The Visual Lounge lets you find out about TechSmith behind-the-scenes. Watch screencasts and videos from other customers, meet up with your fellow TechSmith users and staff, and get more tips and tricks!

What's the old saying? 'Time flies when you're having fun!'. Well, I have been having lots of fun and I can't believe it is 2009 already. I swear time is moving faster. It has been awhile since I've given you an update on Camtasia for the Mac and I thought you might like a glimpse of some of our progress.

We've been running some usability tests on Camtasia for the Mac which have been very insightful. And, we've been making changes based on the feedback we're getting. Also, to give you an idea of its look and feel, here are some recent screenshots of the Recorder and Main User Interface.

And, in the software world, I've learned nothing is final until it is released to the public. So, please keep in mind that these are pre-release screenshots and things are subject to change. We're looking at a mid-2009 release. I do not have pricing info or final feature list for you just yet. As soon as I have more details, I'll post them here.

And, again, let me extend our thanks - we're building Camtasia for the Mac based on your feedback and comments. So, keep them coming. We appreciate your input and insight!

What's not to like about California in January... especially if you're coming from snowy Michigan!? A bunch of us at TechSmith are looking forward to getting out of the cold north and heading to San Francisco to the Macworld Conference & Expo.

And, we'd love to meet-up with you! I have some free expo hall guest passes for Macworld. If you'd like a couple passes, just email macworld@techsmith.com with your name and mailing address and we'll get them sent out to you. First come, first serve basis.

TechSmith will be in booth #3916. Stop by! Tony Dunckel, the Jing and Snagit Product Manager, and Troy Stein, the Camtasia Studio Product Manager, will be there. Tell them your feedback directly. They'd love to hear what you want and need in our products. And, I'll be there too. I'd love to meet-up - my treat for a beverage of your choice. You can contact me via email , cell (517.410.0030) or twitter (@betsyweber). Or better yet, get some free passes from us and stop by our booth!

See you there?

I hope everyone is getting some time off this month for a little rest and relaxation as the year winds down. 2009 is right around the corner! We thought we'd help you get a jump start on 2009 so we created this crazy holiday calendar for you! That way you'll know when it is time to celebrate things like 'Pie Day' (January 23, in case you're wondering) or my favorite, 'Talk Like a Pirate Day'.

You can download and print your calendar here or drop me an e-mail if you'd like me to mail you one out.

Enjoy! And, from everyone at TechSmith, we wish you a joyous holiday season and all the best in 2009! Thanks for all of your support and feedback throughout the year - we appreciate it!

I'm so excited to share this holiday video 'card' created with Camtasia Studio that Greg Waite from FuseTalk recently sent in. Videos like these warm my heart! Greg used Camtasia Studio to synch the video and audio in the video you see below. It was -25 outside when they were recording the video! Be sure to watch through the end to see the snow flying!

You can't buy this 'gift' at the store which makes it even more valuable! What a great way to capture and celebrate the season!

Last week we released Snagit 9.1. Not only did Snagit get a new logo and features, but we also ditched the capital 'I' in SnagIt and changed it to Snagit. Did you notice that? In honor of Snagit, we are celebrating lowercase 'i' day. Why the change? Well, check out this funny 'official' press release in our newsletter here. Also, you can watch the bonus video below to see the behind the scenes action, drama and comedy about how Snagit lost the capital 'I'. I think you'll find it very amusing!

And, if you like the video, feel free to subscribe to our monthly newsletters. They're filled with videos like this one, tips, tricks and news. Also, as an added benefit to subscribing to them, there are often special offers. Check out the holiday special here - you can save $10 - $25 off a copy of Snagit or Camtasia Studio this month. Perfect for gift giving!

Will you celebrate lowercase 'i' day with us?

Growing up, I could never keep a secret. If I went gift shopping, inevitably I'd end up sharing with a family member about their gift well before the holiday we were celebrating. I was just so excited to give the gift that I could not contain myself! As an adult, well, I still have a hard time keeping a secret. Thankfully I don't have to keep your gift a secret!

For your gift this holiday season, I asked some expert screencasters to share with us their screencast wishes for the future, advice and gift list. I hope you enjoy their contributions! And, I'd love your feedback and additions. What wishes do you have for the future of screencasting, advice or gift ideas would you share? Comment away!

