Camtasia, Screenflow, or "Other?"

Question

I want to start recording professional quality screencasts on my Mac and I've narrowed it down to two apps (that I know of): Camtasia Studio and Screenflow. I considered Camstudio, but since I will be doing this professionally and frequently, I would much rather pay a premium for a well-designed and fully-featured app. Which brings me to my question:

Is there a clear winner between Camtasia and Screenflow, or perhaps a third, better app, that I haven't listed?

As an additional and partly related question:

For post-production video / audio editing, an example of the editing I would be doing is: adding small tweaks and transitions, adding basic graphics like captions/dialog boxes, and possibly doing video inside a video (a scaled down video of me talking, synced with and placed somewhere on top of the screencast video). This brings me to my second question:

Will either of the screencast apps be able to handle these post-production edits, or will I have to invest in additional software that specializes in video/audio editing like Soundbooth or Final Cut?

Answer 1

Both Camtasia Studio and Screenflow are full-featued screencasting solutions. Both allow you to capture, edit, and distribute screencasts. In the US at least, they cost the same (though Camtasia has a $99 "introductory price," I would be surprised if they raise it to the $149 "list price" as long as Screenflow is priced at $99).

Both programs have extensive editing capabilities, and will handle the kind of edit tasks you describe.

One (minor, in my opinion) difference is that Camtasia allows you to capture part of the screen, while Screenflow always captures the whole screen. But it's easy to crop to part of the screen in Screenflow during the post-recording edit.

It boils down to which program's interface and workflow you prefer. Both have free trial versions; I suggest you download both and produce a sample video in each. Then buy the one that feels right for your working style.

Answer 2

ScreenFlow can do all the basics, and it works well. You can download a free trial as well before buying to make sure it meets your needs (http://www.telestream.net/screen-flow/overview.htm).

Answer 3

I have used Snapz Pro X in the past. $69 from Ambrosia Software. They do have a trial so you can try it.

Unfortunately, I have not sought or used the features you are describing, so I can't say if Snapz Pro X will do all of what you asked. I just wanted to point out that there was a (possible) third alternative.

Good luck.