Cursor Effects

by Nick Hasselblad

A cursor effect is a cursor-focused graphic effect that lets you:

• Draw attention to the cursor location. Important when:
  • Your video shows a big, busy UI.
  • Your big busy UI video is viewed at a smaller scale, robbing precious pixels from an already small cursor.
  • Mr. Mouse is perhaps a little too caffeinated and is ricocheting around perhaps a little too rapidly. This can make it difficult and frustrating for your audience to track.
• Communicate a click, whether right or left.

Following is how to create cursor effects in Camtasia (v7.1.1).

1. Select the Cursor Effects tab.

   

2. Select an effect.

   

By default, the effect is enabled through the entire video. You can also use an effect selectively:

1. From the timeline, select Tracks > Cursor Track to expose the cursor track.

   

2. Move the playhead to where the effect is to begin then click Add Keyframe.

   

3. Move the playhead to where the effect is to end then add another keyframe.

   

4. Move the playhead somewhere between these two keyframes and then select the effect.

   

The effect will appear only between those two keyframes.

The very tiny ‘tic marks’ on the cursor track indicate locations where you clicked, either right or left, during the capture. When you select a click effect, the chosen effect appears on all clicks, right or left, as the case may be. Just like a highlight effect, you can also selectively pick which clicks to highlight:

1. Put a keyframe on either side of the click.
2. Move the playhead between the keyframes then select a click effect.

   

The following sample shows right-click, spotlight, and left-click effects, in that order.