On 17 Oct 2008, at 14:01, Eben Eliason wrote: > On Fri, Oct 17, 2008 at 3:08 AM, Chris Ball <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> * We should avoid having the activity itself be present in the >> videos; >> perhaps by minimizing it immediately before starting recording, >> and then setting up a globally-bound keyboard shortcut for stop? > > I'd recommend transitioning immediately to the Home view when > recording starts, so that screencasts always begin from the same > familiar place. This is a natural starting point. However, is it > possible for an activity to trigger that event? > > I'm even less sure about stopping. Ideally a stop button would be > another piece of ever-present, non-recorded info on the screen. A > keyboard shortcut might work, but can you bind it globally even if the > app isn't focused? Another option is to offer (really basic) > cropping, with a simple bar beneath the video with two endpoints which > can be dragged independently, to trim beginning and end of the > screencast as needed. If kids didn't bother, at worst they'd have a > 2-3 second part at the end where they focus the screencast activity > and press a stop button. > > Another alternative is to automatically stop recording when the > activity is focused, but a) you'd still see the action of selecting > the activity again and b) this would prevent any screencasts of the > Screencast activity from being made.
Why not take the easy path ;-) Make the Screencast activity show a title page (hide toolbar), big empty (white) page with a large font (black) text title, and perhaps a (grey) time counter with subtle stop button near by. Kid can then: * start Screencast activity * set the title name * chose a record duration (default could be quite short as in Record) * hit record, Screencast shows a clean title page, and then triggers actual recording * kid can narrate over title page if they want * uses frame or keyboard to switch into task to demo * returns to Screencast instance (see title page again) * can give end narration if they want, and then hit stop End up with a nice screencast with a clean title screen at start and end. --Gary _______________________________________________ Sugar mailing list [email protected] http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/sugar
