Exporting Your Video

Select File > Export to produce a standard video file for distribution or use in other video applications.

 

Note: If you have in and out points set in your project, the menu item displays as Export Selected Range.

When you are done configuring your export options, click Export to begin encoding the screencast into a video file. ScreenFlow displays a progress dialog so you can monitor its progress.

Figure 38. Export Settings Window

Save As. Enter the name of your screencast. The default name is your project name. The file extension is applied automatically based on your choice of preset.

Where. Select to determine the location of your video upon completion of export.

Preset. Export presets are settings designed for both general and specific use. These settings are designed based on the most common needs of the user.

•	Web - High | Web - High (Multi-pass)

This is the default export option, which encodes using the H.264 codec, which balances the demands of image quality and file size.

•	Web - Low | Web - Low (Multi-pass)

This is an export option similar to Web - High, but formatted for a low bandwidth. It plays more smoothly on slow Internet connections but the image quality is not as good as Web - High.

 

Note: Multi-pass is a compression method that determines how best to format the video based on predictive scanning of the source content. This increases encoding time, but may improve image quality and decrease file size.

•	Windows Media

This option exports video in the WMV format, a popular Microsoft format for Windows users. This option utilizes Flip4Mac, a QuickTime plugin by Telestream (Flip4Mac Customization) to encode the media, which must be licensed separately.

•

Lossless

This is an uncompressed export format ideal for additional editing. This format has the highest quality image but also the largest file size. When exported at 100%, the image quality is identical to the original recording.

•	Lossless - Audio Only

This is an uncompressed audio-only export format ideal for additional editing.

•	iPad / iPhone / Apple TV / iPod

These export options are formatted based on the recommended video specifications for these devices. They cannot be altered.

Make Settings Default. Select to set your current setting as the default export setting.

Customize. Click to make changes to your video and audio encoding options. You can use either QuickTime or Windows Media video compression (via Flip4Mac).

Manage. Click to manage your available export presets.

Figure 39. Manage Presets Window

Click the check box to the left of the preset to hide it. Click the Copy button to the right of the preset to generate a custom preset copy.

Custom presets are displayed below. To change the custom preset name, double-click the name field. Click the Edit button to customize your preset.

Dimensions. These options are used to set the dimensions of your video export. You should not set a size larger that your canvas size. This does not improve image quality.

Figure 40. Dimensions: Scale to Custom Size Settings

Scale by. Select to scale your project by a percentage value. This is an easy way to shrink your screencast while maintaining the aspect ratio.

Scale to custom size. Select to set the exact width and height of your exported video. Click the Letterbox Content box to add letterboxing to your export.

Use Motion Blur. Check to apply a blurring algorithm to blend movement smoothly into the video. This is useful if you are using video properties effects to move clips on the canvas.

This option increases encoding time so it should only be used if objects are not moving smoothly in your exported video.

Add Chapter Track from Markers. Check to add chapter markers to your exported video based on the location and names of the markers in your screencast.

Presets which do not support chapter markers include iPad, iPhone, Apple TV, iPod, and Windows Media.

 

Note: QuickTime X and VLC require a chapter marker on the first frame of your project or it will move the chapter markers from their intended locations. Be sure to set a chapter marker at the very beginning of your project to prevent this.

Exported Video File Size Considerations.

Video files often become are very large, making them difficult to send to others, download, or post to servers via the Internet.

The frame size of video clips in you screencast is typically much larger than the screen size of the video file you are exporting. For example, if your original screen size is 1280 x 800 pixels, you probably do not want to create a video of the same frame size. This is essentially HD video, and may be four times larger than a 640 x 400 video. If you were to post it on a Web site, many users wouldn’t be able to view it.

Reducing your Video File Size

To preserve the aspect ratio of your screencast, use the Dimensions options. For general purposes, you may want to reduce the dimensions by 50%.

Reducing the Frame Rate

The NTSC video standard frame rate is 30 FPS. This is the standard for videos produced in North America. However, this standard is based on creating a smooth representation of video motion captured in the real world and may not be necessary for your screencast.

If you specify 30 frames per second, the output will be smooth, but the file will be about twice as a 15 FPS video file. You may find that a 10 FPS or 15 FPS recording is very acceptable for your audience. Reducing the frame rate can drastically reduce the size of the video file.

You should experiment with codec settings to get a sense for what frame size and frame rate works best for you.