Scraster Professional Screencasting produced this Fluid screencast using TechSmith’s new Camtasia for Mac screencasting software. It was Scraster’s first serious experiment with Camtasia for Mac and we’re really happy with the end result. As you may or may not know, Scraster has been ScreenFlow-based since we opened our shop. While we haven’t dumped Telestream’s ScreenFlow, we definitely have a growing *crush* on Camtasia for Mac!

We were asked to hold off on posting this vid until the proper release date of Camtasia for Mac, which is today. Now you can DL a free trial of the app at TechSmith.com, where you can also buy a specially-priced copy for $50 less than its normal $150 price tag. John Basile, Team Leader at Scraster Professional Screencasting, is in the process of writing a full review of Camtasia for Mac which will be published by scrast.net, the screencasting website, in the next day or two. The scrast.net Twitter feed has mentioned that the site will have several copies of the software to give away in the coming days, so be on the lookout.

Well, this post came to be more about Camtasia for Mac than about its original subject, which was Fluid. If you’re on a Mac, you should check out Fluid asap. Download it for free at http://fluidapp.com and then collect some great looking icons for your new Fluid apps here on Flickr. You’ll be glad you did. If you come to enjoy Fluid, please forward this video on to your friends via the “share” tool on the player or tweet this URL: http://scraster.com/fluid Thanks!

If your organization has an online product or service that could benefit from a professional screencast, get a free quote from Scraster Professional Screencasting here. You can also email us at info@scraster.com. We’re @scraster on Twitter.

TechSmith’s Camtasia is the unrivaled leader on the PC side of professional screencasting and they’ve recently updated their blog with screenshots of the long-anticipated Camtasia for the Mac, which they say will drop later in 2009. Ambrosia Software, makers of SnapzPro X, also say that they have an update on the way. Between Camtasia for the Mac, SnapzPro X, and ScreenFlow (and let’s not rule out the wildcard) all rivaling for Mac market share, it will be interesting to see how things go in 2009.

For now, ScreenFlow is running the show for Mac-based professional screencasters. Despite it’s numerous  bugs, stability issues, lack of support, and lack of community, it’s the only game in town for doing what it does.  First, ScreenFlow is capable of capturing everything, including DVD video and the screens of VMFusion. Second, ScreenFlow, by default, captures everything on your screen with every capture. There’s no need to pick and highlight an area – that’s all done in post-production…which, in ScreenFlow, is hardly another stage. Once video is captured with ScreenFlow, there’s no rendering time involved before one is able to edit – you can get right to it.

There are some significant shortcomings in the editing area of ScreenFlow, but the extensive feature list compensates. The timeline interface is as clean and intuitive as iMovie (and very similar, in fact), and adding zooms and pans, highlights and video effects is a snap. Mouse movements can be tracked with a variety of callout effects, and keystrokes can also be shown on screen. The ability to import PNGs opens up your options to the extent of your imagination. For example, using transparent PNGs is how one can incorporate titling and overlayed imagery into their productions. Tragically, ScreenFlow doesn’t have any proper titling functionality, but most likely will in its next update.

Video compression and export quality is another of ScreenFlow’s strong suits. ScreenFlow uses custom GPU algorithms to give your finished movie the best possible quality. The user can export in a slew of different presets, and the options for customization are many. Exporting at 1280x720px creates a true HD video that can be uploaded to the number of online sites (like Blip.tv) that are now offering HD. You can view the Scraster promo video on our homepage for an idea of how sharp full-screen HD can look.

For now, Scraster Professional Screencasting and a lot of other professional screencasters are depending on ScreenFlow exclusively. But in the field of professional screencasting software, things change fast. Which screencasting software will be making our lives easiest by the end of the year remains to be seen.

UPDATE: Blip.tv is not meant for commercial use and removed Scraster’s videos.