The online screen recorder, which I really liked, is closing down. This is a great shame, and what's worse is that your videos will no longer be available on the web after July 31st. This is a real pain, since I'll have to re-do a few of mine that I've put up. What are the alternatives?
I've spent some time using BB Flashback. It's a download product, which also has a commercial element to it. The thing that I particularly liked about it was the ability to include a webcam of yourself while commenting on what was going on with the screen. You can see it in action in my YouTube stream.
Jing is another product worth looking at. Again, another download product, which simply sits in the background. I haven't tried it for real yet, but was impressed enough to download it!
Capture Fox Movie is a Firefox add-on and a handy tool to create tutorials about a software, a web site or anything that can be displayed on your computer. It records your screen frame by frame. You can also record your voice.
Screencast-o-Matic is another product that I've played around with and enjoyed using. Certainly worth giving this a go. It's browser driven and free.
Screener allows you to create screencasts for Twitter. Web based recording, mac or pc, and free.
GoView is another package that I've also seen recently. "GoView lets you capture your computer screen and audio and then instantly share your recording online. It's quick, it's easy and, best of all, it's free!"
Other tools that I haven't tried but which do the same sort of thing: CamStudio, Freescreencast. Screen2exe, Screencastle, Wink,
It's a real shame that ScreenToaster is closing - they did a lot of work, and it was a great product. It was also one of the best of the bunch really, but their Twitter stream has remained silent for the last 6 months or so, which isn't a good sign. There was also a lot of disquiet on their Facebook page as well, with lots of complaints about the service - none of which were answered. It's also disappointing that they don't appear to be offering any way to save or migrate recordings elsewhere.
I've spent some time using BB Flashback. It's a download product, which also has a commercial element to it. The thing that I particularly liked about it was the ability to include a webcam of yourself while commenting on what was going on with the screen. You can see it in action in my YouTube stream.
Jing is another product worth looking at. Again, another download product, which simply sits in the background. I haven't tried it for real yet, but was impressed enough to download it!
Capture Fox Movie is a Firefox add-on and a handy tool to create tutorials about a software, a web site or anything that can be displayed on your computer. It records your screen frame by frame. You can also record your voice.
Screencast-o-Matic is another product that I've played around with and enjoyed using. Certainly worth giving this a go. It's browser driven and free.
Screener allows you to create screencasts for Twitter. Web based recording, mac or pc, and free.
GoView is another package that I've also seen recently. "GoView lets you capture your computer screen and audio and then instantly share your recording online. It's quick, it's easy and, best of all, it's free!"
Other tools that I haven't tried but which do the same sort of thing: CamStudio, Freescreencast. Screen2exe, Screencastle, Wink,
It's a real shame that ScreenToaster is closing - they did a lot of work, and it was a great product. It was also one of the best of the bunch really, but their Twitter stream has remained silent for the last 6 months or so, which isn't a good sign. There was also a lot of disquiet on their Facebook page as well, with lots of complaints about the service - none of which were answered. It's also disappointing that they don't appear to be offering any way to save or migrate recordings elsewhere.
I use Jing constantly, Phil, and find it really useful both for stills and video grabs.
I also like the way it sits at the top of my screenlike a little golden sun...
Posted by: Alison Gow | June 29, 2010 at 10:36 AM
This is disappointing news! I knew you'd be on the case for alternatives. Thanks for this.
Posted by: Lex Rigby | June 29, 2010 at 11:35 AM
Given the large number of education sector users, I too am disappointed that no explanations or alternatives were offered.
Posted by: TAmankwatia | June 30, 2010 at 04:18 PM
I've been able to capture some of my ScreenToaster videos using the Firefox add-on Video DownloadHelper - https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/3006/
Posted by: Jim Holton | June 30, 2010 at 05:47 PM
Many thanks for this Phil, I just went to Screentoaster today to find it has died. I am going to try Screencast o matic today. One of the benefits is that you can upload from there straight to YouTube which is good.
Posted by: Bryony Taylor | July 01, 2010 at 04:02 PM
FYI
I came across this post in their forum which may help you and others wanting to back their videocasts up
"To download your video's the easy way could be simply update your Realplayer
and select the option to download movies & flash files off websites.
It's free. And there are a ton of other downloaders out there (go to cnet.com to see)."
Posted by: Andy | July 07, 2010 at 09:05 AM
Found out from a colleague that usertesting.com out of CA quietly acquired screentoaster.com
Posted by: T Amankwatia | July 08, 2010 at 08:55 PM
I just used ScreenToaster for the first time to update a pharmaceutical sales webinar and it worked great. Like other people, I used Camtasia before but after switching to a Mac, I had to find something else. I tried Jing and it worked fine except that it had a limit of five minutes video time (at least for the free version). I stumbled on ScreenToaster and since it is compatible with Mac, I gave it a try. I recommend all Mac users try it if they did screen capture.
Posted by: Clint Cora, Pharmaceutical Sales Author | October 04, 2010 at 03:35 AM
ScreenToaster is still up and running guys.
Just used it - still freely available.
Paul
Posted by: paul | November 08, 2010 at 07:12 AM
I use showmewhatswrong and love it. Simple to use, the videos once published on the site are available for download. I download then upload to youtube for distribution. Works well for us.
http://showmewhatswrong.com/
Posted by: Lorraine | December 06, 2010 at 03:47 AM
I'm confused - I'm sure I used Screentoaster a couple of weeks ago, but now it is gone again. I really liked it. They had a really good beta high -quality version available too.
I used to use Jing. Found it really easy. But I can't seem to download the videos anymore, not with the free package.
Posted by: Helencurry.wordpress.com | December 06, 2010 at 09:03 PM
Helen - yes, I think screentoaster has now had its day. Even if it does come back up again, I can't be using or recommending a flakey product like that. As far as I'm concerned it's dead, which is a shame, because I liked it, but there you go.
Posted by: Phil Bradley | December 07, 2010 at 11:34 AM
Hello all - I have just found a URL where screencast is testing a beta version:
http://www.screentoaster.com/record2
This is the first time i'm using it and it is awesome. Tried Jing and even an installed version but this is definitely better.
Posted by: Abdul | December 08, 2010 at 02:56 PM
Screentoaster is still running. I'm surprised. So what's the deal? Has it shut down or is it still running?
Posted by: Pat Miller | December 10, 2010 at 08:19 PM
I have switched to screencast-o-matic. Good support. http://bit.ly/2GKZnv
Posted by: twitter.com/NormGregory | January 16, 2011 at 01:08 AM
Thanks for the list of alternatives -- very helpful. I tried CaptureFox and it crashed my FireFox browser, and ScreenCaster got hung up after I stopped recording. But I'm really impressed with BB Flashback.
Posted by: Natalya Murphy | February 20, 2011 at 01:33 PM
Hi Phil, heres another great alternative ive just found http://www.screencast-o-matic.com/
This is free up to 15 minutes with watermark or $9 for the full version up to 1 hour recording.
Posted by: Carl Thompson | April 19, 2011 at 04:58 PM
http://screencast.com/ the best online alternative!
Posted by: David | October 09, 2011 at 06:41 PM
There is a new kid on the block, works a little different however and is more of a communication tool but can also be used from sharing screencasts. You can try it at http://screenmail.to
Posted by: Axel Toivonen | April 05, 2012 at 12:46 PM
I have switched to screencast-o-matic. Good support. http://bit.ly/2GKZnv
+1
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