Mac screencast recording choices
I’ve been mulling over doing a screencast so I made a small survey looking for the best choices for Mac screencast apps. This is not a review since I haven’t had time to actually try them all out. But if you’re looking for what’s available and some links to useful reviews, this is a good starting point. Screenflow and Snapz Pro seem to be excellent choices although I had people recommend iShowU and Zing to me as well. I tried iShowU and wasn’t too impressed. I tried Screenflow and thought it was pretty amazing.
Software:
- ScreenFlow – $100
- Snapz Pro X – $69
- Screenflick – $29
- iShowU – $20
- Copernicus – free (no audio)
- Jing – free (max 5 minute recording)
Reviews:
- ScreenFlow: The iTunes of Screencasting (March, 2008)
- Screenflow: Screencast for the Mac with style (February, 2008)
- Screencasting Software (February, 2008)
- Screencast Software Options (March, 2007)
Hi! My name is Alex Miller and I live in St. Louis. I write code for a living and currently work for 
I think you’re referring to my review here http://loewald.com/blog/?p=149 but I think you’ve missed a few things. ScreenFlow costs a LOT and is intended at a different audience (people doing this kind of thing “professionally”). As such, I think it’s a clearly superior product, and while much-improved remains flawed even for its intended audience (its keystroke display is unattractive and not sufficiently configurable).
IShowU has a killer feature shared by one other program — you pick a preset, capture your video, and you’re done. No “export delay”. If you produce videos to explain things quickly for a small audience, IShowU will save you a LOT of time compared to ScreenFlow.
If you produce videos to make money for a large audience, ScreenFlow is incomparably superior.
Thanks for the comments Tonio. As I said, I’m just doing first looks at these things so I’m likely missing important stuff like the difference in target audience. I don’t consider $100 much at all for a quality piece of software but then maybe I’m unusual. :)
When I tried iShowU, it acted strangely – I got scrolling portions of my other screen in parts of the background and I couldn’t figure out how to lock the screen area. Granted, I only spent 10 minutes on it, which is why I wouldn’t call this a review.
Screenflow did exactly what I expected on the first try. I found it easier to get started with than iShowU.
But I’m sure I’ll learn more when I try these in earnest.
Maybe some interesting additions to this post are the checklist of criteria for selecting a screencasting tool at http://www.indoition.com/screencasting-tool-choosing.htm, as well as the list of screencasting tools at http://www.indoition.com/screencasting-tools-survey.htm.
Thanks! I just tried out Jing, and it is perfect for what I needed. What a neat tool.