.swf size huge after importing .avi

[artzfx]

I am using Camtasia 2.0 and have produced a screen/audio capture that created a 4.5mb .avi

I then recorded another .avi with my webcam of 1.5mb in size.

Dragging the 4.5mb file onto the timeline and then importing the 1.5mb file and also dragging it onto the timeline I produced a .swf using Camtasia Producer/Studio however, the resulting .swf that was created was 36mb in size???

The Camatasia .avi file was recorded as 11GHz, 16 bit, mono for audio and automatic for video. The webcam .avi file settings were 11GHz, 8 bit, mono for audio and 24bit for video.

The settings used in Producer for the combined .avi's video were left as automatic.

--------- Update ---------
I just tried exporting the webcam produced 1,5mb avi file in Producer and it still exported as a 36mb .swf




Dream, create, Animate...

[TSC2]

Hello,

The SWF output from Camtasia Studio is made for screen capture videos only. It does not compress real world video well at all. For a tutorial on how to keep file sizes down, please visit:
http://www.techsmith.com/products/studio/tutorials/reducingfilesize.asp

Thank you for using Camtasia Studio!
-TechSmith Support.

[artzfx]

Sorry I am a little confused at your reply.

Since video import is a promoted feature of Camtasia and certaintly a big item used in eLearning titles, I presumed that it was realistic that I could expect to drag in an external .avi and expect it to at least retain its original file size (in this case of 1.5mb) at worst and not inflate it by 25 times?

I did read your article before posting this thread and sure I can compress and alter the audio settings but surely this is only if I wished to decrease my original .avi file size.

So if I want to create a eLearning CD with a 35mb video clip included then I can't use Camtasia because the resulting file will be bigger than the CD capacity... so does that mean video import really isn't or shouldn't be a feature used in Camtasia?

Don't get me wrong, I think Camtasia is an amazing product and I am very pleased I found it, however I did believe it was a complete eLearning title creation package, hence why I am creating demos of its capabilities to convince the rest of my management team that our IT Support Group should be using it for creating their installation doco and training presentations, however if they need to also learn Flash + purchase it so we can incorporate video then it won't be a viable option.




Dream, create, Animate...

[TSC2]

Hello,

Sorry, I should have been a bit more specific. It basically means that Flash is not a viable output option for the content you are working with. A better option would be a QuickTime MOV using the Sorenson codecs, or a WMV file using Windows Media Video codecs, or even an AVI file using Mpeg 4 v2. These formats are designed for real world video and will compress your files MUCH more efficiently.

Thank you for using Camtasia Studio!
-TechSmith Support