I agree that cpying to the clipboard should be supported and would like to see quicktime and windows media files supported for the video. This would allow many people to play back the videos easier and fit with the pick up and go attitude of jing. But in the meantime it's easy to convert the formats, just see here: http://tech.cybernetnews.com/2006/12/28/cybernotes-how-to-convert-your-files-for-free-pdf-doc-etc/

Maybe in a few months create a "pro" version that would cost a couple bucks and add the ability to save the capture as uncompressed AVI. Pass off most of the cost and decisions of codecs to iMovie, Windows Movie Maker, etc. I have no idea what the licensing fees for uncompressed AVI would be, but probably in the range of a couple bucks per paid user, right? You could give me all the functionality I would want from Snapz Pro for a couple bucks.

I should clarify, though ... I'd be fine with paying a few bucks for a pro version because it would cost you a few extra bucks in licensing fees. I wouldn't want that to translate into otherwise crippling the free version to get people to upgrade.

I like .png.

Flash ... it's the best alternative, but it's not true to say that Flash can be viewed by anyone. I believe there still is no 64-bit version of the Flash player.

I used and liked CamStudio (http://www.camstudio.org/) before I went to Mac. I assume you've looked at that.

I think your products should work together. Jing is a great product but it produces a video file that you can't import in Camtasia. I think having Camtasia be able to import video files from Jing would make an outstanding product.

For the pile-of-image-files approach, as long as it works with something like QuickTime Pro's "Open Image Sequence", I'm happy.

It would be nice if you could go the uncompressed AVI route though, so audio can be captured and synchronized with the images.

Andrew.

I'll relate a recent experience with formats:

After I lost my last cell phone, I picked up a simple and cheap replacement that just carried my calendar. The phone also came with a camera with the option to capture simple video.

Much to my surprise, all the functions on the phone worked fairly good - phone, pictures, and video.

I pulled off a video to do a quick edit and I found out the format was something I'd never heard of before -- 3g2 -- a "second generation" format for cell phones. I have no idea, with all the fine video formats out there, why someone would go to the hassle of creating something else.

The "quick edit" turned in to a half day affair. Most programs could play the format, but nothing would edit it. I had one of two ways to do it -- pony up the cash for QT Pro or figure out a work around.

Here's the work around:
-Open the 3g2 file in Itunes
-Export to QT
-Trash the two of the three versions (not the QT one) you now have (one for iTunes, one original, and one in QT)
-Now you can load in the video for editing.

Long story short: stick with png and swf - they're fine, they work, and almost anything can read the information quickly and easily.

I've tried Jing just a few minutes ago and it's a great tool. I've searched something like this for a long time to have a fast way for explaining/demonstrating something to friends when they ask for help. It's fast, it's easy, it's cool. ;-)

I don't need any further codecs für video or images - png and swf is enough. But the already mentioned clipboard-function for png's would be really nice. Also it would be great, if I could save the swf file directly to a flash projector exe file like it is possible with the Adobe (Macromedia) Flash Player for Windows (not the plugin), which ist delivered with the Adobe (Macromedia) Flash developement software. This exe projector-file is then playable on each system that supports exe files - well mainly windows i suppose.

Greetings from Germany,
Martin

Png is fine for the single image format. It supports great quality and transparency. What's not to like?

For video, my vote would go for QuickTime MOV format, as it's cross-platform and many apps can view it. All of the Microsoft formats require WMP for the best viewing/functionality, and WMP isn't available for the Mac (discontinued some time ago.) Why "design out" the Mac and Linux users by choosing AVI/WMV? Seems counterproductive in a Web 2.x world...

Keep up the good work.

I've just tried a couple of quick 25 sec recordings. The resulting file was about 1 MB and that surprised med since I can make 3 min with audio in Camtasia studio and export it to a .swf that is appr 3 MB. If I were to use Jing videos heavily I would be part of clogging the Internet ;-)

I think what a lot of you are forgetting is the TechSmith already has products that do what you are looking for. Granted they are currently only on the Windows OS, but I think if we were to start requesting these products for Mac and Linux that they would start to explore the possibility of this. This is their first Mac product (since EnSharpen is just a codec) so they are learning from this if anything.

I think that we as a community that's been built up on this project the past few weeks should help them build more successful Mac products. Remember that Windows and Mac OSes are still the most popular ones out there. Yes, I agree that there is still a number of limited products available for Linux, however, until it really starts gaining momentum, why have large companies spend millions of dollars of a product that wouldn't make the money back.

