Camtasia: How To Make Interactive Videos Using Hotspots

This tutorial walks you step-by-step through the process of creating interactive video in Camtasia Studio using Hotspots. Interactivity seems to be the Holy Grail of online media. Whether you’re making educational videos, or product demos for your video marketing. But up until now, creating an interactive video was beyond the reach of most of us. It required coding, and the use of fairly sophisticated and complex software.
Well, that’s no longer the case, with software packages like Camtasia. Camtasia is a screen capture and video editing application. But, it also has the ability to create interactive videos - using a feature called Hotspots.
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#camtasia #interactivevideo #elearning

[@timwhitemedic]

I just purchased Camtasia and have been trying all day to figure out how to make hotspots work. Your video is the only one that I've found that gave accurate and helpful information. Thank you very much. Tim White - Aberdeen, MS

[@filipzemirek4210]

I was looking for a tutorial for interactive videos for like 2 months. Thank you for that! You're getting a new subscriber. Keep up the amazing tutorials!:)

[@hughsutherland500]

Michael, Michael, Michael. Thank you, thank you, thank you. That was an awesome tutorial. And you are such a natural at presenting...clear, concise and so controlled. No rambling, no wandering diatribes of useless information. Just good solid instruction. I am going to use you as my examples for any videos I make. Well done.

[@resrussia]

Thanks for a wonderful tutorial on hotspots. Your explanation is better than all of the books on Camtasia. I wish I could as calm as you are on camera. Keep up the good work!

[@denniskeane7412]

My grandkids are going to be glad I watched this! This definitely opens up possibilities. With big thanks to you, Michael.

[@cherylwitteman7843]

Very impressive! You addressed common mistakes and pitfalls, such as Interactivity and placing the pause at 15 frames before the end. The most helpful thing I learned was when you showed your demo. I was struggling with how to get learners back to the choice screen and you showed the answer; a Continue button. What a simple, elegant solution.

[@ksbalaji1287]

Simply superb, Michael! One of the best tutes on the web. Perfect delivery combined with great preparation. Lots to learn from you. Thanks!!

[@benjaminjohn6711]

I love the way you teach. Very clear. Not fast like most trainers do on KZbin lessons. Thank you very much. God Bless You

[@empowerrejuvenativehealth2295]

Hi Michael, I am not a person who would normally write a comment. I am writing this comment because it would be unjust not to write anything. I have seen hundreds of videos related to all aspects of digital marketing. You are really exceptional. Your thoughts are well organized. Your command of the language is so good that you automatically choose the right yet simplest words. Your understanding of software is thorough. The pace of delivery is perfect. You look pleasant. Your voice is soothing. The video is well made. No wonder you have 68+K subscribers. Remember: These subscribers are intelligent people in a small niche. This number is as powerful as getting 100 million subscribers in an area where the videos are done for entertainment like for example the videos MrBeast does.

[@SkipMichael]

Mr. Kinney. You are a very good teacher. Thank you for this video.

[@SCC8591]

Excellent video. Great pace, narration, the whole thing really. Well done. Thank you.

[@praisetbn787]

I agree with Paul Martin 100%. Thank you for such a thorough presentation!

[@sharonalevitan3425]

Thank you Michael, The best instructional tutorial I have found upentil now! You are an excellent teacher.

[@trinagreenfield5198]

You are a natural, and your voice was made for teaching. I'm hooked.

[@ragedemon2736]

A useful and competent explanation, so I tried it and it turned out that everything works fine. Special thanks to the author for such useful content.

[@JamieIsInvesting]

Excellent job! Thanks for the clarity!

[@wefamilymediagroup7687]

GREAT VIDEO MICHAEL!!!!! YOUR DETAILED EXPLANATION WAS VERY HELPFUL!!!!

[@johanalcantara7807]

Like 2 minutes in and you've solved the issues I was having. I didn't realize that box for showing what was going on was there, I didn't

[@jerrysamuels8716]

Excellent presentation. Great teacher. You take your time and you are through. Thank you.

[@larsljungqvist8874]

Thanks for teaching me what I have to know about hotspots and sections. Very fine video and highly recommendable!

[@Nelstill]

Just wow, I think a kind of interactive video will be a revelation of the future. Thanks for your tutorial, you make my day! Big like for you and subscribed to your channel.

[@de-mhistorychannel7891]

Excellent video. Well designed, edited and narrated. Nice work!

[@rossant3425]

I was looking for something like this , thank you so much it helps me a lot ! :)

[@grahamhardy1358]

Nice video Michael, and its always gold when you can engage your audience with interaction, without it the attention span of about 6 minutes top is all your going to get

[@binabasia7495]

best tutorial on hot spots! thank you

[@vanheusen242]

Hey man, I like how you thoroughly explained the steps. One of the best tutorial videos I ever come across.

