Screen Recording: What works LIKE Kaltura but doesn't cost so much

Screen Recording: What works LIKE Kaltura but doesn't cost so much

by Point Right -
Number of replies: 14

I had a helpful conversation with someone at Kaltura last week, but almost fell over in my chair when we got to the discussion of cost. They are great, the product is solid, but holy bananas.


We didn't make it much further than that, and I am letting them make a proposal but I need to find some other options, as I fear I'll have trouble securing that budget for this. I mean, to take a "free" (aside from my time, knowledge, salary etc) offering like Moodle, and then bolt on a many-many-thousand dollar add-in makes very little sense to me, and won't make a lick of sense to the people I need to convince at this point. I do not mean to discourage people from using Kaltura, and again, they are great. People's prices will vary but that was the price I was quoted for my super-modest (yet corporate, and customer facing) need. I think it's that customer-facing aspect that kicked the price up into the stratosphere. I work for a small company who has a decent footprint in the medical analytics world. Our modest website has a modest need for bite-size training. I am getting things rolling in a positive way on the LMS front, but we REALLY need what Kaltura offers, which to me is:

-Direct recording of what's happening on screen, into a browser.

-Automatically saving content to a server

-Editing (although the Kaltura in-browser editing is not where I'd like it to be.)

Does anyone have experience with working with anything else? Maybe something not as fancy as Kaltura? I presume there is a free option that I just haven't found. I need to see if there are cheaper or free options that I can use, even if it doesn't have the polish of Kaltura.

Thank you,
Erik

Average of ratings:Useful (1)
In reply to Point Right

Re: Screen Recording: What works LIKE Kaltura but doesn't cost so much

by Floyd Saner -

Erik,

Can you provide more detail about what you need to accomplish?  I don't fully understand what you mean by, "Direct recording of what's happening on screen, into a browser."  You can't record into a browser.  Do you want to do screen capture and save that to a video file?  Do you want course participants to create/post videos or do you want a course designer or teacher to create instructional video content?

Kaltura provides a very powerful video software suite, that's what you pay for.  However, if you are willing to do a bit more manually, there are many other screen capture products that work very well.  I use TechSmith Camtasia to create instructional videos.  Camtasia has very rich editing tools.  You also get a video repository with your account at screencast.com, although you will likely need to pay for more video storage capacity.  I use Vimeo for my video storage - I prefer that to Screencast.

If you want something really inexpensive, although limited, you can look at Sreencast-o-matic.

Floyd

Average of ratings:Useful (2)
In reply to Point Right

Re: Screen Recording: What works LIKE Kaltura but doesn't cost so much

by jason everling -

We use Camtasia Relay, which is now Techsmith Relay. We have the "self-hosted" one as it is called now. We have the server onsite. There is also a Moodle plugin for Relay but all it does is create a new discussion in a defined discussion activity for the course. If you setup all the variables correctly in Camtasia Relay then you can set it so that a notification goes to the correct course automatically. If you do not need that then the "recorder" gets an email with the "view" links that can be posted in Moodle. There is also a web interface for which they can login and get that info and as well as captioning.

The cost was a one-time price of $4995, none of that subscription crud most companies are going too, I really dislike subscription models, we will usually not buy software unless it is a one-time fee minus the support.

You can also use Camtasia Studio and publish them to the Relay server which includes the SCORM quizzing and such, Works Great!

http://www.techsmith.com/techsmith-relay-self-hosted.html

 

JASON

Average of ratings:Useful (1)
In reply to Point Right

Re: Screen Recording: What works LIKE Kaltura but doesn't cost so much

by Usman Asar -
Picture of Plugin developers Picture of Testers

Erik,

Here are few other options (All Free), you can try all to see which suits your needs best.

1: BlueBerry FlashBack Express

you can use your webcam while recording your screen, by default it creates a file in FBR format, which is editable with its video editor that comes in package as well. if, for example you havent used webcam while recording screen, you can skip video editing step and export it to AVI format. This program is free to use, but will require registration after 30 days of use, which is as well free, even before registring all functions are  enabled for the application, you can find  more about BB FlashBack by clicking HERE. (Links opens in new window)

2: CamStudio (Not Camtasia Studio)

CamStudio is Free, and comes with plenty features, like you can record inputs from microphone, from the program itself, or silent recording as well, provides you annotation options, different size captures (Full Screen, Partial Screen etc), different frame rates (range from 1 - 30). I think you should give this one a try. You can find more about CamStudio by clicking HERE.

3: Webinaria

Another easy to use with basic options for recording needs, can capture different sizes in screen (Full or Partial), and three frame rate options  (5,10, 15), you can learn more about Webinaria HERE.

4: DVDVideoSoft Free Screen Video Recorder

Simple interface with 8/9 buttons to select screen capture, screen recording and program options. good thing about this program is, it automatically saves files in date/time format, so if you are doing lots of recordings,it makes it easy for you to manage the file names. Click HERE to learn more about this program.

