capture

2K Sports' critically acclaimed NBA 2K franchise is no stranger to best sports video game lists. The CNET TV team recently went behind the scenes at 2K Sports' headquarters in Novato, Calif., just days before NBA 2K13 hits store shelves. The goal: to find out what's in their secret sauce.

I had the opportunity to jump into the company's motion capture studio, and suited up with markers placed strategically on my body. Lights surrounding the perimeter of the studio hit the markers, and the reflections allow them to be identified and processed by computers to capture wireframe animations … Read more

Anyone who needs lightweight screen-capturing and editing software will love Skitch for Mac. Although it lacks some of the tools -- such as mask and layer -- that you find in a high-end image editor such as Photoshop, its well-designed, intuitive interface guides you all the way through the quick and effective editing actions, and the result speaks for itself.

The app launches in a gray window with a white canvas in the center, while the outer borders contain all the available options, allowing you to perform a long list of actions. But since Skitch is centered around screenshots, you … Read more

Calling TechSmith's SnagIt a screen capture tool is a bit like calling a Swiss Army Knife a knife. Yes, it's first and foremost a screen capture tool, and a very good one at that. But SnagIt offers a lot more than free gadgets that also capture screen images. In fact, it's much more of a graphics toolkit optimized for capturing and using onscreen images and information than a screen grabber. SnagIt is advanced enough to enhance productivity for business users and other professionals, but it's also easy for home users to start right up with. If … Read more

HyperCam 2 is a free software program that gives you a way to capture your screen in AVI video, showing cursor movement and every task accomplished on your desktop.

The interface is a little advanced for a novice computer user. Its overall look is a little crowded and therefore not as easy to navigate as we would hope. Its basic functions are at least easy to use, though it produced video of variable quality. We tested how it would function with a YouTube video capture and Select Window resulted in a delayed and out-of-sync recording. Select Region had good quality, … Read more

Wednesday's tech news roundup is at full throttle:

T-Mobile will launch a truly unlimited data plan beginning Sept. 5. No caps or throttling. Sprint also offers this, but T-Mobile is competing with pricing. Sprint's starting price for unlimited data is $80 a month, and users are limited to 450 voice minutes. T-Mobile also starts it at $80 a month, but throws in 500 minutes. The larger difference is when you want both unlimited data and unlimited talk; Sprint charges $110, T-Mobile charges $90 a month. Of course, there's also smartphone choice and service to consider. T-Mobile will … Read more

The screen-capture video tool Camtasia Studio has long balanced a strong set of features with a friendly interface and graceful learning curve. Version 8 continues the tradition with cool, new features that don't bog down the app with any additional complexity. Camtasia's price--$300--may raise eyebrows, but make no mistake: this screencasting software is serious business. New and advanced users both should be able to learn the software and start producing professionally looking videos in little time.

Robust in-app tutorials introduce Camtasia to users, but experienced editors can wave them aside and dive in. The main interface is … Read more

When it comes to producing professional-looking movies and demos from your computer screen, TechSmith's Camtasia Studio is known for striking the right balance between a powerful toolset and ease of use. Version 8, released today, adds even more useful features that encourage end-user interactivity without making the app any more complex to use.

The feature-packed screencast app, which includes HD production settings, does have a learning curve, but the user-friendly interface and front-and-center icons for most-used tools go a long way toward lowering the intimidation factor a notch. Plus, TechSmith provides a useful online help center that includes several … Read more

As a follow up to last week's post about three keyboard shortcuts for taking screenshots on a Mac, I present three more keyboard shortcut tips.

Each of these tips uses the Command-Shift-4 keyboard shortcut. Hitting these three keys simultaneously turns your Mac's cursor into a crosshair, which you can drag to select a portion of your screen to capture. Releasing the mouse button or trackpad takes the shot.… Read more

As a tech blogger, I take a lot of screenshots on my MacBook Pro. I use the Command-Shift-4 method frequently to take a screenshot of a selection of my desktop, but there is a better way if you want to take a screenshot of an open window.

I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's review the three keyboard shortcuts for taking screenshots on a Mac:

1. Command-Shift-3 It captures a screenshot of your entire screen.

2. Command-Shift-4 It turns the cursor into a crosshair, which you can drag to select a portion of your screen to capture. Release the … Read more