The mystery has been solved! Some Windows XP users have Jing setup to launch when the computer starts, but Jing doesn't. They've had to manually launch Jing from the Start menu. While not the end of the world, it's sure annoying.

Well Mark and Fatih did some detective work and fixed it. It had to do with a goofy way XP was inserting a space in some path during the install. One little space...

We're not going to force an update, but if you want to grab the latest Jing, re-download and install it from: http://www.jingproject.com. The only thing different in this Jing from yours is that Jing will now respect our dear Windows XP users and start up upon launch like you told it too.

Happy Jinging!

Want to put some sweet-looking screencasts up on YouTube? It's easier than ever, and Brooks shows you how. (See outline of steps below video.) In Brooks' last post I gave him a hard time about that face close-up. I mean, people are trying to learn stuff here! The good news is that Brooks took efforts to make his intros a little more bearable. Did it work? You be the judge.

I also made a convenient PDF (less than 2 pages) with all the steps too.

Overview:

1. You need Jing Pro, and a YouTube account.
2. Create a YouTube button in Jing.
3. Record a video in 16:9 aspect ratio (Hold Shift while selecting area) at 1280 x 720 dimensions.
4. Upload to YouTube, and wait while your video is processed!

We got an email the other day asking if there was a way to delete everything in the History. Well, this post will show you a "behind-the-scenes" way to do it for power users. In addition it might free up some memory if you're a Mac user. Disclaimer: Messing around with files and folders could screw up your History or lead to unintended consequences, so do so at your own risk!

Now, on to the video, but first a couple of tips:

• Don't be alarmed by the face close-up at the start of the video. It lasts less than 10 seconds. If you need to, just look away until you hear the audio change.
• You can watch the video in full screen mode. (You may want to wait to go full screen until the "face scene" passes.)

Good day!

I made a video (3:10) showing a neat way to use Jing and the embed code returned from Screencast.com. Basically the end result is that using Jing is so much faster than putting images on our internal wiki the "normal" way. As an added benefit, I can make thumbnails that link to the full size images.

If you have a blog, social networking page, website, wiki, etc., I think you may find this interesting.

P.S. The green UI in my example isn't for real. :)

Hello Jing Community;

Update: Thank you for all the comments. The amount of feedback by far exceeded our expectations - it's amazing to have such an active user community. We'll be taking all the feedback into consideration as we continue developing this feature. Thanks again, and until next time!

We've been working on a new feature in Jing - and we need your feedback!

Here is the idea:
If you hold down the CTRL or the Shift-Key when you select a capture area, the area as you are selecting it will be locked to the 4:3 or 16:9 aspect ratio. This will in many cases improve the viewing experience - especially on YouTube and other video sites - because it will make it easy to conform to the standard video dimensions (No more black bars - hooray!)

On top of that, Jing will make it easy snap to some preset dimensions, such as 640 x 480 or 800 x 600. That way, you can get consistent dimensions and results with every capture.

We've taken two approaches to implementing this feature, and we would love to get your feedback on them.
Check out these two short videos:

Prototype A

Protoype B

So what do you think? Would this feature be valuable to you?
What are your thoughts on each prototype, and which one do you prefer?
Are we missing something? Should we somehow indicate that the the region selector is locked to the aspect ratio of 4:3 or 16:9, or is it clear enough by just showing the preset dimensions?

Please leave your thoughts & feedback in the comments by this Tuesday. [We got plenty of feedback. Keep your eyes open for future blog posts!]
Thanks a lot, we really appreciate your input.

-The Jing Team

Hi everyone, I'm posting this on behalf of Brooks Andrus--the guy who's behind the new Jing player. Take it away Brooks:

So here's the problem: Some people want to use Jing with their own FTP server, but they want it to function in a more sophisticated way than just throwing the h.264 MP4 file up there. Some people want their own embed code and the ability to control video behavior. Trouble is, this can become an activity that's not for the feint of heart you might say.

To make it easier to get started, I've provided the Jing player files, some sample embed code and created a "how-to" video that will show you how you can incorporate the files and custom code so Jing videos on your FTP server will act similar to Jing videos on Screencast.com.

Steps described in my video:

1. Obtain the files. <-- I zipped them up here for you.
2. Upload the files to your FTP server in the correct folder.
3. Customize your FTP button(s) in Jing.
4. Enter basic FTP information.
5. Enter custom code. You can paste and modify my supplied code from the text file. (Note: the bug I refer to at the 2:00 mark only refers to Mac Jing and is now fixed.)
6. Test the FTP button settings.
7. Make a Jing video and give it a try!

Try watching the video in full screen mode for a better experience.

Brooks Andrus, our resident flash guru on the Jing team, is the person behind the new Jing flash player. He made a video that provides a bit of behind-the-scenes rationale and some information about resizing videos. He's a humble guy but I was able to coerce him into putting a nice video together for our staff to understand our player enhancements.

In my opinion, this has universal appeal for all Jing users - enjoy!

There's also information in the Help Center for modifying the embed code in order to change the video dimensions.

Embed specifics for the following is located at the end of each topic:

• Screencast.com
• YouTube
• Flickr
• FTP

P.S. A special thanks to Mike Curtis, Jing's writer extraordinaire, for his contributions on this post.

Here are some ideas for getting the best videos possible. Do you have other tips? Screencast.com has a bunch of screencasting advice.

• Don't record the full screen if you don't have to. Select a capture area.
• Close or quit programs you don't need. They steal computer system resources.
• If you've only got SWF (Jing) try to minimize high-motion content.
• If you're going to YouTube or another site that will resize your video keep their preferred height and width ratios (scroll to bottom) in mind.
• If you're going to record your full screen you may wish to change to a lower resolution. This will help performance and will likely provide a better viewing experience.
• Take a quick gander and clean up your screen. Otherwise you may send a cluttered video--or worse--your viewers will see something you really didn't want them to see!!
• Fluid, deliberate and patient mouse movements can help people follow along.
• Don't attach videos to emails. Use the link provided by Screencast.com or wherever it's hosted.

Want to learn more about the Jing Pro video formats? There's a new entry in the Help Center.