Jing on the test: To take the desktop screen

Techsmith – Jing


For Windows and Macintosh


Jing in the test: With the name of the tool, most readers are more likely to think of the jinn out of the bottle, than to a free software for screen pictures and videos by the company TechSmith. TechSmith has made a name for itself with the Camtasia Studio, especially in the Gamer world. The software is ideal for logging progress on PC games, while simultaneously recording the player via the webcam.


Few settings


Of course, the software is also suitable for creating professional recordings for training purposes. Regardless of which application Camtasia is used for: it is a very expensive and professional software. Jing is such a small brother of the Camtasia Studios and is more suitable for manageable projects. However, it fulfills largely the same requirements: It films the whole monitor, or even a defined section, as a video clip. This clip, in the popular Shockwave format, allows the user to open with any web browser or make it available to other people.


Conclusion


The installation of the software available for Windows version XP and OS X version 10.5.8 and higher is very simple and can be done within a few moments. On Windows, the current .NET Framework 4.0 is mandatory, on the Mac QuickTime 7.5.5 or higher. Furthermore, the program requires an online account. TechSmith verifies this account through an e-mail address to be specified during installation. With the account, the user receives 2 GB of storage space for screencast.com - a platform for optional storage of jing recordings on the Internet.


The program integrates itself on the desktop as a yellow hemisphere, which the user can freely position. The user decides which screen section Jing will write, and whether the microphone is to be activated. Depending on the screen size, the memory requirements for the maximum 5 minutes of recording are at least 1 MB per minute, including a soundtrack.


If you log a graphically complex computer match of a 3D-Shooters, you will come to 300 Mbyte per minute and bring the Shockwave-format in the Adobe Flash Player to the edge of the performance capacity. As smooth and fluid as inside the game, the recording with Jing is not. It is more appropriate for explanations and instructions that the user then transfers to a web server.


The setting possibilities of the freeware are rather manageable. In addition to proxy settings for uploading to screencast.com, the user can only change the hotkeys. All other parameters are more directed towards the Camtasia Studio. Since there are no post-processing features with Jing, the user is forced to make the recording perfect from the beginning.


As a free and easy-to-use software for logging screen shocks in Shockwave format, Jing of TechSmith makes a very good figure.