So Vara's Screenflow has been released and frankly, it knocks Snapz Pro X on its rear! How are you going to respond? Can we Snapz Pro users expect similar features to be added soon?

The next generation of Snapz Pro X is in development and while we're not yet discussing features or any specifics, we think you'll be more than impressed when the product is released.

Regarding your other question, we don't create software in "response" to other software. We've been working on the next generation of Snapz since last year, and it's our most ambitious project to date. We're not going to rush or advance the release in "response" to another product -- we'll release it when it's ready to be released.

If you've seen WireTap Studio, you'll know that we put a lot of thought, innovation and unique technologies into the product. We feel that WireTap Studio sets itself apart from other audio recording and editing solutions, and we hope you do, too.

With that said, I'll give you a little more information on the next generation of Snapz -- many of the technologies, idioms, and concepts that you see in WireTap Studio will be part of the next generation of Snapz. We always take care of our users with a generous upgrade policy, and we promise to do so when the next generation of Snapz is available.

In the meantime, if you're looking for a screen/movie capture tool, Snapz Pro X remains a high performance, lightweight, and efficient tool for the professional.

Michael,

While I can certainly appreciate the approach Ambrosia is taking to SnapzPro, it's still been a long long long time since any real new features have been added to the program. I believe we've heard that SnapzPro will be updated for over 2 years now (probably longer). I'm not counting the UB upgrade.

The original poster is actually quite correct: initial reports of ScreenFlow are, frankly, amazing. They've even released a new update to squash the key bugs that came out with the initial release. It's pretty clear that if Ambrosia doesn't get going quickly enough then a lot of customers will be lost due to ScreenFlow-migration. It's full of great additional features, and apparently a very quick and responsive turnaround to identified problems.

Mathew,

I appreciate your reply, and your concern. It's obvious you're a loyal customer, and we appreciate your comments and concern for Snapz "losing customers".

Still, we're not going to react to a competitor's product, and we have our design for the next version of Snapz completed with the product in development. While ScreenFlow might have extra features the present Snapz Pro X doesn't, we still feel that Snapz is a powerful solution for quickly capturing video or screen grabs.

I also recognize your concern about the length of time we've been "discussing" the next generation of Snapz, but all I can say is that "it'll be ready when it's ready". We want it to be Ambrosia quality, and we won't release it in fear of losing customers.

With that said, the next generation of Snapz is in development, full steam ahead. I've seen some of the features and technologies, and I'm confident that even if you decide to switch to another product now, you'll be back.

Again, thanks for your comments and concern -- everyone at Ambrosia appreciates it, and we promise the wait will be well worth it!

Michael,

Thanks for the response. I, and I'm sure others, are very happy to hear the SnapzPro's new version is in full-steam-ahead development! It's been a great product for a number of years. As a customer I only want the program to get even better/cooler and continue to prosper.

Hi all,
Been too over worked to 'hang out' so pardon the lack of research on this topic. I do want to say a word or two (opinion alert) about snapz w/movie { my abbreviation: SzM}.

1) The current release of SzM (Snapz with movie) is the only app I found that does not overload a older iMac flatpanel 800MHz 512 RAM while recording realplayer when video stream is 350Kbs or greater. The machine is at its limit but SzM's low resource requirement is what keeps it from page faulting thus killing quality. I shall omit web page link of the results for now.

2) Have not tried the ScreenFlow app because of not knowing about it, plus too busy. That said, I may test it some day. Ambrosia has been careful to craft their software "to work" and I am too happy to experiment with an unknown app. My fingers have many burns from big bucks pro software that failed to do a task.

3) Any design flaws in the current release are pretty much a compromise with OS limits on it and/or platform libs that interfere with end user desire. The tmp directory thing is a well known one; many apps have not dealt with it very well, SzM did -- do nothing. That allows me to copy the run to another drive without unexpected results. Those .rvid files can be backed-up and processed later. Keyboard wishes by users, I blame apple first. Sidebar: the last NASA spacewalk I got 70GB (no compression) worth of video for editing and no crashed apps other than a realplayer bug crash.

I'll stop before this becomes a rant. If by some evil chance the new release is dreadful, well duh, then move on to someone's magic bullet. See MS Vista.

By the way, I have yet to see a competitor to Snapz movie or Screen Cleaner or WireTap that has video-on-a-budget with high quality results as a goal.

Sorry if I went long
-l

I've been playing with the demo version of Screenflow and I have to say that the UI and styling is very impressive. It's a fun program to work with and for screencasting it does make certain aspects, such as zoom and pan, very easy to implement. It's a great program.

