I have a handful of apps that I use to show off my Mac to those still stuck on the dark side (ahem, Windows users), and ScreenFlow is among them -- heck, it's even the app I use for screen recording Windows (via Parallels). Already the gold standard in the screen recording app genre on the Mac, Telestream's ScreenFlow adds a host of goodies in its 2.0 update. While the new features provide the means for you to enhance the look and feel of your screencasts, they're more notable for better facilitating your screencasting workflow; the end result is more of a one-stop shop for all your screencasting needs.

The first new feature relates to media interaction and management within the app. ScreenFlow 2.0 now allows you to drag, drop and position content from your media list directly onto the main ScreenFlow video canvas. In addition, said media files are now saved within a package. This means that the media files (pictures, music, and movies) you used in your project will be bundled in one place, rather than scattered hither and yon on your hard drive. As a result, you no longer need to worry about the folder(s) you placed your media in.

Prior to 2.0, freeze framing or adjusting the speed of a clip required you to use another video editor, such as iMovie or Final Cut, which was an annoyance given the fact that you had to export the video. In the 2.0 update, however, ScreenFlow has added built-in support for freeze frames and speed adjustments.

And if you yourself need your own personal freeze frame -- er, break -- you can now do so without splitting up clips through the pause and resume feature of ScreenFlow 2.0. While stopping and recording results in a separate clip, pausing and resuming screen recording results in a single clip that can be moved through the editing process as a unit.

As many screencasts eventually make their way onto YouTube, ScreenFlow has incorporated YouTube publishing within the app. No longer will you need to use your browser or export to an iMovie-compatible format to upload your screencast to Youtube. YouTube publishing includes support for distribution control, giving you control over whether or not you want your screencast available for public consumption.

Other notable features in the 2.0 update include:
• New keyboard shortcuts (for resizing the timeline, zoom in and out, and nudging clips)
• Advanced audio edits and audio ducking
• Action curves
• Improved timeline performance and improved export performance
• Support for exporting only part of the timeline instead of the entire document
• Color correction
• Live audio scrubbing
• Snow Leopard optimization

Mac OS X Snow Leopard provides built-in support for screen recording via QuickTime X, and this may serve as a "good enough" solution for basic screen recording needs. But, just as Little Snapper serves as a powerful and elegant screen capturing tool suite over the built-in capabilities in OS X (via command-shift-3 or via the "Grab" app) for more advanced uses, ScreenFlow serves as a compelling screen recording suite for those who want to add extra polish and sheen to their screencasts. And with the 2.0 update to ScreenFlow, Telestream has made adding that extra polish and sheen that much easier.

A 30 day free trial of ScreenFlow 2.0 is available at the Telestream website. ScreenFlow 2.0 is available for USD $99, or as a USD $29 upgrade for owners of previous versions of ScreenFlow. Download and purchase links available here.

It hasn't exactly been a secret that I (and several others at TUAW) have been big fans of ScreenFlow since its release. Up until yesterday, I didn't really think it had much serious competition in the professional screencasting field. That seems to have changed with the release of Camtasia for Mac. At the same $99US price tag as ScreenFlow, Camtasia is offering a very similar interface with some impressive capabilities.

Camtasia has long been considered a heavyweight in the PC world, and its Mac debut has been anxiously awaited. While it hasn't exactly reached feature-parity with the PC version, it's been quite a pleasure to try out. Some of the features it's lacking in comparison to its PC counterpart include region recording, narration-only recording and ScreenDraw. However, its capabilities in the area of direct media manipulation are quite well-developed. For a complete feature comparison, check the TechSmith website or grab the comparison PDF.

A quick run-through with a review copy convinced me that this is some serious competition for ScreenFlow. One of the coolest features I played with was the SmartFocus action, which can be applied to an entire clip or just a region in the editor. It automatically determines what the point of focus at any given time should be, and zooms that area. Additionally, you can highlight the foreground window, add text and shape callouts, and work with imported media. The only problem I noticed immediately was with changing colors of library elements (arrows, etc.). I haven't figured that out in my brief trial, and haven't had a chance to ask yet. I'm hoping that's not a missing feature, as it seems relatively important to me.

A complete array of QuickTime formats can be exported, and presets for YouTube, Screencast.com and iTunes are included. There's a default export which gave me a 10.5MB QuickTime file for a 47-second clip, at a 960x600 resolution. The "Advanced Export" option provides the opportunity to tweak settings and export to all the standard formats. There's some mismatch between the PC and Mac export capabilities, though, making cross-platform projects difficult (file format comparison).

Camtasia for Mac requires that all of your video cards be Quartz Extreme-enabled. If you run any USB->DVI hardware, be sure to disconnect it before you launch the application. Also, TechSmith warns against running Perian with Camtasia. I tried it and didn't have any problems -- but it was for a short record/export experiment and I'm guessing they have good reason for pointing out the potential conflict. I would probably heed that advice when working on a more important project. Camtasia for Mac is currently available at the Camtasia website as a free trial, and can be purchased for $99US, or a 5-pack for $495US.

In a QuickTime screencast, Adobe's Russell Brown demonstrates content-aware scaling, a feature of Photoshop CS4, due to be released this month.

A lower-resolution YouTube demo from Lynda.com is available here, if you don't want to download a huge QuickTime movie. The content is different, but you'll get the idea.

Adobe licensed an algorithm that senses "dead" areas in photos, and resizes the image to avoid squashing or stretching every object.

In the video, Brown demonstrates resizing an image of four golfers, interactively removing space between and around the golfers, but leaving the golfers' proportions correct. He also demonstrates resizing a Volkswagen bus, making it a more "economical" size, but automatically keeping the wheels round.

For those looking for a compelling reason to upgrade to Photoshop CS4, this might be it. If not, what is? Let us know by leaving a comment.

[Via Swissmiss and Michael Sippey.]

Screencasting -- the not-so-ancient art of recording the computer screen for the entertainment and enrichment of others -- has evolved into quite a Hydra of options. How do the myriad gladiators in this arena stack up? I've tried everything I could find that could record a little movement on the screen, and selected 8 contenders for the matchup. We'll start this boxing match off with the free apps, and then see if the "money" apps stack enough features on to make them worth the cash.

• Improved registration experience
• Several squashed bugs, including the blank frames at the end of some movies and garbled video capture on older, nVidia-equipped Macs
• Improved performance for audio captures