How to Download a Camtasia Studio 3 Video

An earlier article in this series discussed how to download videos produced by Camtasia Studio 2.

As mentioned, it is not easy to download Camtasia videos because the file names are scattered all over the HTML, XML and JS files that make up the video. The names of the files depend on the version of Camtasia that was used to produce the video.

This article discusses how to download videos generated by Camtasia Studio 3.

As an example, have a look at this video:

http://CamVideoDownloader.com/video/TestCamtasiaStudio312/TestCamtasiaStudio312.html

Open the video in your browser, and then view the source of the HTML page.

As with the Camtasia 2 page, the <title> tag of this page includes the text "Created by Camtasia Studio 3". So this is the first thing to look out for when you read the page.

A bit further down the page you will see:

var fo = new FlashObject( "TestCamtasiaStudio312_controller.swf",
    "TestCamtasiaStudio312_controller.swf", "1008", "631", "7", "#FFFFFF", false, "best" );
fo.addVariable( "csConfigFile", "TestCamtasiaStudio312_config.xml" );
fo.addVariable( "csColor" , "FFFFFF" );
fo.addVariable( "csPreloader" , 'TestCamtasiaStudio312_preload.swf' );

Some of the filenames you need are contained here, namely:

TestCamtasiaStudio312_controller.swf
TestCamtasiaStudio312_config.xml
TestCamtasiaStudio312_preload.swf

However, as before, the name of the actual SWF video file isn't there! What you have to do now is open the XML file in your browser, or a text editor such as Notepad. Towards the end of the file you will find:

<playlist>
 <array>
  <fileset>
   <video1>
    <duration type="Number">126.33</duration>
    <uri>TestCamtasiaStudio312.swf</uri>
    <frameRate type="Number">15</frameRate>
    <keyframeRate type="Number">0</keyframeRate>
    <blendingMode>Normal</blendingMode>
    <isFlv type="Boolean">0</isFlv>
   </video1>
   <pip>
    <duration type="Number">0.00</duration>
    <frameRate type="Number">0</frameRate>
    <keyframeRate type="Number">30</keyframeRate>
    <uri>TestCamtasiaStudio312_PIP.flv</uri>
   </pip>

This section contains the names of the video files. In this case there are two files specified, and they are:

TestCamtasiaStudio312.swf
TestCamtasiaStudio312_PIP.flv 

There is another file to download as well. Looking in the HTML file near the top, you will find:

<script type="text/javascript" src="flashobject.js"></script>

If you read my earlier article, you will have noticed by now that there are more files with Camtasia 3, and they are referenced completely differently to Camtasia 2.

Anyway, to obtain all these files, you could use a download file manager, and download the following files one after the other:

http://CamVideoDownloader.com/video/TestCamtasiaStudio312/TestCamtasiaStudio312_controller.swf
http://CamVideoDownloader.com/video/TestCamtasiaStudio312/TestCamtasiaStudio312_config.xml
http://CamVideoDownloader.com/video/TestCamtasiaStudio312/TestCamtasiaStudio312_preload.swf
http://CamVideoDownloader.com/video/TestCamtasiaStudio312/TestCamtasiaStudio312.swf
http://CamVideoDownloader.com/video/TestCamtasiaStudio312/TestCamtasiaStudio312_PIP.flv
http://CamVideoDownloader.com/video/TestCamtasiaStudio312/flashobject.js
http://CamVideoDownloader.com/video/TestCamtasiaStudio312/TestCamtasiaStudio312.html 

In actual fact, because this particular video doesn't include any motion video, the FLV file (TestCamtasiaStudio312_PIP.flv) doesn't exist--but when you play the video it doesn't seem to bother the video player. This is probably because the Duration is set to 0 in the XML file.

As long as you have downloaded all the files correctly, you should then be able to click on the HTML file on your own hard disk, and the video should start playing.

Sounds complicated doesn't it? A much easier way to download Camtasia Studio 3 videos is to use Camtasia Video Downloader, which does all the work for you.

Article source: How to download a Camtasia Studio 3 video

About the Author

Lex Edmonds is a Camtasia expert and a software developer, and is the author of Camtasia Video Downloader, the easiest way to download Camtasia videos from the web, even from password-protected membership sites. His website is at http://CamVideoDownloader.com

Note: You have permission to publish this article electronically or in print, free of charge, as long as you leave the article title, author name, article body and resource box intact (which means NO changes) with all the links made active.

Home | Return to Articles list

TechSmith and Camtasia are either registered trademarks or trademarks of
TechSmith Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.
This site is in no way affiliated with Techsmith Corporation.

Contact: http://ContactLex.com
(c) 2010 Lex Edmonds / E.Marketing - All Rights Reserved.