Jing is also intended for something simple, as the main page states: "Capture, Record, Share." If you start to get past those three then you start to get into other products that TechSmith makes. Why would they create a product to compete with something else? Most of you have talked about Mac apps that do screen recording. Camtasia Studio (currently only on windows) does everything that people are looking for yet we haven't seen it on the Mac platform yet? I think that most of this conversation should be addressed with that. What I think that TechSmith needs to do is get Camtasia Studio on the Mac then worry about where the Jing Project goes.

I think you need to add a .mov file format so us Mac users can edit our videos using iMovie and Final Cut Pro HD. Without being able to save in a .mov format a great program like Jing is useless. It's a shame not to be able to use such a great product.

I think you should use a different file format so people can upload videos to youtube, livevideo and such.

Ben, Why would you want to put videos up on YouTube, because it's free? Free comes at a cost. If you read YouTube's Terms of Service very carefully, they OWN YOUR content (see article here http://boingboing.net/2006/07/20/youtubes_new_policy_.html) . What you also fail to realize is that when you do upload videos to YouTube, you have to do several things, here's an article that talks about what you (as the content producer) need to do in order to get your video to look good on YouTube http://crunchgear.com/2007/07/16/help-key-how-to-optimize-your-video-for-youtube/. Why not offer some better feedback like, instead of putting the videos to Screencast.com or YouTube, why not something like Revver or Viddler. These sites will at least let YOU keep the content as your own.

This is WAY COOL! I have a 75 year old Mom and 81 year old Dad and I do computer support for them long distance. This will make life so much easier for them and me. After all a picture or video is worth a Thousand Words, Right!

Thanks for the great product.

Linda

I think mp4 or avi or flv would all be great for capture export choices. You could use the mp4 for ipods- which would be great for podcasts in iTunes. Avi would also be good for showing to Windows and Mac users. Flv is another format that could be useful. The good thing about AVI and mp4 is that you can edit both in your editing programs (add titles, voice overs, etc..)
I love Jing!

I think that adding the option to export to another format is a great idea. I understand the desire to make the videos as universally viewable as possible, so leaving .swf as the default is fine, but adding .mov or .wmv would be wonderful so we can edit our videos in other applications. As of now, all I can do in Jing with video is record. I can't edit, I can't add titles or accentuate certain parts of the video like I can with the photo capture capability. I understand that you have other products that can do all of the things I want to do with video, but I don't want to have to learn another video editing software. Would it be so hard to give Jing the ability to export to another format?

PNG is a fine choice for screenshots.

SWF is OK for portability, but...

The 2 problems it has are:
1- Big file size
2- No possibility of further editing

If you allow exporting to other formats for further editing, then it has to be full quality uncompressed. I think an uncompressed AVI will be good for all platforms.

Adding a button or an option for "advanced settings" can easily keep all the extra export options hidden to keep the streamlined experience.

Thank you for Jing, and keep up the good work!

Sam

I've been using Jing for a few weeks now and am currently using it in a flash-based project I'm doing for a class. For the most part I like it; I do have a question though. I've been taking captures of myself navigating a few web pages. Short of resizing the browser, is there any way of removing the yellow "Time Elapsed" box from videos?

Jing is just great the way it is PNG and SWF formats work just fine.

I haven't been able to convert standard macromedia swf files to mov or 3g2 or wmv.
No, swf files are NOT fine and I don't have time to convert (or try, that is) all day long. Thank you. please
Please include wmv export.

Limiting the file formats for simplicity is noble and understandable, but unfortunately I think the limits of just .png and .swf are too much. Users deserve slightly more flexibility so they can use the captures they create in a way that suits their needs. By limiting the options too much you may actually be adding complexity, requiring users to re-format material, thus taking more time, and possibly lowering the quality in the process (re-compression is bad).

I don't think it's necessary for you to support a laundry list of codes/file formants, but 3 to 4 modern, forward looking formats would likely satisfy most users. As the software designers, you can still support your design ideas by setting the format defaults to those that best fit your vision, but as you've indicated in your own thread, potential users are already asking for more. Please don't deny us this.

That being said, IMHO I would like to see the following formats included.
Video: h.264
Still: PNG, JPG, TIFF

I think if we can choose the export file format, that will be great!

