Re: [Usability] screenshot & recording desktop video

[jeroen xs4all nl]

Hey Calum,

Thanks for the reply.

Here's what i've come up with so far:
http://www.xs4all.nl/~jeroen/screenshots/Screenshot-Screenshot-2.png

I'm pretty happy with that. Obviously, the video parts would be
insensitive until the user selects the "Record desktop video" radiobutton.
The "take a screenshot of the desktop" would be the default option
selected.

The icon for the video part is simply a mimetype icon atm, until somebody
with more art skills (jimmac for example) designs a nice action icon for
it.

I've ditched the duration part of the video recording. Does a user really
know how long he'll want to record the video beforehand? I doubt it.

I'll probably start implementing this in the next couple of days.

Comments?

Jeroen

>
> On 7 Jun 2005, at 20:50, jeroen xs4all nl wrote:
>
>>
>> A problem with this approach is that there is very little feedback
>> to the
>> user when the recording has stopped. Perhaps it's better to record
>> first
>> and then ask how/where to save it?
>
> Perhaps not possible the way X works, but it would be nice if the
> mouse pointer changed globally while the recording was happening.  Or
> perhaps you could play an old cine-camera noise for the duration :)
>
>
>> 2. Modify the screenshot dialog so the user can say "no i don't want a
>> static screenshot, record a video instead". After that, the same
>> workflow
>> follows as described above. I'm not sure this is a good approach
>> since if
>> done incorrectly, you could clutter the screenshot dialog (it's really
>> simple & easy to use atm). We might just add an option to indicate the
>> user wants to record a video and then for how long (seconds) or
>> unlimited
>> (user-action to stop recording). And then after it has recorded the
>> video
>> only then ask how & where to save it. Problem with this approach is
>> that
>> you get 1 dialog for 2 different functions. For example: the current
>> dialog has a Save (iirc) button for saving the screenshot. How
>> would this
>> work if you could also start recording a video in that dialog?
>
> I forget exactly how the current screenshot dialog looks (I only have
> 2.6 in front of me right now), but given that it would be nice to
> have it allow delayed and window-only snapshots too, I'd eventually
> envisage a three-stage process:
>
> 1. Initial dialog to ask you what sort of screen capture you want
> (screenshot[+delay], window[+delay], video[+duration]);
>
> 2. The image or video capture happens;
>
> 3. Standard file dialog pops up, showing thumbnail of image or video
> you've just taken.
>
> You do lose the 'instant preview' feature of the current dialog,
> which is a bit of a shame.  But you still get to see it before you
> save, and IMHO the fact that the screenshot currently happens before
> the dialog appears at all makes its appearance seem rather sluggish
> anyway, at least on my machines-- so if anything it might make the
> process seem a little snappier (ho-ho).
>
> Cheeri,
> Calum.
>
> --
> CALUM BENSON, Usability Engineer       Sun Microsystems Ireland
> mailto:calum benson sun com            Java Desktop System Team
> http://ie.sun.com                      +353 1 819 9771
>
> Any opinions are personal and not necessarily those of Sun Microsystems
>
>