Also known as the time I had to use screen capturing software #1 to record the screen capture from screen capturing software #2 because #2 refused to export my completed screen capture.
Got that?
Yeah, what a disaster. I really want to like Screenflow (previously known as screen capture software #2), but I have encountered so many bugs that I really have to wonder if the people who make this software have ever tried to do a screen capture (or edit a video). I have talked with their support in the past who have been very nice, but I’ve never received a satisfactory answer as to how to resolve a variety of issues.
Those issues include: crashing, encoding errors, random “unable to save” projects, random “unable to rename media” problems, and then today — unable to export the video I have been working on for a couple weeks into anything that resembles an actual video. If I wanted an avant garde post-modern art piece with squiggly lines and cryptic graphics, what I exported would be AWESOME. I could probably get an MFA with that alone. Unfortunately, that’s not what I’m going for.
I’ve learned to work with Screenflow in the past by fastidiously saving my projects and quitting and restarting the application every 20 minutes. That usually holds most of the aforementioned bugs at bay.
Self Portrait Taken Amidst The Video Crisis
Regarding the exporting problem, I’ve contacted Screenflow and expect to hear from them in a couple days and try to work out what’s happened this time around. For the time being, I was really in a bind. I NEEDED MY VIDEO, GOSH DARNIT! So I did what all resourceful people do and used another screen capturing software, Camtasia, to capture my screenflow in full screen preview prior to the export gobblygook. Pretty smart, right?
PRETTY INSANE, RIGHT?
Camtasia, I was delighted to find out, works. It has successfully exported my video and while it’s not 100% the way I want it, it’s good enough.
If you do a fair amount of video editing, I’d love to know what software you use. I’ve found myself using Screenflow because iMovie simply does not that the features or granular control I need. I have been trying to hold off on Final Cut Pro simply because of the price tag, but maybe it’s time.
Tags: camtasia, screen capture software, screen capturing software, screenflow, video editing
Not sure how old your post is so if it is a bit dated I hope you have sorted your problems with ScreenFlow!
To be honest most of the people I know of that use ScreenFlow rave about it and tend to have had the oppostite experince you seemed to have had with Camtasia!
Probably the hardest thing for the software makers to deal with is that nearly every computer seems to arrive at a certain “operating state” depending on the usage of the the computer and the programs loaded.
Have you tried the more recent versions of ScreenFlow? I know they have done quite a bit of work on it.