I often get asked about how I go about creating my screencasts. It really isn’t that difficult. I use ScreenFlow. ScreenFlow is a soup to nuts screencasting application for the Mac that works splendidly. Over the years I’ve tried some of the competitors but I always come back to ScreenFlow and I never regret it.

Telestream, the ScreenFlow developer is not resting on its laurels. Today they released ScreenFlow, version 4. This newest version adds several features, both under the hood and behind the steering wheel.

64 Bits

ScreenFlow is now fully 64-bit integrated for OS X 10.7 and above. I’ve been using it to capture my retina display MacBook Pro and it’s working without a hitch.

Closed Caption Support

The application lets you to insert closed-captioned text right in your ScreenFlow document.

Nested Clips

This lets you merge multiple elements into a single (nested) clip. You can then access and edit that nested clip on a separate tab timeline. This is going to be so useful for my large screencast projects.

Chroma Key Support

While I was initially scratching my head about the idea of green screen support in a screencasting application, after fiddling with it, it makes sense. It’s not just a green screen you’re looking at, but any custom color. For instance, a solid color on the back of your desktop.

Video and Audio Filters

Now ScreenFlow has built in filters to add more audio and video control. There is a pile of them and I haven’t even scratched the surface yet but so far I’m really digging the blurring and mask video controls and EQ audio controls.

There are also a bunch of other nice little refinements that make the day-to-day use of this application better. For instance, you can now set the default durations for actions like freeze-frame and callouts. All of these little changes clearly arise from user feedback.

ScreenFlow is, and probably never has been, a hobbyist application. It is professional level screencasting without the usual professional level headaches and costs. I’ve been screencasting for over five years now and sometimes can’t believe how far these applications have come. If you want to start screencasting on your Mac, spend 100 bucks on ScreenFlow 4 and you are well on your way.