That being said, I'm not compelled enough to want to run out an buy it. As nice as the UI is, I still have to pull the video into iMovie for titles and transitions, so it's not an end-to-end solution. Additionally, I've already invested in Snapz Pro and Mousepose, so most of the functionality of Screenflow is duplicating what I already have.

So what's missing?

For my purposes, the zoom and pan feature is the only thing I'm missing at the moment. The Callout Feature is a nice post effect, but since that's being covered by Mousepose, it's not critical. It is a nice advanced feature, but not a "must have" in my book.

Most people, when they describe Screenflow, they say something to the effect of "Instead of using 3 programs, I now only use 1". Well, that's great, but I'm happy with the tools I'm using if I could only figure out how to get the zoom effect in iMovie, or a different tool.

Instead of doing a Snapz vs Screenflow, I'm MORE interested in discussing how to add features with additional tools. When Snapz is updated, I'm sure it's going to be king of the hill again, but until then, what solutions are there for current users?

Great feedback! Thanks for chiming in

@Michael T. Ashby - That helps me see the way screenflow works without having to to try it. In addition to my (lesterfory) other comment I see screenflow has a different target audience. Might be wrong saying that.

Being an archivist Snapz light weight is better and I hope the new and improved version is still effective for what I do. Meaning not a bloatware fix for all kinds of users. It is the little things the current version does (doesn't do) that drive folks crazy. Guess I have to wait and see.

@evan - the lesterfory oops was corrected and lesterfory is not likely to confuse again. Sorrry.

@duddits - glad I could help shed some light.

After my post yesterday, I went ahead and purchased Screenflow. I've recorded a few screencasts with it and there are some things that I like and some things that I don't like about it. It's not a perfect solution for sure, but it does a lot of things really well.

The tipping point for me was the pan and zoom. Being able to zoom in on a dialog box, or a menu item is worth it's weight in gold when you're shooting an entire desktop. I searched and searched for this feature outside of Screenflow and was unsuccessful in finding anything as a stand alone utility, or iMovie plugin. Since I felt I HAD to have the feature, the only solution was to purchase Screenflow.

But like I said, it's not a perfect application. Screenflow captures the entire desktop with no option to do otherwise and then everything is adjusted in post: screen size, mouse and dialog callouts (think mousepose) , video action (think pan and zoom), etc. And after the rough cut, I still have to import into iMovie for transitions and titles.

So for now, I'll be using Screenflow for my screencasts and anxiously awaiting the next version of Snapz Pro. My only hope now is that Snapz offers an import Screenflow feature.

The entire desktop! That confirms, to me at lest, special purpose vs general purpose use. That feature alone makes Screenflow unusable by me. One ongoing project I have has stored nearly 100 Gbytes of recorded live NASA Spacewalks. Not as easy as one thinks given all that can go wrong. A short list for example; requires 320x240 window for clarity if scaled later, backup recording handy if primary fails, high bandwidth connection to 350Kbps server (NASA stream), and more.

It could be said I use Snapz in a very specialized way. If anyone wonders why such a project is undertaken? Easy, NASA cannot have hours (8hr x 5 walks last time) up for public viewing. Just not feasible. If I have as much as possible stored locally then I can get some of it up on youtube (test 1 done) Test 1 done with 2 videos at 309nmblonde

Lastly, Snapz's general purpose design allows me to use it in a specialized way which Screenfow does not seem to allow. That said, Screenflow may be of use to me in a different task. As said before; these are applications that have a different target audience. Maybe I should say a different task?

Maybe this helps show how Snapz is used in a different situation than yours. Not better or worse, just different.

Hi I just want to chime in here with my impressions of Screenflow. I'm a long-time Snapz Pro user, and have used and appreciated it for years. There is new competition for Snapz, though, and that can only mean good things for customers.

Snapz has some ongoing issues that I think we would all probably acknowledge:

- an aging, relatively constraining user interface
- A long time between updates, with minimal info from the developers except for "hang in there!" -type comments
- a long wait for UB, with no new capabilities
- the patience-draining performance of the compiling step immediately after capture. This precludes doing a sequence of captures in a row.

I was excited by the prospect of Screenflow, and downloaded the trial. I have now bought 5 licenses for our department. Here's why (I am not affiliated with the company, just a satisfied customer):

- Performance: captures are immediately available; no compiling step. Also you can simultaneously capture the whole screen (more on that below) and an external video source (like an iSight), with no apparent impact on the foreground app's performance; astonishing.

- I was sceptical of the "whole screen" approach at first, but Screenflow's performance put those fears to rest. Its easy to crop the movie after the fact, and the the native encoding Screenflow uses is so clean as to appear lossless. For most purposes, it really is useful to have the whole screen captured, and edit after the fact.