Different formats have different strength and go well with different applications

I want to put the video file into presentation (powerpoint or keynote.

swf file does not work. I would prefer we can choose to export as wmv, avi and mov file format

I saw SUW post a comment that the swf file can not be transformed into format that can be put into Keynote.

My solution is to open the swf file using QuickTime Pro and save as mov file.
mov file works fine in Keynote. Quality drops but at least it works.

Of course, it will be excellent if Jing can natively support outputting to different video format.

PNG's great, but like most of the Mac users here I find swf unworkable. Some people have said that QTPro can convert it, but most of us without QTPro wouldn't buy it just to use Jing. Plus, it might not work. So...I can't play these files, can't edit, really can't do too much. *sigh*

Great product but ...I want to edit the recording in other programs to add sound and video effects (i.e. PnP).

Just give us AVI output as an option. Pretty please.

That would solve ALL problems.

The Mac has no other decent screencast....SnagZ doesn't even have a pause button.

I use Camtasia on a Mac via WinXP as a VMWare image just because the situation is so dire.

I was psyched about Jing, but now can't edit the vids....unngg

I would like to be able to choose the save format for videos. I am working on a Mac and .swf files are useless to me. I want to be able to play and edit them. I think including an option to export to .flv or .mov would be a huge step forward for Jing.

Jing,

If you're waiting to see how people are going to use it before you take suggestions posted, you're limiting yourself. I, for one, won't be doing anymore with Jing because you don't support .mp3 and .mp4 and .mov . You've chosen the most limiting formats possible and want to force them down everyone's throats. This product will not fly unless you change/add formats it can save to.

There's your feedback; it's what people want. Get to work or lose out to any number of other companies doing the same thing now.

Be successful...listen!

Hi.

I ran across JING the other week and I thought it was a great program for an educator to use. I can see all kinds of applications for teachers and for those like me who are involved in professional development. It is simple to use and the resulting video seems to have good picture and sound quality. But I am so disappointed.....swf doesn't work for me. I use a macbook pro and to play the saved file it has to open up my parallels and XP and play it in explorer ( a time consuming process - I use firefox), I can't upload it to my wiki as it only shows the center part of the video - not the whole screen, Teachertube doesn't recognize it as a file type, Zamzar doesn't recognize it as a file type so I can't convert it, and I haven't been able to upload it to VoiceThread. I can understand making it simple, but I'm not willing to pay for ScreenCast when TeacherTube is free and I can't figure out how to actually use the video I created. Ok, enough whining, maybe you have a really simple fix for this, I hope so.

Amazing how people are still just now running across this tool. I love it!
The reason I needed a screen capture program was to quickly associate an image with an order form, in a database entry. The program I'm using for that supports .jpg and .gif (Not sure about .gif)

Maybe a one time setting, or a downloadable extension.

Either way, phenomenal project. I can see a thousand uses for something like this. It really is solid. Thanks!

Great tool in Education. I am also a bit frustrated with the limited use of video formats. Has anyone used software like visulhub to change format. I tried VH but it did not work. Any one else with luck? I would like to have video files so that my students can see the videos in their iPods.

Any comment greatly appreciated.

What software is required for the .swf format in which the video captures are save ?

@ Marcus - .swf videos can be viewed in your browser (assuming you have the flash player browser plug-in installed - 98% of online users do).

So, the workflow is that you create a video, upload that video to your destination (network, screencast.com, your ftp site). You in turn use the URL returned by Jing and send that on to other people(s). When they click on that URL, the video in almost all circumstances will open and play directly inside their browser.

Let me know if this is not the direction your question was headed.

Best Regards,
Tony Dunckel
Product Manager
The Jing Project

I downloaded and updated version Macromedia Flash Player but I still cannot open up my swf.video files. I get the message "Windows cannot open this 2008-05-01.png.swf"

How come that it has two different file extensions ? Might this be the problem ?

M

PLEASE! Jing is useless without more video output! I just wanted to make a video to go along with a song I made, but I can't import audio because it's flash and it doesn't work with iMovie or anything!!

WE NEED MORE VIDEO!

I'd like to see .jpg format implemented. I use jing for alot of things where I prefer ease of use and a small file size rather than quality.

The software would be much more useful to me if there was an "advanced" tab or option that would allow me to select another codec for video compression, specifically the free and open source Xvid codec (xvid.org) that uses the mpeg4 standards. Also being able to change the frame rate would be great.

Hmm... Well if Jing is meant for easy sharing, why not make a feature that lets you export to youtube as well as screencast.com? that would be much more useful.

