Ever want to produce a how-to video or other educational video?  Teachers and trainers are increasingly using Flips to do this kind of thing.  It can be as simple as setting up your Flip on a tripod or minipod, while you teach a class.  But you can get a lot more sophisticated than that, if you want to. 

Suppose, for example, you would like to incorporate some material from your computer's screen - perhaps showing someone how to use a piece of software, as I do in many of my videos.  Suppose, also, that I told you there is an excellent, free utility that would let you do this.  Interested?

There are tools available for the Mac for screen capture, but none that I know of that are free.  (If someone knows of one, let me know and I'll update this tip on FlipInFocus.com.) So, this tip is for Windows users - XP, Vista, or Windows 7.

My most recent video for FlipInFocus members tells how to use a free tool called Microsoft Expression Encoder to perfectly convert your Flip (or other) HD videos into Windows Media Video (.WMV) files, which can be edited with almost any video editor on any version of Windows.  This is a good first step, if you want to incorporate material from different sources, like still pictures/images, audio recordings, and other digital media into an instructional video:  Get them all into a format that can be edited with something like Windows Movie Maker, or Windows Live Movie Maker.

However, Microsoft Expression Encoder is very powerful, and can do a lot more than just video file conversion.  It includes a very easy-to-use tool for capturing the contents of your computer screen as you put a piece of software through its paces, or navigate a website.  It will also capture material from a webcam, a microphone connected to your computer, or even a TV tuner, if your computer has one.

When you have created and collected all the material you want to use, edit it all together in whatever Windows video editor you want to use.  You can upload it to YouTube to make accessible to your students, other classes, other schools, etc.

You can get the program here:  Microsoft Expression

Members of FlipInFocus can ask questions or offer suggestions about this tip by clicking the Add New Comment link at the bottom of the page.