Recently I test drove a free screencast application called ScreenToaster (a free application that can record your screen and upload to YouTube!).

You can check it out here: ScreenToaster Article

One of the major gripes I had with the application is the lack of online help support in the form of a Forum. A forum for any product is important as that builds the community and is one of the first places to look in terms of help and support. Additionally, its a place where others can showcase their ideas, tutorials and suggest ways to use the application well beyond what the original developers have intended for the application.

I’m pleased to say that recently we got an email from Rudy that ScreenToaster has now put in a forum on their site!! This is excellent news and while its still new and relatively unpopulated, with the wide range of follower that ScreenToaster has, I see the forum growing significantly over time.

In addition to that, the latest version of ScreenToaster includes:

• Uploading videos to YouTube can now be done in High Definition format. So you don’t have to stick with hosting your videos on ScreenToaster if you want HD.
• Downloading in .mov format is released so that you can now do some offline editing of the screencast using your favourite video editor
• There is now an API available for developers to use to publish your screencasts directly into your websites/blog/forums.
• More tweaks to make the application even easier to use.

So along with the forums, I can see some really positive directions ScreenToaster is taking. I know its not going to be as fully featured as a commercial product such as Camtasia, but its an excellent free alternative which doesn’t require an application to be installed (apart from Java) and can screencast from any desktop with access to the internet.

Related Links:

• ScreenToaster Forums
• ScreenToaster Home Page
• ScreenToaster Press page (where yes! we’re mentioned too!)
• NewbTech Test Drive of ScreenToaster