I started out by writing a basic script for the talk:
Finding a bug -------------------- Intro: This screencast explains the Python issue tracker, used for recording bug reports, patches, and feature requests. Let's go to bugs.python.org. This is an installation of the Roundup issue tracker. The default list displayed is sorted by activity, showing the most recently modified issues. ... Roundup also has a fancy search. [click on the search link] This query screen looks complicated, but we'll break it into sections. You can search based on a number of fields, and sort based on a different set of fields.
This isn't in any formal script format, and doesn't necessarily match what I actually said. They're more like speaking notes, like the outline that I would put on index cards if this were an in-person presentation. The script is formatted to be only 36 columns wide, so that I can display it in a browser window alongside the area of the screen that's being recorded. The script is in an HTML document that can behave like a teleprompter, thanks to a little Javascript code that autoscrolls the window.
The teleprompter behaviour was less useful than I expected because it was really hard to do the whole presentation without flubbing. After a few tries, I gave up and recorded the screencast in sections: the intro, 'anatomy of an issue' section, basic search, and fancy search. Each section is at most a few minutes long (basic search was ~50 sec), so it was easier to try each one a few times to get it right.
I recorded an 800x600 region of the screen at about 10 frames/sec using Snapz ProX, which outputs a Quicktime file. Getting the positioning right was tedious, because Snapz doesn't have an option to display a border for the region being recorded; you have to enter the setup screen, look at the rectangle, exit, move and resize the browser, enter Snapz setup again, etc.
Snapz can also record the microphone input or the Mac's audio output, so I didn't need to run Garage Band or some other recording software separately. Each pass on each section was recorded as a separate QT file; I could then listen to them all and select the best version. If I messed up a single sentence, I paused, repositioned the mouse, and tried again.
The different versions were assembled in iMovie HD. Trimming down the clips and editing out flubbed sentences proved to be a pain, at least using the clip viewer. The trimming display only gives you sliders with the time code (min:sec:frame #). It doesn't show audio levels, so I couldn't look for flat areas and slice them out as I do in Garage Band. Instead it was very finicky:
- Position the start and end sliders.
- Click on the start to move the playhead there, and hit 'play'. Did I hear part of a word? Is that point too early or too late? If yes, move the slider and try again.
- Repeat step 2 for the end marker.
- Hit Ctrl-X to cut out that part.
Is there no better way to do this in iMovie, or do I need to shell out $200 for Final Cut Express? The timeline view doesn't seem to let you edit clips, only move them around or delete them completely.
Notes for next time:
- There have already been two mentions of the sound levels being too low. Snapz doesn't have an audio level slider, so I need to tweak that setting in System Preferences.
- The title slide fades in, but I guess ShowMeDo takes the first frame as the thumbnail, so the thumbnail ends up being all black. I need to figure out how to do a title with no fading.
- I would have liked to run the title screen over the audio for the introduction, but couldn't figure out how to do that. You can separate audio from video and then slide the audio around to push it out of sync, but I wanted to leave it in sync and just replace part of the clip with the title sequence. (On Googling, 'paste over playhead' is probably the feature I need to do that.)
- I should get the iMovie Missing Manual.
What else could I have done to make a better screencast?