I personally use TechSmith Camtasia Studio, like plenty here do smile

rest you can have a look at each of program's website and even can try as all options are free.

 

Average of ratings: -
In reply to Usman Asar

Re: Screen Recording: What works LIKE Kaltura but doesn't cost so much

by Marcus Green -
Picture of Core developers Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Plugin developers Picture of Testers

A few years ago I tried just about everything I could get my hands on and decided for straightforward stuff Camtasia Studio was the one for me.  Where a product was either cheaper or free there was usually some reason.

Average of ratings: -
In reply to Point Right

Re: Screen Recording: What works LIKE Kaltura but doesn't cost so much

by John Banner -

We also use Camtasia Relay/Studio, the updated version, probably a year old by now can do SCORM Quizzing in HTLM5 instead of Flash Video. Very useful for those who use allot of mobile devices.

Thanks,

John Banner

Average of ratings: -
In reply to Point Right

Re: Screen Recording: What works LIKE Kaltura but doesn't cost so much

by Point Right -

Test

Average of ratings: -
In reply to Point Right

Re: Screen Recording: What works LIKE Kaltura but doesn't cost so much

by Point Right -

I clicked "Reply" to my original post just to see where it would show up in the thread (I am new to these forums) and then commenced upon "editing" my one word response.  I really was composing my message, which  took me like an hour- and I hit the timeout and lost all my work.  I didn't mean to just write test.

I'll try this again in the morning. My god that is frustrating rule to have on a forum.

Thank you very very much to the people who replied. It is a big help and it is appreciated.

Best,
Erik

Average of ratings: -
In reply to Point Right

Re: Screen Recording: What works LIKE Kaltura but doesn't cost so much

by Steve Ambro v3.8 -

Two unspoken rules:

1) The longer the message, the better it is to write it in Word first then copy/paste it.
2) If I have composed the most perfect response directly into the Forum, the higher the probability that something will burp and you will lose the message before, or when, you hit Submit.  If I have not already, I highlight/copy the forum text box before hitting Submit.

Either way, when the system bites you, at least you don't have to reconstruct your thoughts.

Average of ratings: -
In reply to Steve Ambro v3.8

Re: Screen Recording: What works LIKE Kaltura but doesn't cost so much

by ben reynolds -

Or get Lazarus extension for Firefox, which remembers your form entries. But not your credit card number.

Average of ratings: -
In reply to Point Right

Re: Screen Recording: What works LIKE Kaltura but doesn't cost so much

by Mark Sharp -
Picture of Core developers Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Plugin developers
Hi Erik,
I'd not come across Kaltura before, but then I've not been too involved in the video recording implementation here.  I notice from their website that they do a community edition too, which includes a media server.  If you're prepared to do your own integration etc, I'd image you could probably do something in-house.  See http://www.kaltura.org/ for more info.

If you're after a service then I can recommend Panopto (http://panopto.com/).  We use them for recording lectures. It also captures the screens, so it's possible to see both the lecture and powerpoints - or whatever is being used.  Their offering also allows for some easy to use in-browser editing. I've heard nothing but good things about them from my colleagues.

Mark
Average of ratings: -
In reply to Mark Sharp

Re: Screen Recording: What works LIKE Kaltura but doesn't cost so much

by William Beazley -

Your problem has two parts: Screen Recording and Video-on-Demand.  For screen recording, I use Camtasia.

For VOD, I am trying to implement Wowza, with some head scratching. I am trying with Wowza to get streaming video, rather than download and view video.  Stream makes it harder to steal the video content, as downloading makes a local copy,

In streaming, I also needed the application to limit streaming to my domain only: You can't call it from another browser.  You also have to have a "player" like JWplayer or flowplayer. HTML5 is supposed to do away with all that player stuff.

My fallback position is Vimeo.  It has the same domain restriction and wasn't all that expensive.  Other posters have mentioned it elsewhere.

Flowplayer is a bit twitchy on Moodle 2.6.  The playing video won't re-size automatically as Wowza is called using a URL link.  All display options other that "embed" hang in 2.6 and we haven't taken the time to fine tune the free flowplayer.  I don't know how it would work in 2.7 but it couldn't get any harder to use.

If you don't really care about videos being downloaded, a simple screen recorder and media files on Moodle is an easy way to go.  You might go a little farther and set up your own file directory or WEBDAV for one-stop updates to files.

I hope this helps.

Bill

Average of ratings: -
In reply to Point Right

Re: Screen Recording: What works LIKE Kaltura but doesn't cost so much

by Justin Hunt -
Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Plugin developers

Two low cost solutions for browser based screencast capture include:

screencast-o-matic 

screenr 

 They are both java applet based, so that is a consideration of course. But I think that is the only in browser solution really. I know of at least one institution that bought a site license for screencast-o-matic . 


Average of ratings: -
In reply to Point Right

Re: Screen Recording: What works LIKE Kaltura but doesn't cost so much

by Matthew Cutlack -

May be of no help, but if you have Office 2013 avaliable mix.office.com might be a option

Average of ratings: -