How should I make a video from pre-recorded audio and screenshots?

February 14, 2009 1:20 PM

How should I go about making a video from screenshots and pre-recorded audio?

I'd like to make a video using audio that I've already recorded and static images of my screen. I can take the screenshots and save them as an appropriate image type (I'm assuming .jpg), but I'm not sure about the best way to combine that with the audio. I want to be able to control how long each image is shown in the final video in order to match the images up with my recorded audio. Any control over transition effects and similar features is welcome but not essential.

My initial thought is to view my screenshots as a slideshow in the order I want them to appear, and use something like CamStudio to record what's on the screen while playing the audio, but I'm guessing there might be a better way to do this. I should probably note that I'd like these screenshots that I'm taking to fill up the frame of the video.

posted by entropic to computers & internet (8 comments total)

This is exactly what video editing software was made to do. Import your audio, import your images, and you'll have complete control over when you want your images to appear, and for how long.

For the average user, the majority of the software can be rather pricey, though.

Most common are:
Final Cut Pro (Mac)
Adobe Premiere (Mac or PC)
Vegas Video (PC)
iMovie (Mac)

iMovie is probably the cheapest, best option for this sort of thing if you have a Mac.

Perhaps other users have suggestions for additional low-cost options?
posted by TwisterSister at 1:52 PM on February 14

I don't have any low-cost options. What WILL do what you want, however, is Camtasia Studio. OMG it's amazing. If you're a student, you may be able to get an educational discount.
posted by tcv at 1:59 PM on February 14 [1 favorite]

I see that Camtasia is available for a 30-day trial, as is Adobe Premiere (I'm on a PC). I may give those a go. Anybody have experience with using Windows Movie Maker for this sort of thing? What about Avidemux?
posted by entropic at 2:28 PM on February 14

I did a similar thing using the Print Screen button for the caps, pasted them into an image editor to crop/resize as needed, and then imported them into Windows Movie Maker to sync with the music, very easy and free.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 2:33 PM on February 14

Marked tcv's suggestion of Camtasia Studio as best answer. Just downloaded the trial, and after playing with it for a few minutes and watching some of their instructional videos, I agree: OMG amazing!
posted by entropic at 3:25 PM on February 14

It's not a great piece of software, but a free option is Microsoft's MovieMaker. I did something along the lines of your project with it a while back and while I didn't have as much control as I would like, it looked fine in the end.
posted by nameless.k at 5:09 PM on February 14

Similar to Camtasia, but open source (and free) is Wink. I've used it and it works well. It doesn't have nearly the feature set of Camtasia or Captivate, it also doesn't have the $300 price tag.

Here's a basic sample Wink that I made, (it shows how to prep an image for screen printing).
posted by mattybonez at 5:54 PM on February 14 [1 favorite]

Here's a similar question... I recommended Google Picassa; it might be more basic than you need, but it'll do the soundtrack and fades quite well.
posted by acro at 10:00 PM on February 14 [1 favorite]