAT would be a killer app for sound design.
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Quix said 1:27AM on 8-02-2007
"Everyone always says SnapzPro is a joke, but they never explain why."
If you've used SnagIt or Camtasia, you should know why. Snapz Pro does Plain Jane static and motion captures just fine. But it doesn't do markup (arrows, highlighting, text boxes, shapes, etc.), edge effects, zooms, pans, image effects, etc. Snapz Pro has languished for years with no real functionality evolution, and that's too bad.
For a platform where imaging and design apps are usually a big step above, the sorry state of screen capture utilities on the Mac is puzzling and disappointing.
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BobbyW said 4:35PM on 8-02-2007
Murphy Mac has some really cool screencasts. How do they make those?
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JWL said 4:34PM on 8-03-2007
Qarbon is about to release their ViewletBuilder product for Mac back into production again. We heard the demand from the community and have answered. We are currently in beta of version 4.5.11 and will have it available very soon. You can access our download list at http://www.qarbon.com/download
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