Lucas Holland is an open-source user, screencaster and a long-time author of 49 tutorial screencasts at ShowMeDo.  I asked him some questions about how and why he screencasts.  Lucas and his friend Marius Meinert use the unusual technique of co-screencasting from two locations to make some of their productions.

What sort of screencasts do you make?

I make screencasts covering programming, mostly. So far I have covered Python and Ruby.

What got you started with screencasting?

I always thought that learning a new skill (such as programming) should be as fun as possible and at the same time available to everyone, regardless of their income or social status.

Screencasts (if well done) are a lot more fun than boring books (most of the time) and providing them for free makes knowledge available freely. So in a way screencasting combines those 2 things. I had seen screencasts and wanted to share my knowledge.

I know that you’ve collaborated with another developer to make two-person screencasts – can you tell us why and how you did that?

I have collaborated with a friend of mine and fellow developer, Marius on many of my screencasts. Marius and I have a history of working on tech projects together. So when we came across screencasts we just decided to work together on them.

When we first got started we would sit down together and record our screencasts on one of our computers. We still do that and I feel that it’s the best way to co-host screencasts.

Unfortunately, we don’t live in the same place geographically so we had to find some way of collaborating over the internet. So nowadays we use a combination of Skype and VNC to record our screencasts. We’ll record the Skype call audio (which includes both our voices) and capture the screen on one of our boxes.

Do you think screencasts work for everyone?

I know that there are different types of learners, some more visual than others. It’s my contention that screencasts work for many people but I’m sure there are some people out there who prefer to learn from books etc. Consequently, a combination of screencasts and text/images provides the ideal learning environment.

What software do you use to screencast?

That depends on the OS I’m on. On OS X I use Screenflow and iShowU. On Windows boxes I use Camtasia studio. I don’t really screencast on Linux since I haven’t found a software solution that works well for me.

What hardware do you use?

I use a macbook laptop and a cheap USB headset for screencasting. Sometimes I’ll also use my Windows box which I custom built.

What resources can you recommend for new screencasters?

ShowMeDo is definitely a good resource. Watch as many other screencasts as you can. Steal the good things about them and make sure you don’t make the same mistakes. Also, books provide some insight as to the order in which to teach things etc.

Which screencast have you seen most recently that taught you something new?

Apple provides a number of ‘how to’ screencasts on using GarageBand (a music recording/editing tool). I play the guitar in my free time and being able to record oneself is definitely very useful for the learning process. Some of you musicians out there probably know this. I definitely picked up a few tricks while watching those screencasts.

Become a better screencaster – read The Screencasting Handbook.  We’re distilling 4 years of experience into our book, the book will tell you everything you need to know to screencast faster, better and more efficiently.

The Interview: Lucas Holland, open-source screencaster at ShowMeDo.com by ProCasts' Blog about Professional Screencast Production, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England License.

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