This guide helps you evaluate which tool is most suited (there are benefits and drawbacks to each) to both record and edit your videos. This often involves evaluating editing features, exported video formats, what is able to be recorded, and compatibility with certain platforms. If you are looking for how to record content, see this guide on how to self-capture (and share) course content. If you have course content or are looking to record content that needs to be edited, consider participating in the remote editing process.
There are many video editing software with capabilities ranging from basic editing to a full editing suite. This guide looks at the following four options to both record and edit videos:
- TechSmith Snagit (Recommended)
- Stream
- PowerPoint
- TechSmith Camtasia
The tools on this table are what we are describing as "light" editing options - if you're looking for more robust options, or have a particularly complex project (or are just really into video editing), you may want to consider Adobe Premiere Pro or Da Vinci Resolve. You might also consider a software tool that is intended for live streaming, but can also work as a recording option, Open Broadcaster Studio, OBS.
| Stream | TechSmith Camtasia | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tool in brief | Screen recorder that offers some basic video editing functionality | Part of your Office 365 subscription, allows screen and webcam recording with basic editing tools | Part of your Office 365 subscription, provides the ability to record audio over slides as you are presenting | Light media editing suite that can screencap your display, record audio and video, and provide editing tools for post-production |
| Part of UofT Academic Toolbox / Cost | Yes; Licensed for all staff/faculty and students (Download SnagIt) |
Yes; Included with U of T’s Office 365 subscription; login using @utoronto.ca email required |
Yes; Included with U of T’s Office 365 subscription; login using @utoronto.ca email required |
No; $234.91 CAD for education pricing |
| Recording capabilities | Yes;
|
Yes;
|
Yes;
|
Yes;
|
| Editing capabilities | Trim, cut |
Trim - currently, you can only hide 5 parts of your video with Stream's trim. If you need to make more edits you should use a different editing tool Add music (only for screen and webcam recordings created directly in Stream) |
None - can record audio over slides | Trim, split, cut, copy, paste, delete, mute, stitch, annotations, transitions, animations, audio manipulation |
| Ideal for | Quick screen recordings, cutting clips | Screen and webcam recordings that will be stored on Stream | Recording slides with narration, annotating over slides | Screen, audio, and video recording, in-depth editing (annotations, transitions, animations, audio manipulation) |
| Not ideal for | Splicing multiple clips together, audio manipulation, annotations | Videos that will require in-depth editing | Editing videos, recording anything outside a PowerPoint window | Users with very little editing experience who want to make quick edits |
| Interactivity options | No | Yes; |
No | Yes; |
| Set-up effort | Medium | Low | Low | High |
| Difficulty to learn | Low | Low | Low | Low - High (depending on how in-depth you wish to edit) |
| Supported file formats | Almost all video formats | Almost all video formats | Almost all image, audio, and video formats | Almost all video, audio, and image formats (supported formats on Windows) |
| Exported file formats | MP4 | Webm | MPEG-4, WMV | MP4 |
| Accessibility options |
|
|
|
|
| Microsoft Stream integration | No; requires upload to Stream |
Yes; saved directly to the user's Stream account |
Yes; able to publish directly to Stream |
No; requires upload to Stream |
| Compatible platforms | Windows, MacOS | Windows, MacOS | Windows, MacOS | Windows, MacOS |
If you are looking to just record narration over a slideshow presentation, with the ability to annotate the slides as you present, recording your slideshow in PowerPoint might include all the functionality required. For more information on how to set this up, visit Microsoft’s guide on how to record a slideshow with narration and slide timings.