[@MacVideoMagic]

Thank you for the kind words!

[@TheEstimatorguy]

Fantastic Michael...as others have said, great sound, great pace. I've had Camtasia for years and just now, realized that I could do what I was looking to do. BTW, any product or service that does this is through the roof, price-wise. Well, off to watch some of your other videos!

[@deanskitchen6329]

Dear Micheal, you just saved me a couple of extra hundred box. I really appreciate the video. Thank you very much.

[@gomyclass]

Excelent Michael, very well, relaxed and professional.

[@vedranandric700]

This video is just what i was looking for. Thanks man.

[@MacVideoMagic]

Been meaning to put together this video for a while. Hotspots are a pretty easy way to add interactivity to your videos, without code. And if you really want to get fancy, you can reduce the opacity of your Hotspot objects to 0% to create INVISIBLE Hotspots! A handy technique if you want to make only certain areas of your video clickable. 🙂

[@seaeyeare]

Hey! Can you upload a interactive video to youtube? Saving as smart player gives all these files. Is there a way to upload a video to youtube with active hotspots?

Michael Kinney, do these interactive videos work on mobile as well? If so, would you have examples to share? Thanks!

[@sjsmatt]

Michael Kinney it says youtube doesnt support hotspots

[@digitalteachers]

Amazing Tutorial. A new standard to aim for....WOW

[@michaelslater9746]

Michael, Excellent. I really enjoy your tutorials and learn a lot from them. Thank you so much. Take care and stay safe. Keep up this excellent work. Regards

[@Helenemearingig]

Thank you Michael, really appreciate your tutorial.

[@almassesuale8674]

looking forward to learning from the rest of your videos. Subscribed!

[@husseinnur3479]

Wow! This is a great 👍 video both sound and vision very smooth & straight to the point. Thank You Micheal.

[@stephannaude9156]

VERY useful! Thanks Michael

[@serenasblog]

That was clear and extremely helpful. Thank you very much!!

[@Dr3ux21]

thanks so much for this, now I won't have to try and figure out captivate. you're a godsend

[@pollyannaaustin755]

Very helpful - thank you!!

[@chezkaplayzroblox3368]

Hey mike. I just like the way u talk! So smart and witty..

[@erikgroe]

Enjoying this one, since we just got our LMS to handle enhanced mp4. Without saying it, you answered my one problem, related to how to get the user to the end of the video, both when she/he navigates correctly and falsely. Thank you.

[@hannahstevens2049]

Thank you! Subscribed! I learned a lot!

[@JarvisGrant]

Many thanks! Just found your channel and it's very helpful.

[@Muhammad-gn8cd]

Thank you for such an amazing tutorial!

[@izg2]

Michael. Excellent videos. I just wanted to say thank you as the between this one and your wordpress hosting video you answered all of my questions... And I had quite a few. Excellent videos.

[@benjaminjohn6711]

Hy Michael, I like your teaching style. You speak slowly & clearly so students understand exactly what you teach. Tha's really nice. Many teachers are good, but they speak a bit fast & sometimes it's difficult to understand what they are speaking. Also sometimes their articulation is slangy & you have to repeat to understand a particular word, for example. Thank you for all your great videos.

[@ashwinjaipurkar59]

You are awesome. You explained it very beautifully

[@vigle101]

Great job Michael!

[@isddesigner7]

Thanks for your excellent teaching and great presentation.

[@fundedtraderapp]

excellent job on this video. thank you.

[@PaulieVavoom]

Hey Michael, I just wanted to say that you make really good videos and you have a great, relaxed and professional presentation style. Any talent agent worth his or her salt would try to recruit you to do other video projects as a professional presenter/actor. I stumbled upon you this morning while looking for Camtasia how-to videos and watched yours and others you made. Keep up the good work and I'm looking forward to your future videos. --Paul

[@MacVideoMagic]

Thank you for the kind words, Paul! I'm glad you're finding value in my videos.

[@TwsInformatica]

I believe everyone totaly agreed, congratulations

[@CorleneGreenwood]

I agree with you Paul. Impressive videos that get straight to the crunch, no bloating, just awesome delivery

[@whiteboardmarketing1979]

Such a great tutorial! Seen a lot of people are saying that they can't use on social media platforms. You can't because that's not how it works - it will only work on a website and NOT facebook etc :-)

[@jim-obrien]

Excellent tutorial - you are a great presenter!

[@iman_nekros]

TNice tutorials video really helped! Thank you ❤

[@mswfamu]

Thanks! This was very informative

[@irodorurainbow]

Helps, thank you very much!

