This Application Does Not Work!


Recently I ran into a great offer that I just couldn't pass up.  I have been in need of screen capture software for creating online tutorials.  I've heard that Screen Flow is an awesome product and quite inexpensive.  Unfortunately I switched from Mac to a Windows 10 box and Screen Flow is only made for Mac OS.  My best alternative for a long time has been CamTasia Studio.

I was reluctant to get CamTasia because $300 is simply too high a price.  So... recently I ran into this other product called Movavi which costs only a fraction of what CamTasia costs (as of this writing it costs 59.95 which includes 40% discount). I downloaded the trial version and did a quick demo to test it out.  It worked like a charm.  The trial version is limited to two minute videos.

I proceeded to purchase the next day because finally I would have the software to create online tutorials.  I was not ready for the big disappointment that was lurking in the shadows.  I did my first video with activated software, which was a 15 minute video only to find out that it stopped capturing the screen after about a minute and a half.

At first I thought maybe it was because I was switching applications during my tutorial so I tried with only one application later and got the same results.  I tried a few settings and got the same results.

By this time I was a little frustrated and proceeded to contact Movavi's tech support.  The tech recommended that I try un-checking the acceleration.  With the tech on the line I did a recording and it seemed to work.

I came back to giving it another try this Saturday excited that I would finally be able to record my tutorial but once again on a longer video the software failed to capture after about the minute and a half mark.

At this point many thoughts ran through my mind.  I was extremely frustrated and the worst of it all was that I might have to purchase Camtasia after all.  Thought's like "What a POS software this is" came through my mind but my mind at the same time challenged me to be more calm about this and think of how great this software is when it actually works.  It challenged me to think of all the work that the producers of this software put into it.

After all, I am a software developer too and sometimes things go wrong that cause great frustration.  Many times the cause is due to external factors such as a JDK update or server patch that breaks things.  It's not that we didn't take pride or were apathetic to the quality of our product.  That is simply the nature of software.  Human error will creep in at some point or another.  So that little voice in my head said keep cool maybe there is still a way to get it to work.

Then I remembered those little words that the tech said on our last conversation " and just keep in mind that if you have any other issues check the box that says Use Alternative Rendering..".

That was exactly what I needed to do.  I checked that setting and now Movavi works like a charm.  What a great piece of software it is, indeed.  Even if the software had not worked for me it could be to weird hardware compatibility problem and with so many possible PC configurations that is extremely challenging.

Moral of the story is stay cool when the software you use doesn't quite work.  Maybe it does work after all, it just needs a few adjustments.

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