How to Easily Record and Edit Course Content with Screenflow
If you’re planning to record training material, tutorials, or any kind of course content for your students, I thought it might be really useful to give you a quick rundown of how I personally do it — from recording your screen to editing your video and getting it ready to share.
The best part? It’s super simple. Let’s dive right in!
The Tools I Use
First up, let’s talk about the gear and software:
- Recording Software: Screenflow
- Microphone: Rode NT-USB (a fantastic, plug-and-play mic that’s clear and easy to use)
Screenflow is running right now as I record this — it’s lightweight, intuitive, and packed with features that make creating great course videos a breeze.
Setting Up for Recording
Here’s the basic setup before you hit the record button:
- Connect Your Microphone: Make sure Screenflow is set to use the correct microphone — in my case, the Rode NT-USB.
- Screen and Audio Capture: Set Screenflow to capture both your screen and the system audio. This way, you can narrate and capture sounds from your computer (like music, videos, etc.) at the same time.
- Start Recording: Move your mouse around, click on links, play videos — everything you do on-screen gets captured!
As an example, I pulled up my band’s website, The Empire Between, and played a track called Wanderlust (shoutout to my daughter singing on it!). It’s super handy being able to show website navigation, demonstrate apps, or highlight videos right from your browser.
Editing Basics in Screenflow
Once you’ve finished recording, the real magic happens during the editing phase. Here’s a quick rundown:
- Audio Tracks: You’ll see your voice recording and the system audio on separate tracks.
- Smooth Volume Levels: First thing I always do — click on the audio track and apply Smooth Volume Levels. It automatically evens out the audio so everything sounds clean and balanced.
- Adjust the Document Settings:
- Go to File > Document Settings and switch your resolution to 1080p.
- Resize your captured video to fit the new dimensions. It might chop off a tiny bit of the menu bar — no big deal!
- Enhance the Mouse Pointer:
- Go to the Screen Recording settings.
- Increase the mouse size (I usually bump it to 200%).
- Turn on Pointer Zoom and Radar Clicks.
This way, whenever you click, a radar pulse appears, making it super obvious where you clicked — a must for any kind of teaching video!
Fine-Tuning the Audio and Video
Sometimes your recording might include background noise, long pauses, or those pesky “ums” and “ahs.” Here’s how I tidy it up:
- Trim unwanted audio: Select the part you don’t want and hit Command + Delete to remove it.
- Adjust volume during music: If you’re playing music during the video, you can fade it down when you start talking again by inserting an audio action and adjusting the volume level.
- Zoom in on important sections: Want to highlight a specific part of your screen?
- Add an Action on your video track.
- Zoom in to focus on a specific menu or detail.
- Add another action later to zoom back out to the full screen.
This keeps your video dynamic and keeps your audience’s attention right where you want it.
Adding Final Touches
Before exporting:
- Add a transition: Right-click on the timeline and add a fade-in or fade-out transition to make your video feel polished.
- Export your video: Choose your desired format, whether it’s for YouTube, your online course platform, or internal training material.
Wrapping Up
And that’s it! Screenflow makes recording and editing course videos really easy, even if you’re just getting started. With a little practice, you’ll be cranking out professional-looking videos in no time.
If you found this helpful, drop a comment below — and don’t forget to like and subscribe if you want more tips like this. See you in the next video!
