Guest post by Bob Jones, owner of Bob Jones Software
The Camtasia Studio Library, first introduced with version 7, is a powerful tool for 
leveraging my screencasting workflows. In this six part blog series, I will share six different ways I use the Camtasia Studio Library to boost productivity, efficiency, consistency, and more.
In this first post, learn how and why I create video subprojects and save them to the Library.
Library Overview
The Library, located within the Editor, holds files associated with a wide range of different project asset types. These assets can be shared between different projects and also between different Camtasia Studio users when exported as a Libzip file.
The Library’s assets are user defined, easily managed, and can either be individual project components [like callouts, images, video clips, audio files, etc.], entire projects, or selected sections of projects [snippets]. For specific instructions on using the Library features, search for “Library” in the Camtasia Studio help file.
How and Why I use the Library to Create Sub-Projects
I regularly use the Library to support my screencasting workflows. One way I use the Library is as a temporary placeholder to store smaller subprojects used to create a single, much larger video project.
I often create really big video projects, ones that have hundreds of markers for TOC entries and lots of individual media clips and callouts. The final videos can continuously play for several hours. But, I have found while working on a large project, after doing a lot of edits, the Editor’s performance can really slow down.
To keep the Editor working blazingly fast, I almost always develop larger projects by first creating lots of short sections (subprojects or snippets, as I like to call them]. When working on a subproject, I place a marker on the timeline at the beginning of the subproject section then I begin the editing process.
The subprojects can be anywhere from 30 seconds to 5 minutes in duration. After editing is complete, I’ll add a marker at the end of the subproject section. Then, I’ll use the playhead to select the entire subproject on the timeline starting at the time indicated by my marker. Right-click the selection and choose Add playhead selection to Library from the context menu. Make sure to immediately rename the new subproject Library asset with a useful name that will sort in a naturally correct way [like 01, 02, 03, etc].
After doing this with each subproject associated with the final large project, I have many project-specific assets in Library. These can now be brought back down to the timeline, in order, to create the large project used to produce the final video.
The Benefits of Using Subprojects and the Library
The major benefit with this approach is the ability to preserve all project media, edits, and objects, even as the overall project becomes increasingly more complex, and still maintain excellent Editor performance.
Before the Library was introduced, in order to retain editing access to all the timeline objects, my large, complex projects had to be chopped up into smaller, individual sections, each being saved as its own video project. The sections then had to be produced as AVI video files and the AVI video was used in place of the original section in the final project.
Overall, this was a time consuming and tedious process necessary to optimize Editor performance. Now, by using the Library, total project complexity can be preserved throughout my entire workflow and each subproject section with all its timeline media, edits, and objects can be reworked as necessary until it is needed for the production of the final video.
His is a five minute demonstration video of my subproject / Library workflow:
Can’t see the video? Watch it on YouTube!
About Bob Jones
Bob is a long-time Camtasia Studio user and invited writer for the series of posts on the Camtasia Studio Library.
He first began using Camtasia [1.0] and Snagit [5?] back in 2001. He currently uses Camtasia Studio, Snagit, and Jing to support his business and personal activities. He has been affiliated with the Camtasia and Snagit beta test groups since early on, and he actively contributes to Camtasia user groups.
He currently operates a boutique software business, Bob Jones Software, which offers several software products, along with various associated services, including screencasting.
His personal interests include bicycling, kayaking, cross country skiing, photography, cooking, boating, fishing, crabbing, and camping. He lives in southern Maryland on historic St. Leonards Creek, a salt water tributary of the Patuxent River, about 11 miles upstream from the Chesapeake Bay.
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