- the after the fact "actions" are excellent, including zooms, pans, cursor effects, and the ability to display keyboard strokes as they occur.

- Screenflow is not perfect; I have had some minor stability issues when editing long (1.5 hour) dual-stream captures. The devs are responsive though, and some of my issues have already been addressed in the latest update.

I can appreciate Michael's assertion that Ambrosia doesn't create software in response to other products, but that strikes me as at least a little disingenuous. They must keep tabs on the market, and it must have (I hope!) some impact on their level of motivation that a market they had a corner on for so long is now full of competent (and in some cases, brilliant) competitors (Screenflow, IShowU, ScreenFlick, Jing, etc.).

I'll look forward to the Snapz Pro update, but to be frank, it will have to be very good to dislodge Screenflow from the default position in my toolset.

Nick

Nick,

We appreciate your time in providing feedback and expressing your support and care for Snapz Pro X.

To clarify my statement about not creating products in response to other ones -- of course we're aware of the market, and we do look at competitors, but we're not working on the next version of Snapz as a response to a competitor. The original post asked if we would add similar features as our competition, and I was simply expressing that we aren't designing the product we're working on in response. I apologize that you felt I was being disingenuous.

While there's a lot of work ahead, and things might be quiet for a while, I hope you'll be patient, and I'll personally look forward to your input and feedback once we finally release our new product.

Again, thanks for your input, and your support of Snapz.

Hello fellow-Ambrosians.

I'm new to the forum... being compelled by the discussion about Snapz and Screenflow.

Like any tool in an arsenal, wether you are a carpenter, recording engineer, or you-name-it, each can represent a specialized function. For serious on-screen presentations, and the affordable price point, it would seem reasonable to consider having the right tool for the job. In other words, SnapzPro for what it does best, and Screenflow for what it does as well.

I realize that money doesn't grow on trees... but the last thing you want is to have the leaves fall off in a gust of wind that could have been avoided. (I'm involved with professional video production and am currently working on an instructional DVD that could use SnapzPro and/or Screenflow.. or... most likely... both.

But philosophy aside, Screenflow has caught my attention as well... but I have no time to look into it.

(I really just came to Ambrosia.com seeking a suggestion box! =) I have such a simple request... to offer a more comprehensive Save pop-up without having to scroll from top to bottom between desktop and clipboard...! not to mention an option to pick a folder on another drive.. you know... a standard Save As dialog box to navigate!)

Elegant Screenflow GUI: From a producer/director stand-point - presentation is important. polish suggests, albeit not always true, credibility and power-to-deliver... tho... content remains forever king. I respect the fact that Ambrosia devs maintain their integrity to deliver and stable, practical feature set over panicking about getting something to market prematurely.

Allen Kaufman
Sunlight Digital - artist-friendly video production
www.sunlightdigital.com

I'm new here. I've been looking at Snapz for awhile, and getting very near to buying it.

I appreciate the comparisons people have offered here with Snapz and Screenflow.

One factor people forgot to mention is price. Screenflow is $30 more. That's significant to me.

I produce tutorials for fellow artists. I get no compensation, and I live on a limited, fixed income.

I read the product description of Screenflow... It is for Leopard only.

I bought my iMac a year ago, with Tiger installed. I have not seen any reason to upgrade to Leopard yet.

Snapz gets my money, once I have the spare change.

PoetArtist:

I can understand your reasons for getting SnapzPro if you don't have Leopard. That makes sense.

However, the price differential between the two (in my opinion) is NOT a good reason for getting SnapzPro. Simply put, ScreenFlow does many additional things that SnapzPro can't. Perhaps at some time in the distant future SnapzPro will also have those features, but for those creating screencasts today the difference in price is well worth the upgrade in features. Some of those important value-added features (which may, or may not, be important for you personally) include:

1. chapter creation (great for longer screencasts allowing uses to navigate to specific parts of the movie)
2. saves as a "raw" file (this means you can compress the file in a variety of different ways at a later point in time--unlike SnapzPro)
3. shows command-key sequences
4. allows you to "focus" on a specific object or window in the screen through highlighting and increasing the size of the identified object (this is done postproduction)

There are other added features, but those 4 are my biggest reasons for switching to ScreenFlow. (Plus the fact that ScreenFlow seems to be under active development. Despite promises for over 2 years now SnapzPro has shown no tangible development progress.)

SnapzPro was my tool of choice for 5+ years. I’ll keep checking to see if they upgrade the product in a significant way. But for my day-to-day work I need to use the best tool currently available: and that very clearly is ScreenFlow for Mac-users.