Camtasia Platform Switch

Camtasia is my favorite video editor.  I first learned about Camtasia when I was practicing a flipped classroom.  I got training when I attended FlipCon in Chicago using the PC version.  I love the playhead that allows you to select the clip area and the way you can make customized intros.  Two years ago, my PC decided to die.  Thankfully, my administration said, "What would you like?"  I have always been very pro PC, but my tech coach said, "Macs are better for video." So, I took her advise and took the plunge into the Mac world.

Now, Camtasia on a Mac is a bit different and took some getting used to.  But, I have enjoyed the ripple cut editing.  I've been using it for two years now and I just realized one of the biggest differences between the two different platforms.  When you export your video in the PC version, it asks you what kind of video you want to export, HD, mp4.  I had never realized that the Mac never asked me.  I've just been exporting and starting to notice that the video was slightly out-of-focus, or I was questioning whether or not I needed glasses!

That's because you have to set up the canvas to the ratio that you want when/before you edit the video.  Once you change the canvas size you have to resize any clips, annotations, or photos that make up your video to fit onto the new canvas. Ugh!  I've been working on many video products lately and never realized that I needed to change the canvas size, but I was noticing that the videos were not as crisp and clear as they originally were.  Thankfully, I have the original Camtasia files and I can resize my video pretty easily.

Lesson learned!