• Tim Fahlberg - Mathcaster extraordinaire and Math 247
  Looking for something to give to your favorite mathcasting student or teacher? How about a new Genius MousePen 8" × 6" graphics tablet (about $50 from Amazon or use Google Product Search). Or how about giving them a new voice with a new Logitech USB headset ($20-$40)? Or totally blow them away with a new LiveScribe Pulse SmartPen which can be used to create pencasts (including mathcasts like these) as well as capturing notes with voice and much more ($150 at Target or Amazon)? Or give them the free beta version of SMART Notebook 10 SE (Student Edition) which will be a fantastic tool for students to create mathcasts and much more.
  Want to share your mathcasts or learn more about creating or sharing mathcasts? Visit our mathcasts wiki at www.math247.pbwiki.com or email Tim Fahlberg at tim.fahlberg@mathcasts.org.

• Bill Myers - Bill Myers Online
  Bill has a fantastic list and review of great products ranging from light kits to wireless microphones here. Since I travel a lot, this folding USB stereo headset on his list caught my eye.

• Axel Becker - Camtasia Training Blog
  My favourite screencast hardware is my new headset microphone from Shure. You can find German information at: http://camtasia-training.de/technik-tipps/ In addition to that I bought an external sound card: Alesis io|2 which makes it easier to record my screencasts.

• Rob Bushway - InkCaster and GottaBeMobile
  Looking for a way to make your screencasts more personal and engaging? Add handwritten notes and annotations by using a Tablet PC We'd recommend looking at Lenovo's X200 Tablet - plenty of speed and power, along with a beautiful screen to ink your next screencast on.

• Daniel Park - dappertext, author of The Screencaster Newsletter and Camtasia Studio 5: The Definitive Guide book
  A lot of folks have particular trouble with adding background music to their screencasts. First, you have a heck of a time finding a buy-out (read: royalty-free) source that's reasonably priced and high quality. Then there's the matter of implementing it. I always found the abrupt fading in & out of music to be the epitome of lazy, low-class editing, but custom-cutting the music to the exact length of your screencast is incredibly time-consuming, to say the least. But all these problems went away when I picked up SonicFire Pro 5 from SmartSound. This amazing product offers incredible quality tracks that automatically adjust themselves to any length. They support mood mapping, meaning that you can kick up the intensity of the music at critical points during your video as well as take it down a notch when you want the focus on your narration. Its easy search tools let you find the perfect track with record speed and ease. The Scoring edition prices in at just under $90, and comes with their Core Foundations music disc free.

• Jon Udell - The father of screencasting!
  I'd like to give screencasters (including myself) an easier way to record audio. I wish I could recommend a silver-bullet solution. But there are lots of moving parts -- operating systems, recording software, audio peripherals -- and I don't think the industry as a whole has done yet for digital audio what it has done for, say, digital photography.

• Beth Kanter - Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media
  This year, except for the kids, my gifts are in the form of charitable donations. For some people, I'm making a gift to The Sharing Foundation in their name or for others donating to their charity or using a gift card from global giving or Network For Good. Here's some more ideas on how to be a geek who gives.

• Kathy Jacobs - OneNote MVP and Vitamin CH
  OneNote: Getting ready to create a screencast, but not sure what to say? I recommend putting together your outline of steps and things to say in OneNote. Build a two column table. First column gets the step, second column gets what you are going to say. Practice doing the steps and reading the content. When you have it down pat, start Camtasia and make your recording... When you have your recording done, use your notes to build the text that goes with the video.

What's on your Screencast wish list, advice or gift giving list? Don't keep it a secret - give us a gift!

As you may know, I love Twitter! If you haven't heard of Twitter, check out a quick informative video here from Common Craft. Twitter has been great to keep up with friends, to get advice and answers to questions, and get feedback from the community.

I noticed something different about Twitter the other day. People's profile pics had started... well, moving! Profile pics in Twitter can be in a variety of file formats include BMP, JPG and GIF - which means you could use animated GIFs as your profile pic!

