Making movies of your PC screen

Not long ago, my uncle enlisted my help on a project he was conducting through the hospital where he works.

His task: to create a tutorial that would be used in an ongoing training course for other physicians. My uncle is a neonatalogist, chemist, and hobbyist beer brewer, but no video producer. Furthermore, there was little budget for his leg of the undertaking. He needed simple software to capture mouse movements on the computer screen--in the end, the freeware TipCam saw him through.

TipCam isn't the only screencast software out there, and it certainly isn't a one-size-fits-all solution. If you need to produce a series of pro-quality tutorials, Camtasia Studio is the better choice.  If quick captures and easy online sharing is your objective, Jing could be your pick.

Learn about these three screen recording apps, plus one more, in our screencast software roundup.