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August 31, 2005
Live Meeting Recordings
Microsoft gives, Microsoft takes away. Live Meeting, formerly Placeware, is my web conferencing tool of choice, primarily because I could use their recording tool to record training sessions, including the audio from the conference call. (Webex can't easily integrate the audio yet, and uses it's own proprietary video format.) I typically would download and edit these recordings using Camtasia, taking out empty air at the beginning and end, and/or announcements unrelated to the session, then post on the Intranet for those who couldn't attend the live session.
Then Live Meeting when through an upgrade. When I tried to edit the first recording after the upgrade, Camtasia hung up, unable to process the recording. Knowing that we would have major training needs in a few weeks that involved lots of recordings, I started trying to work out the problem. The nice people at Camtasia were mystified. Then I realized that the pre-Live Meeting upgrade tapes processed fine, so I contacted Microsoft.
Several emails to Live Meeting/Microsoft support later, the truth comes out. According to support, the new version of Live Meeting uses a different codec, the ACLEP.net Audio Decoder and the Microsoft Screen Codec video decoder V7 codecs for audio and video, respectively. Camtasia isn't compatible with these codecs. I was instructed to try using the free Microsoft Producer program instead to edit the videos. Okay, sure, I've got plenty of time to learn another software program.
Yesterday was the day. I figured out how to cut clips in Producer, created an intro to the Live Meeting segment I'd edited, and life was, well, if not good, at least okay. Then I tried to produce the file. Producer bombed just like Camtasia. Another day of my life gone, with nothing to show for it. :-)
You may be wondering why I'm telling you all this. The truth is, this entry is really a cry for help. Does anyone have a solution to this problem?
In the meantime, we can still make our own recordings using Camtasia, and, of course, those are editable. Though I've also noticed that screen recordings played in Windows Media Player don't fill the screen in 100% playback mode and are slightly fuzzy. This is also a relatively new development. The quality just isn't that good, though it's readable. (I'm recording and viewing at the same resolution.) I thought it was something I was doing until I played one of Microsoft's Producer tutorials, and noticed the fuzziness on THEIR recordings as well. So I'm expecting that we will have to start distributing the Camtasia Player to anyone wanted a clear video. What fun. Installing new software always goes over well with users and technology folks in an enterprise environment.
I hate it when technology takes a step back.
Comments
Hi Cindy:
You might want to take a look at the new GoToMeeting version 2.0. It has the ability to record the meeting (something I know you were concerned about regarding version 1.0) and then you can pull the video right into Camtasia.
Hope this helps.
Dave Rakowski
Allentown, PA
Posted by: Dave Rakowski at August 31, 2005 01:44 PM
Out of curiosity, what version of Camtasia Studio are you using?
Troy Stein
Ann Arbor, MI
Posted by: Troy Stein at September 20, 2005 06:32 AM
Hi Cindy,
This is definitely an odd issue that you are running into. If you are willing to send us a sample video that is giving you trouble, we would be more than happy to take a look at it, and even pass it along to our developers if need be. If you're interested, just hop over to our support site (http://support.techsmith.com), click on "Contact Support", and send us a request (make sure to remind us what problem you are having, too). If there is a conflict, we'd definitely be interested in doing what we can to improve the file types and formats supported by Camtasia Studio!
Kind regards,
TechSmith Support
Posted by: TechSmith Support at September 20, 2005 02:57 PM
I'm using version 3.
Posted by: Cindy L. Chick at September 21, 2005 10:30 AM
Did you ever find a solution to this problem? I'm stuck in the same situation and pulling my hair out.
Posted by: Travis at July 10, 2006 02:41 PM
With the new version of Live Meeting, they started using a different CODEC. The recordings are not editable using Camtasia or Producer, or any other Microsoft product, ironically enough. The only product that will edit Live Meeting recordings is something called Vegas 6, the cost of which is quite high. So I either use the recording as is, or forget about it.
I've been also trying out Raindance. They use a proprietary format for the recording, so it can't be edited either, but at least it's easier with Raindance to start and pause the recording, so end result is cleaner.
Posted by: Cindy L. Chick at July 10, 2006 05:01 PM
I received this comment via email, and wanted to make sure to share a possible solution:
------------------------------------------
I think I figured it out. If I run the video through "Windows Media Stream Editor" without any changes, I can then edit the video. I guess it removes the Windows Media 9 codec problem.
The "Windows Media Stream Editor" (wmstreamedt.exe) comes with the Windows Media Encoder package.
I'm not sure why it works, but it does.
Travis Kiger
www.travsite.com
Posted by: Cindy Chick at September 10, 2006 11:43 AM
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