Format for Training Videos

[barefoot]

Hello!
I'm planning a series of training videos that will be produced with Premiere Elements 10 and I would appreciate some advice on choosing a format. I plan to offer the videos to clients for online viewing only. I don't yet know where they will be stored so if you have suggestions for this I would appreciate hearing about them.
The key issue for now is picking a format that will let the student choose which chapters to watch, be easy to navigate and repeat sections, and I would like a format that can't be downloaded or copied or easily pirated using some kind of screen and audio capture software.
I apologize if this seems like a dumb question but my expertise is in the content of the planned production, not in video making.
thanks for your help,
barefoot

[Chuck Engels]

Considering we offer a subscription service that provides basically the same thing I'm not sure how to respond to your question Barefoot, what you are planning is in direct competition with Muvipix.

As far as tutorial software goes you really only have two choices; Camtasia and Captivate.

[barefoot]

Chuck,
I don't understand your response about being in direct competition with muvipix. I'm planning to make training videos that have nothing to do with what is found on this web site. The videos will be about trading the stock and futures markets.
Do you mean that the answer to my question is something I would find by subscribing to your website and you don't want to give this info out for free? I'm trying to learn about security of videos so they can't be pirated. (at least not easily)

I've been experimenting with CamStudio for the screen capture part and Audacity and Ableton Live for recording the audio. I then import the video and audio files into PRE and make a video with sound. I'm just totally ignorant about formats and their security and where to host them.

barefoot

[Ron]

Welcome to muvipix, barefoot. I think Chuck misinterpreted your post (as did I at first read).

You're sure to get all the help and advice you need soon. Chuck will definitely be back to assist as well.

[VernonRobinson]

Barefoot,
Welcome to Muvipix. Unfortunately, there is no easy way to keep the pirates at bay. Once the file is downloaded to the PC there are dozens of utilities that will allow it to be captured. It seems that companies like Lynda.com use Flash. There is no encoding technique that I am aware of that will protect you. Consider that movie studios have spent millions trying to prevent piracy and have failed miserably.

Regards,
-Vernon

[John 'twosheds' McDonald]

Hi Barefoot. Just wanted to add my welcome

I, too, use Audacity for recording narration (as do a number of others here). In my case I assemble the final video then record the narration as the video plays, editing and tuning the audio in Audacity then importing the honed and polished audio into the video project.

Re the copy protection issue, I agree with Vernon. Once the work is published it is nigh on impossible to prevent illicit duplication.

[Steve Grisetti]

Welcome, barefoot!

For my money, the ultimate tool for creating video tutorials is Camtasia from Tech Smith. It's what we use to create the tutorials on our site.

The program comes with its own editor and, when you're done, it produces your movie as an MP4 -- just perfect for uploading to YouTube or whatever!

The program is very easy to learn -- and my personal favorite feature is that you can use it to zoom into a section of your interface to see demonstrate a tool. Have a look at some of our tutorials and you'll see.

[barefoot]

Thanks for the replies!
My plan was not to allow the videos to be downloaded, only streamed, but I don't even know if that's possible. I have no doubt that a determined pirate can find a way to steal content. I guess the best I can hope for is to prevent the average user doing so.
I'll keep researching this security issue.
Thanks for your help.
barefoot

[Chuck Engels]

Hi Barefoot,
I apologize for jumping to conclusions, thought you were doing Premiere Elements training videos

If your videos are only available online (streaming), and not for download, you can control that pretty well, but that will be in the security of your website not the software that creates or plays your training videos.

If you want the ability to have a test at the end and score the results and keep track of a users test scores, then Captivate by Adobe is by far the best. Captivate also has much better editing tools for audio and video so that makes it an even better solution. The main problem we have had with Captivate is the limited export formats (that was a few years ago so that may have changed by now). We started building our tutorials here using Captivate but had to change because of the format limitations.

If you just want to do very nice tutorials, or if you want to combine the screen capture with other video and edit in Premiere Elements then you will want Camtasia. There really shouldn't be a need to do any editing outside of the Camtasia or Captivate software however but if you would need to do that then Camtasia will give you enough export options to make that work.

Take a look at a few of the free tutorials here, that may give you an idea of what can be done with those tools. If your training videos do not require a screen capture of any kind then Premiere Elements will be perfect for simply creating excellent videos to show on the web.

Maybe a little more detail about exactly what you are trying to do will help

[VernonRobinson]

Barefoot,
When you stream video to the client, that is in fact downloading. The only difference is that they get to watch it as it comes down. There are a ton of tools that will capture streams. I know this is a disappointment, but there really is no defense against it. If it were, then sites like Lynda.com, TotalTraining, and even the movie studios would be in heaven and they wouldn't be looking for government protection on the Internet.

The old adage really holds true on the Internet, "locks are for honest people". The criminals will by pass your content controls and distribute your intellectual property. Just expect that there will be some theft.

-Vernon

[barefoot]

I appreciate all the comments.
I will need to do quite a bit of screen capture. I think file size may be an issue, but I'm not certain. Has Camtasia gotten better at keeping file size down? I had tried it a few years ago and the files it produced were HUGE!
barefoot

[Chuck Engels]

You have the option to set up the capture to reduce file size but it will also reduce the quality. With the size of hard drives now it really isn't much of an issue. You can export the finished project to many formats and control the file size better at that point with still retaining quality.