HandBrake to the Rescue!

How do you create screencasts as tutorials to teachers? I use Quicktime Player most often. It allows you to capture the whole screen, or a portion of the screen very easily. It is my go to tool!
I do also use Mimio Recorder too, and I love that you can pause the recording, then resume it when you are ready. What a handy feature! If you are not on a Mac, you can also use Screencast-o-matic. It is really handy also!

Today, I needed to capture a promotional video for fundraiser we are doing in our school from a DVD. I  spent two class periods trying to figure out how to screen record from a DVD to include on our announcements at school on my Mac.
I tried my favorites, Mimio Recorder, Quicktime Player and Screencast-o-matic. Did you know that all of these record the audio input not output? I learned from Googling my problem (thank goodness for Google right?) that these tools only record input audio. Then I hooked up speakers to the computer...still no luck!   Then, I remembered HandBrake! What a great free app that you can download to capture video from a DVD. It worked like a charm!
I have in the past used Handbrake to move DVD movies to our iPad for students and my own kids...shhh! That's a secret!

Anyway, if you follow the prompts in HandBrake, you can take a video from a DVD and convert it to an .mp4. Awesome! A tip: Notice how long the video is you want to convert. Then it will be easier to select the right movie file on the DVD to convert in HandBrake.

This is why I love my position at school! Each and every day is different. Some days I am working with students on projects. Some days, I work with teachers in PD. Some days I have time to learn new tools or tricks to make all teachers in my school better at using tech to change their curriculums. Each and everyday I learn something new...that is the best part! It's all about the learning.