How to create a screencast

Creating a screencast is harder than it seems. Despite from the idea, you need the right hardware and software to produce high quality content. Especially the post-production is often underestimated. To make your work easier, we would like to give you a few tips on the way.

Contents

• Preparation
  • Desk
  • Operating System
  • IDE
  • Recording Software
• Post production
  • Audio editing
    • Normalize Loudness
    • De-reverb
    • De-plosive
    • Voice De-noise

Preparation

Desk

1. Deactivate personal assistants (Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Apple Siri, ...)
2. Turn-off clocks / alarms and other potential noisemakers
3. Have a glass of water next to you in case you get a dry throat

Operating System

1. Turn-off your system clock and calendar, so that your recording always looks up-to-date

IDE

1. Increase your font size (i.e. from "14" to "22")
2. Set your IDE to full screen mode (i.e. WebStorm: "View" → "Appearance" → "Enter Full Screen")
3. Open all relevant files already in the IDE to access them via tabs
4. Copy important code blocks to the clipboard to prevent errors when typing live

Recording Software

1. Always record in your maximum screen resolution to have the best quality available (YouTube supports 4K at 60fps with ease)
2. Make microphone test and adjust gain (loudness) if needed
3. Save project (before starting the recording) on a drive with lots of free space, so that you don't run out of disk space during the recording

Screen resolution in Windows:

Camtasia project settings matching the screen resolution:

Camtasia full screen settings with sound check:

Important resolutions:

• HD (1280x720, 16:9)
• FHD (1920x1080, 16:9)
• 2K / QHD (2560x1440, 16:9), Example: Lenovo ThinkVision P24h-10
• Dual QHD (5120x1440, 32:9), Example: LG 49WL95C
• WQHD (3440x1440, 21:9), Example: Dell U3421WE
• 4K / UHD (3840x2160, 16:9), Example: LG 27UN83A-W
• 5K2K / WUHD (5120x2160, 21:9), Example: LG 40WP95X-W
• 6K (6016x3384, 16:9), Example: Apple Pro Display XDR

Post production

Audio editing

1. Export audio from Camtasia Studio ("Export" → "Export Audio Only...")
2. Import audio file in iZoptope RX Audio Editor
3. Open "Modules" → "Plug-in" → "Ozone 9 Elements"
4. Use the "Maximizer" to set the target loudness to "-14,0 LUFS"
5. Use "Repair" → "De-reverb"
6. Use "Repair" → "De-plosive"
7. Use "Repair" → "Voice De-noise"

Normalize Loudness

De-reverb

De-plosive

Voice De-noise