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Snapz Vs. ScreenFlow vs. Screencast-o-Matic: A Review.

By Filed Under: Products, Projects and Process

Greg Swann got me onto SnapZ last fall when I wanted to improve on what was available from Screencast-O-matic.   I was looking for something that looked good, that would last more than 10 minutes and that would allow me to render stuff and do what I wanted with video.  I downloaded the Free-and-Functional-for 14 days Snapz Ambroisia.  And things were good.  I was able to share info, I was able to build videos that explained to folks what I did and how to get on a blog.  But something was missing.  I bought the paid license anyway, and I used it.  It was fast, hotkey driven and it was always waiting for me, always at the ready, when I wanted to make a video.  I was also able to use it to rip some DVDs the long way, and that worked out well, too.

Namely, layering.  I wanted to make some callouts.  I wanted to do some things that looked less ‘vanilla.’  And Final Cut wasn’t really something that I wanted to get into at the time (I’ve changed since then, since Imovie 09 introduced me to layered video.)    So Kasey Kelly suggested ScreenFlow.  And I hated it.  At first.  I downloaded the free trial, and I hated its guts.  It had an interface that bit, it had a timeline I hadn’t seen before, and I couldn’t get past the learning curve.  And, with Imovie 09 making things easier, there was no need to.

So I was sticking with Snapz and iMovie to edit stuff.  And life went on.   Except when I got my Guerrilla.ME idea: reputation management + social media training idea.  I wanted to go beyond it, and I knew–from watching good ones–that screenflow was a cool tool.  And ultimately, I use it daily, it beats the crap out of Snapz, and I no longer

Screenflow Wins, But First The Bad News

There is about a 90 minute learning curve.  Snapz is faster.  It’s easier to use.  It’s the thing to get if you do one or two–total–screen casts.  If you plan to do one a month or more, you might consider Screenflow, because once you use it, it’s quick.  It’s also cool that it saves only the part of the screen you tell it to, and if you’re stuck editing video in Imovie ’08–where there’s no cropping–that’s something to consider. Screenflow has its own Non Linear editor built in.  And, I like a lot of the way it THINKS better than iMmovie ’09 or Final Cut Express.

Snapz also doesn’t put your talking head on anything, and you can put your mug in the corner with Screenflow which is important to some folks (me).   You can shrink stuff down, make callouts (need more callouts)

Also, ScreenFlow doesn’t save settings.  I do screencasts that generally look fine at 10-12fps. So I want to save ‘em that way.  There’s no “default,” saving.  PITA.  Also, if you want to open the program and start, it doesn’t want to do that.  Finally, it makes me ‘prepare to record’ first, and I do love the ‘instant on’ part of snapz.

What ScreenFlow Does Great

Screenflow is a fantastic entry point to non linear video editing.   It doesn’t launch in that mode by default, but it is fantastic at trimming clips, splitting clips, and doing loads of other ‘minor’ fixes’ like adding titles.  I like using it–for the most part–better than Imovie.  When I need transitions or color effects I use iMovie, but most of the ‘roughing’ can easily start in Screenflow.  It also rendes as fast or faster than Snapz on my setup.

It also captures your face.  You can do a training video and put your little talking head in the lower left or upper right (or, hell, you could drift annoyingly across the screen).  That makes a training video more relevant and intimate.  There could be options–like color filters and CROPPING (in lieu of just resizing) but that’s a minor complaint, and I don’t think SF needs more complexity.  It also does a good job of recording Keynote presentations and you can then put your face in the corner if your ego requires it.

Finally, if you want to make callouts, to make some things get bigger to illustrate a point, SF does a good job there–and it’s easy once you do it a couple of times.   If you need a video TODAY, snapz is the way to go.  If you need a video to be GOOD, screenflow it is.  I own both, and I probably wouldn’t buy snapz again, but I still use it almost daily…particulaly when screenflow is rendering.

Screenflow can improve, but at the moment it does a nice job.   There are workarounds for almost everything, and it’s a good tool to learn to sync sound with video…

Till next time.

Client Intake: How To Make A Killer First Impression & More Sales.

By Filed Under: Business Building, selling/marketing

When I talk cold calling with people, they have a hard time understanding how I get away with doing so little and still get good results.   It’s becuse I’m thinking all the time.  I try really hard to improve my process.

MY client intake process for paid clients is 21 steps on basecamp, it’s printed and it sits next to my Imac, on the wall.   I make sure that I wow ‘em with a welcome letter that describes what’s going to happen, a clear understanding of hard deadlines, their expectations and requirements, and my own.   I want to make it super simple to do business with me, so however they give me the information is fine.  Even if they’re stuck in 1997 and insist on using faxes.

Some steps:

  • Welcome letter restating the project & deadline
  • Phone call or voice mail restating it to demonstrate understanding.
  • Mutual signed agreement in their box in minutes.
  • First deliverable, first 4 business hours.   (along with the other stuff).
  • Introduction to team members that are also on the project.
  • Reminders sent of their commitments same day.
  • Basecamp set up and calendared.

Not every job is a big one, but every job worth doing is worth processing for a lot of reasons: you get REALLY good at processing jobs when you practice, and even if you’re on a $200 job, everything is an audition for the next gig.  Everyhing is an audition, and even if it’s $300 bucks worth of work, Basecamp makes things easy, and you can be up and going damn near instantly.   Google Notebook, same deal, copy project to a new doc/spreadsheet and go from there.

Now, you ASK for a referral at project start.  “Since I’ve got this project solidly underway, I’m always trying to help more people–is there anyone that needs me to do X?”  Low key, simple, obvious.    It’s sales.  It’s just asking killer questions, showing you care.   The beginning is a surefire way to demonstrate virtuosity.  Here are some simple rules:

  • NEVER EVER EVER make a client repeat themselves. Even if you have other team members.  I use skype to (with permission) record m calls for design interviews, especially when I’m not actually doing the work (most of the time).   We all get that there are multiple people working on something, but seriously, nothing says bad experience like that.  When I’m asked to repeat myself ,I always wonder: what’s going to be faster, repeating myself or finding someone professional.
  • Always rephrase what you’re understanding the project to be.
  • ALWAYS restate terms, delivery dates and payment triggers.  “Ok, so we’re on the same page, $3500 upfront, $1,000 when x happens, and $2,000 when y happens, with X happening before the 15th, and payment due on the 20th”.   Freelancers are ham fisted about money, and don’t communicate expectations clearly, and then get annoyed when clients don’t pay when they imagined they would.

What is your client intake process?    How many referals are you generating at that time?  Even on little jobs?  How many compliments on ‘being an excellent communicator,’ do you get?  Note: this takes WAY WAY less time than fielding ‘where’s my stuff,’ calls.

If you’re not getting many, your results are poor, and you need to rethink the way you’re doing things.

Snapz Pro X.

By Filed Under: Products, Projects and Process

I dig doing screen captures.

That’s one example. I didn’t edit anything there.

I like making them so that we can see what’s happening, and I’ve been using snapz pro x. That program is by Ambroisia, a company that I remember from the late 90′s–the last time I was a Mac user. They have a lot of little tools that seem to fill holes that nothing does, and snapzpro takes flawless screen caps in .mov or whatever format you want. It’s launched with a hotkey, and dismissed with the same.

It’s fast, you can edit the footage in imovie or final cut…and then put it up.

It’s the perfect screen capture solution, and while i’d like it if it would simultaneously record what’s on the video, I’m cool with it.