I received an email from a Camtasia developer inquiring about the apparent demise of Camtasia's Picture-in-Picture (PIP) feature. Using the PIP feature, developers could add a corporate logo to a video as a watermark. They could also include videos on top of the video (i.e.: a video of someone using sign language that augmented a video demonstration).
Adding a PIP was simple. You displayed the PIP Track and then dragged an asset from Camtasia's Clip Bin to the PIP Track on the Timeline.
As valuable as many developers viewed the PIP feature, TechSmith dealt away with it in Camtasia Studio 8. Sorry if you loved the feature... but BAM... it's gone.
Not so fast...
I loved the idea behind PIPs from the moment I saw them. However, I never understood why we couldn't just add the image or video onto a different Camtasia Track and avoid the PIP Track. In fact, I always felt like using the PIP Track was counter-intuitive. It just made sense to be able to drag overlay videos onto the Timeline, within a new Track. Great idea... but you couldn't do it. You had to use the PIP track. With Camtasia Studio 8, it seems that the good folks over at TechSmith agree with me. The PIP Track is gone... but that doesn't mean you can't PIP.
If you want to create a PIP in Camtasia Studio 8, visit the Timeline and click the Insert track button.
Add an image or video to the new track, adjust the timing as needed, and BAM... you're PIPing!
Note: If you've purchased my "TechSmith Camtasia Studio 8: The Essentials" book you probably noticed that the chapter title and headers in module 3 say "Videos, Images and PIP." This text is a holdover from my Camtasia 7 book. It's a mistake that was missed during the proofreading phase. The text should say simply: "Videos and Images." I appreciate readers pointing this out to me. We'll make the text correction in future printings of the Camtasia book.
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