[@ahmedchishti7124]

Thank you for sharing this tutorial

[@nelsonfabiangamboa5348]

Thanks a lot. TNice tutorials video got started.

[@bu1491]

Wow you're good. Straight to teaching. Very clear and easy to follow. One of the best videos I've seen on KZbin. I wish you taught everything lol. Can I use interactive videos for Facebook ads?

[@persennerhall-personalresu5858]

Thanks for a really good tutorial.

[@beastpallab2463]

Thank you man!

[@kurtism]

Your voice is so satisfying to hear.

[@bamafan3716]

Thank you for your reply!

[@NimitzTV]

Great video! you are a very good instructor...

[@samuelmedina1502]

Thank you for this! Super cool video! A+++

[@DoctorZebedee]

Awesome tutorial. Thanks for sharing. You are an excellent teacher.

[@MacVideoMagic]

Thank you for the kind words, Greg!

[@LaBourseSansStress]

Hey Mike, thank you very much for your tuto. It's really valuable. I like your presentation style. If you want to do more tutos on Camtasia, that I 'll buy it . You gain a new subscriber. Mike 😉

[@moalsdievisionsrealisten6616]

Great ...Mans thanks for this..very helpfull and clean explanation !11

[@alielwelatech7650]

Well explained ❤

[@patcharinsuaysin4366]

Thank you for this VDO

[@PouyanArephpoor]

Awesome. Thank you.

[@wanwaechanel3600]

It's so wow tutorial editing video and I love it much.

[@chefranylaitenu7731]

This video is soo Good Thank you for this information :D

[@nhacuanghien7458]

Thanks tNice tutorials helps alot man!!

[@balcony5144]

Really amazed

[@KENLUCKYTV]

Hello ! I have subscribed to your channel, I have learned a lot from your channel.

[@RonaiLisboa]

Thanks!

[@malekharron7163]

v interesting..thanks for sharing nice video

[@denimatthewvr]

Awesome!!!!

[@02komm68]

Exellent !

[@Abdullah-dm8sb]

Sir, Many many thanks .... for sharing the knowledge about the Hotsopt and Quiz .......... which i didnt know before..... Now , my question is how can i upload some of this video to my youtube channel ...... thanks again :)

[@bomnenchivet2333]

so great

[@Officeinstructor]

Great video Michael and an amazing teaching style and pace. I'm wondering if interactive hot spots will be functioning when I upload my video to KZbin? any special settings recommended?

[@MacVideoMagic]

Interactive hotspots won't work in the video you upload to KZbin. The interactivity requires code. Need to export your Camtasia project folder and upload to a web server for interactivity to work. I did a video on how to make a Camtasia interactive video work on a WordPress site, here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nqXCmZKVf9FpfM0

[@Sports._.todayy]

Good Vidoe Bro

[@dreamhomesuperstore1]

Michael, I recently bought a MacBook Air. I have been learning (and enjoying) a lot from all the very useful and informative videos you have posted. I am looking at creating hotspots in some the trial videos I am makeing. Is there another way to introduce hotspots other than Camtasia? Did you post this solution in another video? Thanks in advance

[@davidvranch821]

Hi Michael, very thorough explanation of the features, could be just what I’m after. When playing a video and I create a hotspot, can that be used to jump to another video? I would like to create a video of a walk about and when I come to a junction or a pathway on the route, I click on a hotspot and another video taken of that route would start to play. Similar sort of effect when using Google street view, where you choose which direction you wish to go. Could it be made to work that way? Dave.

[@azurai9774]

Sa. TNice tutorials quarantine is making question my whole existence.

[@LaBourseSansStress]

Hi Michael. When I do the test, everything is ok and also when I read the mp4 files but when I pubish on YT, the buttton doesn't work. I don't understand why . do you have an idea ? Thanks Mike

[@analorenabermudezvleeschower]

Hey, Great videos. I've tested hotspots and quizzes and somehow only the quizzes work, any idea why?

[@natefidalgo7625]

Also once you have the html/javascript/mp4 files you could upload to your website or webhosting site. But curious is there away to put interactive video on youtube. It be a cool add-on feature to youtube as they already have the ability to do live streaming but interactive videos would be all the more cool idea to try out. The problem is they have to make an that displays the html page instead of just displaying the movie... so the youtube site becomes a way to embedded mini website page as well. Not sure there going to do that. But anyway really cool video definitely thumbs up here.

[@ToppsAsphalt]

Didn't know you could have a clickable url outside KZbin anywhere on your video. Hope this is true. Thank you my friend.