It's been well over a year, and yet Jing has made no improvements at all in the video output area. So all our SWF video formats are proprietary and captive to a single format unsupported by other tools - not even Quicktime, and it's a Mac only tool!

If you truly wanted to be "disruptive" then it seems obvious to me that you would want the data produced to be easy to spread, convert, mashup -- but it is still the opposite.

TechSmith is really starting to lose my confidence. Camtasia on Windows is stagnant, its Mac version is still long promised vaporware, and Jing is still locked in a "our way or the highway" attitude.

I wanted to use jing and edit my videos to post them on youtube but I have a mac and that is not happening :(

@ Randy Thornton:

We hear you Randy. The exciting news is that we're about to change your opinion or so we hope. I can't say more right now, but stay tuned...

Thanks for your feedback and your patience.

Kind Regards,
Tony Dunckel
Product Manager
The Jing Project

Only just discovered Jing after years of using Snagit and Camtasia. Love its simple, quick interface. However I too find the swf format somewhat limiting. And so far, none of my swf to avi, mpg, wmv converters recognize the jing files. What I want is to be able to overdub a voice narration for video tutorials on how to use certain software etc. I can do this pretty easily with camtasia and snagit and would love to see a more traditional video format supported in Jing. But I understand the intended purpose of the thing and think it's remarkable. Keep up the good work.

I just downloaded Jing, and want to be able to make guides that will require editing.
I want to use iMovie, so please, make it possible to create .mov files.
Thanks, keep up the good work.
BB

I downloaded jing for my Mac because it looked like a great utility. I recorded a great video and then the problems started. The file type was .swf — one of the absolute worst file types to have to deal with. After trying a multitude of online converters, the jing swf file will not process on any of the sites. I get errors on all of them. Thee are no freeware tools for MAC to convert swf to any other file format. After wasting several hours trying to do this conversion, I am giving up on it.

Jing seems to be a great product in theory but in practice it has a long way to go. If output could be changed to any other file type other than swf, Jing would be rocking.

As far now, I am uninstalling Jing until the developers can fix the file type issue. It’s a crazy thing– one that could have been avoided easily.

I think jing needs .jpg format support. It might be inferior to png in many ways but the fact that it's supported as default by nearly all image viewers if not all must account for something.

I use jing mostly for taking screenshots and giving feedback on things. I share those screenshots with a lot of people who needs to be able to access and view them quickly.

I don't care what quality the images saved are in, I use jing because it's quick, not because of it's superior quality. Speed & ease of use > Quality.

Jing could be a great program... it could be as universal as YouTube, but the fact that I have no other choice than an SWF format ruins the program. There is no free converter out on the internet that will even let me change the format from SWF. My computer professor and I looked for an hour and a half for one with no results. All I want to do is edit my video and put it on a slideshow. It looks like I will be using a normal digital camera to record my video off of the computer screen cause only an internet browser will open this stupid thing.
I understand that you designers at Jing are very proud of your SWF exclusitivity. I also know that you offer a product or service (Jing Pro) I could by to fix your shortcomings. But personally, you can take your pride elsewhere... I am deleting Jing and all of its useless SWF files.

I think that everyone here has agreed that having only swf files is HORRIBLE!!! I love the quality and ease of the product. I hate the un-usability of the output. It begs the question to be asked - did the developers do this intentionally to sell people Jing Pro? The other reason might be to keep the video trapped in the Jing player, so that you get your advertising on the end of each video. I can't imagine any other reasons not to at least offer the .mov option so people can edit their video. Too bad...it is a very nice program otherwise.

Larry

I would like to comment on what jonpaul said about freeware conversion tools on the Mac. There was Techspansion's iSquint, which will take many popular formats and convert them to MP4. MacUpdate's download link is either asleep or broken, I can't tell which. There is, however, still ffmpegX (Google for it), and this thread regarding ffmpeg's ability to convert swf to other formats:
http://www.videohelp.com/forum/archive/can-ffmpeg-convert-swf-to-flv-t358496.html .

Hope this helps

BZT

hi, I use iwisoft swf to video converter. It can also convert swf to png with good quality. good luck

The SWF files generated with Jing on Mac all have errors. I can only play files with the Jing player itself. Youtube (the Master of video formats) generates an error every time it tries to convert the SWF files.

That makes this product useless for me. Sorry.

