Screencasting, video tutorials and multimedia content is surely what can set your blog apart from your competition. The problem that many bloggers face is that the available tools are either: a) excellent, but very expensive or b) decent and free, but lacking in several areas (especially editing).

Well, I've just discovered (via the always useful Digital Inspiration blog) a new piece of software, called AllCapture V2.0.

First, I downloaded the trial version - it is fully functional but leaves a small "trial version" message in rendered movies. I was immediately impressed - the interface reminds you of the Adobe Flash editor and is extremely easy and convenient to use.

You can easily edit your recorded movies. It's possible to record both system sound and additional sounds (like your narration). You also have a variety of tools to add additional effects, like balloons, highlights, animations, etc.

Rendering is fast, and the resulting movies are of high quality and quite small in size.

All in all, I was so impressed that I actually purchased the software.

And here comes that good news - until August 4, you can buy the software for only EUR 99 - significantly less that the $319 that you have to spend for Camtasia Studio. But if you're interested, you have to hurry - the promotion ends on August 4 and the price will return to EUR 199.

This should be a great news for this blog - I have a number of ideas for screencasts but was always hesitant to prepare them using the free and sometimes cumbersome tools. With AllCapture, it should be a pure joy.

Please keep in mind that I am not recommending AllCapture as an affiliate - I just wanted to share this interesting piece of software with you - it surely may be helpful in many applications.

So, stay tuned for some video content.