[@buffysinger]

Hey Michael, thanks for your videos! I’m trying to decide between Screenflow & Camtasia:Mac (over anything else you’d suggest). I want to create interactive, “choose your own adventure” videos or presentations and I’m wondering what you suggest for the best quality for a decent price. Thanks!

[@BarrettCreative]

Great video. I bought Camtasia and am working with the interactive links. Question: If I want to have one main video, then give viewers three options to choose a video the best suits their interest (branch to other videos), would you suggest adding all 4 videos back to back on the timeline and add markers at the start of each video and link from the buttons? If so, when the end of the first video is reached while playing back, will it keep playing through the other videos (timeline) or do you need to add the interactive options at the end of each video to cause it to stop? This opens up all new options. Just want to make sure I'm planning it out correctly. Thanks again.

[@MatheusHenrique-gl6ez]

How did you get the effects chain on the left side of the setuper?

[@user-we4qy8mb2r]

This is a GREAT video!!! Thank you so much! My only issue right now is that my resulting mp4 does not pause at the hotspot. I was able to add the callout and hotspot and share as you described, but my mp4 just keeps running. No ability to use the hotspot to advance to the next slide. Any tips?

[@GilangPratama7]

I have a new project that the client requires an interactive video. Before this, I only this kind of thing just from films or games. But for making it myself, oh god I really don't have an idea. Until I watch this old video but could help me very well at this time. Thank you so much, Michael. I wanna ask something. What if I share the file through Google Drive. Is it possible?

[@zicozakaria8539]

just a great explination , well the interactive videos are so interested and i just want to jump to it and try myself in , but im having a question , if i wanted to publish my video on a website made by wordpress then should i save it in the server or directly as a folder in my web pages ? and does all webs support the interactive videos type ? thnkx

[@srinivaskandru5034]

Hi Michael, Firstly thanks a lot for your kind Screencasting tips stuff... I have been watching you for many months and following your tips for my screen-casting. I use Camtasia 9 and Audacity for my Software tutorial podcasts (I train people on Python software) which involves screen recording and annotations. Since I live in an area which is surrounded by traffic, churches, mosques, schools, factories; my videos have been spoiled many times as I am about to finish them there is some kind of noise from the above said sources which gives me a spike in the sound file which cannot be flatten. It is taking many takes to finish video and in the due course lot of frustration I am experiencing. I tried going to a remote hill side to record a screen cast but wind is my enemy as it is directly blowing into my Yeti Blue mike, lack of enough power source etc problems. It started as a hiccup and in no time it became my nightmare. I can't afford building a soundproof booth or hiring a studio room. I've been thinking on this for months and years on how to overcome this problem as recording a screen cast with all the background noises will not sound professional. If it is just a bird chirping sound, that's fine..but it is street hawker shouts, vehicle horn sounds, regular prayer sounds from churches& mosques, near by residents' talk, neighbor's baby crying what not. I tried many things known to me, but nothing worked out. I am completely stalled without recording a single podcast for months crying and whining. Do you have any idea to better my situation and sound professional. I have already seen many people overtaking me with meager facilities. At least I have a good voice and confidence but lack of motivation with the above problem is stopping me. Some regular sounds from dawn to dusk: 5am: Azan from a nearby mosque..5 times daily 6am: Prayer bells from all of the homes around me.. 8am: Hawker shouts like this....Brinjal, Tomato, Coriander.. reads loudly 15 items without a breathe.. 9am: Old scrap paper buyer: Highest decibel.. 10am: Furniture repair-man 12 - 3pm: Juice vendor.. 4pm: Ice Cream vendor.. 5pm: Kids from school... A neighbor's barking dog all the time At one point I tried to make fun of those sounds quoting them contextually as and when those are heard.. But I thought to make it more professional. So I used to wait till the midnight to see everything/everybody/every creature settled..losing sleep, next day I feel day time fatigue, lack of concentration, depression etc Another problem is about language, since I am from India and not being a native speaker of English, I take little time to search for the right word when doing a screen cast even though I do not have mother tongue influence. Even my confidence level should be bettered as I have seen in many videos. Few inputs on what I am using for my podcasts.. 1. Blue Yeti Mike for voice 2. Camtasia 9 for screen recording 3. Audacity for audio 4. Lenovo E470 thinkpad windows-7 64bit, 16 GB RAM, 1TB SSD etc. If I use Audacity to reduce the noise, at the same point of audio disturbance my recorded voice also there, and its will be spoilt if I reduce the noise.........please help me Guru. My problem is not like a sound from an back ground air-conditioner, it is still bigger than that. So please address various sounds mentioned above. Frustration levels are at the peak coz of this. Thanks for the tips Bhai

[@ilovepugs3328]

What do you use to edit your videos?