Hello JR and everyone,

It's true SWF is kind of an odd format that brings to the table a lot of pros and cons. You’re right that YouTube and just about every other video editor won’t handle it.

If people want to learn a bit more, this article goes into more detail about video formats: http://help.jingproject.com/tips-tricks-and-advanced/video-formats-swf-mpeg-4.html

Mike Curtis, TechSmith

Meh, it's pretty clear that Jing purposely makes the swf only work in the JingPlayer+FlashPlayer. Otherwise, it would be too easy to record the video as swf using their "free" software, convert to a flexible format such as avi and escape their business model.

Just like a poster already said above, Youtube converts everything under the sun... but can't do Jing's swf.

I've been using ffmpeg on linux for my swf2avi converts for years, this is the only swf I've ever had problems with.

Linux-er, yeah, I just spent a whole day recording 12 screencasts in swf format, and ffmpeg won't convert the video to something I can upload to youtube.

I'm probably going to purchase a 3rd party tool to do it. I just hate getting ripped off when I have to purchase the tool, then I find it doesn't work.

I feel so stupid. Again.

Even your comments field screws up. I got a text entered wrong and go back and it's all gone... more wasted time.

I have SWF issues too. Same as everyone else.

What is that exciting news that Tony Dunckel was promising back in November 2008, over a year ago?

There needs to be someway to edit these videos because clicking on it hasn't worked. Also, Youtube, Movie Maker, iMovie and a lot of other common editors don't accept the file type these videos are set to save as. I've seen other comments about this and I support their ideas about making a .mov file for saving.

well, jing works, it records like its supposed to.

cons-
big file size
limited recording time
no editing
NO EXPORTING!!

how am i supposed to use jing if i cant upload it to youtube or facebook??
youtube is my #1 uploading site, it has a great layout and you get many more hits then any other sharing site, because i cant name any others. any one know of a file converter? i need one!! also i am a mac user.

Hello Matt,

I just wanted to briefly respond since this post is pretty old and there have been some new developments you might not be aware of.

In fact, Jing now uploads to Facebook--both free and Pro versions. What's this Pro version people may wonder? Well, for $14.95/yr you can get a version of Jing that can create videos in MP4 format. This more standard video format is supported by most 3rd party editors. We also have YouTube integration in the Pro version among a couple of other things. You can learn more here: http://www.jingproject.com/pro/

Learn more about the differences between the royalty-free SWF format we use in the free version of Jing vs. MP4: http://help.jingproject.com/tips-tricks-and-advanced/video-formats-swf-mpeg-4.html

Thanks for your comment--I hope this helps!
Mike Curtis, TechSmith

I know this is a old blog post but I had to post this somewhere because I'd like an answer to these questions. I am a Mac user, and proud of it. I run OS X 10.4.11 with a Intel Core Duo. Jing was my best option for my type of computer. As amazing and as almost flawless as the screen capturing technology is...why is it that the .swf files are uncompatible with everything? I can't even import the movie to Quicktime to even view it after recording it, the movie is unviewable to me period.

I also wanna know why the default .swf files I get from screen recording with Jing are unconvertable? When I record a video I'd like to at least be able to convert it myself to upload to various other sites. Youtube is not the only online video sharing site out there, what if I want to be able to convert files to upload to sites like Dailymotion, Veoh, and others. I should at least be able to convert the file myself, which is my main complaint.

I don't see why not use .jpg as the default for screen capturing, but it's not a huge complaint. Normally most people would use a image sharing site, like Photobucket and Tinypic, to upload their images to share them. Usually you need to upload the images in a .jpg format. But again, it isn't a huge complaint from me since the screenshots are convertable.

Hello Greg,

It's true--not many things like SWF in terms of editing or conversion. I admit I don't know the deep level technical variables, but one trick is that SWF isn't really a true video format.

For example, there are Shockwave Flash games and even the Jing Interactive tutorial is a SWF file. (http://help.jingproject.com/get-started/interactive-hands-on-jing-tuto/)

Now, we use SWF because it's royalty-free, works on Mac and PC and is great for the web--and the quality is great. But in terms of conversion or editing, most editors and video sites freak out because they can't decode a SWF.

If anyone finds a good converter I hope they'll share. I've tried a number but something always seems to go wrong. Of course, since we make Camtasia Studio we can decode it, but that's for Windows only and I'm sure people want a free converter.

Hope that at least sheds a little light on the situation; thanks for the good question.
Mike Curtis
Information Development, TechSmith