Joy and I created some short video tutorials on finding music CDs in MIDCAT, and since we posted them here we’ve been asked by various people within LIS to share what tools we used to create them. We were looking for a quick way to create screen capture videos with audio (aka screencasts). Here’s what we used:

Equipment needed

USB microphone or headset (available for checkout at Davis Family Library, Armstrong Library, & the Music Library)

Tools needed

Community clips (click to download; for info, click here)

Any Video Converter (click to download; for info, click here)

Upload space (Middmedia; 500MB of space, free to all Middlebury College users)

Publishing platform (e.g. LIS Blog/Wordpress, or a wiki, or a course website)

Steps

1. Create a script and practice. Keep it simple; don’t use jargon (if you must, then explain it!) Keep your video short and to the point!
2. Using Community clips and the microphone, make your video.
3. Use Any Video Converter to convert the file from the .wmv to .mp4 (mpeg-4) file format. (NB: With a bit of trial and error, we set the conversion frame view to 720×576 and the bitrate to 768, but you should experiment and see what works best for your needs.)
4. Upload your video to Middmedia.
5. You can now embed your video directly from Middmedia into your blog, wiki, or website, or get a link to send it via email. To embed the video in this WordPress blog, we followed the instructions here.

The Middmedia page on the LIS Wiki has lots of information on how to embed video in the wiki, on blogs, and elsewhere.

There are other tools that make it easy to make video screen captures (like Jing). Take some time to explore the options, and please feel free to share tips and info. here so we can all learn from one another. Thank you to Dan Frostman for sharing Community clips with us, and to all the creators and contributors to the wiki documentation on Middmedia.