If you ever have the need to record your screen actions and audio in a brief video clip and then share them with a client, consider GoView from Citrix, the company behind the ever popular GoToMeeting and GoToWebinar tools. GoView is still in a beta release and probably why it is still free to use for now. Citrix has used this in the past to get valuable feedback from users before they release a version 1.o product and begin to charge for it. I went through the same process last year with their GoToTraining offering.
You can install and set up GoView and begin recording your dazzling screen demo’s in under five minutes by following the easy, three step process outlined at this link.
Here are the steps you follow to create your first recorded screencast:
- Record – From sales presentations to software demos, you are able to record your actions, movements and clicks and to explain the what and why at the same time.
- Edit – By adding titles and trimming out the sections where you made a mistake or the phone rings, you can produce a quality product that reflects well on your professional image.
- Share – Once you have finished any edits, your recorded presentation is instantly available to view and share online.
Some of the advantages of this approach are:
- Easy to share your work because you just email a note with the link, or even Tweet or Text it to your customer, never getting caught in a spam filter.
- No delay in delivery due to a large multi-megabit video file.
- The ability to archive your work and build an online library of your most important demonstrations.
- 24 hour accessibility and security for your work which is stored at the Citrix Online Data Center.
- You control who has access by assigning an optional password to each recording that you then provide to your intended audience.
- You can download the video, which is converted to the mp4 format, resulting in a much larger file size.
- You are able to generate an “imbed Code” that will allow you to insert your video into a blog, website or even your Facebook page.
Here is an example of a link generated by GoView that takes you to a demo of the web tool (under 2 minutes).
http://goview.com/?id=e371b396-a8cb-45ad-a64f-b560586b506b
Once you have built your library of “masterpieces” you are able to manage the content online from this view:
Citrix users also have access to a User Forum to ask questions and learn additional tips and techniques for getting the most out of GoView. The forums are a bit weak for this product as it is still very new and still in beta.
GoView will evolve over time and emerge as a good partner to other Citrix tools. It is entry level in it’s current version, and the editing is very basic. I have found that once you begin doing this type of work, you will move fairly rapidly into tools that are more advanced in their formatting options, recording flexibility and editing capabilities. There are tools that are web based such as Screenr and those that are loaded on to your hard drive. My favorite of this variety is TechSmith’s Camtasia Studio.
If you are new to this effective communication technique, check out GoView and explore it’s capabilities and how you might be able to creatively use it in your work. When you create that masterpiece, add the URL below in the comments section and expose your talent to the rest of us.