I noticed this post on Twitter from Nils Geylen. He mentioned how he used Camtasia Studio to create his animated profile pic!

I must admit, I had not put two and two together. The ability to create an animated GIF with Camtasia Studio is one of those options that I just don't think about or use very often. Thanks to Nils for shining the light for me to make an animated GIF for a Twitter profile pic!

Producing animated GIFs in Camtasia Studio is easy. I made a quick Jingcast that runs just over a minute showing you how to do this. Simply select in Camtasia Studio>Produce Video As>Custom Production Settings>GIF - animation file and you're on your way!

If you join Twitter, feel free add me and TechSmith as your friend! If you use Camtasia Studio to create your profile pic, let me know! I'd love to see your profile pic in action!

I have some bad and good news to share. The bad news? Tony Dunckel, the Snagit Product Manager, lost his entire home to a fire last weekend. The good news? Everyone in his family made it out safely. Few of us will ever have to deal with a catastrophic loss like this and he's just at the beginning of the recovery process.

At TechSmith, coworkers are more like family than just other associates. And, the same goes for you. The Snagit community is more like family to us than a bunch of software users. That makes it particularly difficult when things like this happen.

I'm sure Tony and his family could use some kind words of support and encouragement. So, please drop them a comment below. I'd appreciate it and I'm sure they would too.

Thank you for being a part of our family.

In the 70's and 80's in the United States, they use to play these great short educational films during Saturday morning children's television called Schoolhouse Rock! The cartoon videos would teach you about grammar, science, economics, history, mathematics, and politics with a catchy tune.

I've been riding the trains around Paris this week and Troy Stein, the Camtasia Studio Product Manager, has been riding trains around Berlin too. We were talking about the old Schoolhouse Rocks! video called 'Conjunction Junction'. If you haven't seen it, check it out below. It runs just over 3 minutes long.

As Troy and I were chatting about getting around town and switching through multiple trains to get to our destinations, the subject morphed into software. We were wondering... as you work through your Camtasia Studio projects, what other programs or junctions, if you will, do you switch through to complete your screencasts? For example, do you use a separate audio editor or do you use another program to convert your videos to additional file formats? And why? Any insight would be useful as we try to understand what you need to complete your videos projects.

And, I'll apologize in advance - if you're like me, you won't be able to get the song, 'Conjunction Junction' out of your head for several days. :-)

Thanks for any insight you can provide us!

I'm in France this week for LeWeb and they have these wonderful Christkindlmarket's set up all over the city. I've had fun shopping at them for holiday gifts and other small presents to bring back to the office. The Snagit team has been working on some surprises - Snagit 9.1 was released today and it is full of some nice 'presents' for you!

Mini Toolbar - You can save time and extra clicks with Snagit's new Mini Toolbar. Instead of having to flip back and forth between tabs in SnagIt's Editor, you now have access to the most frequently used editing features from the Draw tab. When you select a vector object on the canvas, or when you right-click a vector object, the Mini toolbar appears. See the little menu in the yellow box in the screenshot to the left? That's an example of the Mini Toolbar in action.

Live Preview - I love this new feature! Curious to see what that torn edge or drop shadow might look like on your screencapture before you make the change? With live preview, you can see what a variety of different options look like before committing to the change. I made a quick 30 second Jingcast showing off Live Preview which you can see below. There is no audio.

Auto-store Export - I just switched computers recently. It was so much work to move everything over and get the new computer up and running. We've added a new auto-store export to Snagit so you can now take all your unsaved captures with you quickly and easily.

Stamps - Now you can find your favorite stamps easier with categories and visual search. You can download additional stamps from here.

You'll also notice that Snagit has a new look too. In addition to a new logo, the user interface has a new look and feel to it. Now if we could only figure out a way to incorporate that 'new car' smell into Snagit! Smell-o-vision anyone? :-)

You can see the entire list of what's new in Snagit 9 here. Or, if you prefer video, watch the 'What's New' video here.

And, this is a FREE upgrade for anyone who has purchased 9.0. Learn how to upgrade to Snagit 9.1 here. Or, try out the free 30 day eval here.

Enjoy and send us your feedback! I'd love to hear what you think of this new release and what you'd like to see in future releases.