MONOCLAST  This is too little, too late, Ambrosia. You had a good product in Snapz Pro several years ago. Since then, you've let it languish. Long-standing bugs persist, and features that should have been updated ages ago stayed the same for far too long.

I can't tell you how infuriating it is to record a movie only to watch Snapz Pro create the movie file on the desktop only to just as quickly remove it never to be sen again, just because some QuickTime codec changed and Snapz threw up because of it. It's just as aggravating to have Snapz refuse to react to the assigned keyboard shortcut!

Way back in 2005, I submitted a simple feature request to Ambrosia regarding the fact that Snapz won't remember which shadow setting you make according to the type of screen shot you take. If I typically take full screen shots with no shadow, and window shots with the normal window shadow, and selection shots with the square shadow, why must I constantly switch back and forth? I suggested that Snapz Pro would be much better if it would remember which shadow I use for each type of screen shot . In all this time, Ambrosia hasn't bothered to respond:

I mentioned it to them again in 2007 - again with no response:

In 2006, I asked about an option to have Snapz Pro NOT restore the cursor to it's original position after taking a screen shot. It may seem to be a good idea to restore the cursor position, but it is unnerving and non-intuitive at best, if you ask me. Ambrosia never responded:

I've since tried Screen Flick and it's great. Sorry, Ambrosia.  
(Version 2.1.3)

TICE  The software is quite good, but what really bothers me is that expiring license code that forces you to renew your serial number again and again online. What if I don't be online for a few month in my cabin in the woods? What's then?? Can't I use my paid Snapz Pro anymore?

That is Adobe style! Wish I had bought Screenium or another competitor. : (  
(Version 2.1.2)

ESPIRIDION  I've used this application quite a bit, both to capture screen shots and to create movies. I'm very satisfied with Snapz Pro X.

I had not seen its reviews here or at VersionTracker, and -based on my experience- was surprised by some of the low ratings.

It's been interesting to read the comments, as well as Ambrosia's responses to many of them. Many software developers don't even visit these type of forums. I prefer to first contact customer support directly. Later on I may post about my support issues and experiences in a forum and/or a review.

I searched for more information regarding Snapz Pro, and found an interesting site which has reviews for iShowU HD 2/ShowU HD Pro 2, Screenium 1.0, Screenflick 1.6.2, Screen Mimic 2.1, Snapz Pro X 2.1.0.

http://machouse.mhvt.net/

Notice that Snapz Pro's review is for an older version, but as recently as September 2008, they mentioned:

"We have reviewed several screen-capture applications in the past. So far, none of them except Ambrosia’s Snapz Pro X functions with our satisfaction..."

They do point out some of Snapz Pro's issues and limitations, but as far as I could tell Snapz Pro still got the highest rating of 5 stars.

And although I tend to disagree with many of their reviews, I think that Macworld also gave Snapz Pro 5-mice.

The only issue I've had with Snapz Pro came up one or two days ago. I had to take a screenshot of a website's pulldown menu, but as I switched from my browser to take the screenshot the menu went away. I ended up timing the shot using Grab. Maybe Snapz Pro can also do it, but using Grab was quicker than contacting support or reading a manual :-)

So based on my experience, after trying maybe 4 or 5 other screen capture applications, I'm giving Snapz Pro 5-stars.

It's not perfect, I don't like the installer approach, I don't like that some bugs remained present for so long, but for my needs it has worked extremely well.

I'm also happy that this was a free update, and not a paid upgrade to 2.2 or 2.5 or 3.0 as many companies tend to do these days.  
(Version 2.1.3)

WINGS  Snapz still has the issue of causing a disk write about every 2 seconds. This is keeping my Mac from automatically going to sleep after a period of inactivity. As a workaround, I keep it in the dock and activate it when needed, but after my capture I must THEN bring up Activity Monitor to quit the process. I usually don't remember to do that until the next morning when I see my Mac is still awake. (In my case, I think I'm triggering this problem due to having many icons on my desktop. I read somewhere that this can cause the disk activity. Strange, yes.) And why is this important? A MacPro V8 pulls 205 watts at idle, and 12 watts asleep. 2 kilowatt hours per day, times 365 days, is around 60 bucks a year additional cost for not sleeping. I could buy a copy of SnapzPro(+movies) every year for that.... or not.

This has been a problem for quite some time. Can't you fix it?  
(Version 2.1.2)

BEIGE  I'm also one of those users that loves the functionality of this app but the constant, incessant hard drive caching is a big problem. If you want to see for yourself, download fseventer and run while Snapz Pro is sitting in the background. Your drives are being charred by this app.  
(Version 2.1.2)

CORPSECORPS  Has been a handy and much used piece of software for a long time, but still suffers from a few issues which i've always found HIGHLY annoying:

• Has to share activation short-cut key with the system, preventing

use of the system capture without quitting the Snapz process via

Terminal or Activity Monitor.

• Always adds an unnecessary resource fork to images, which defeats

Leopard's automatic "Icon Preview" so i have to use a context menu

add-on to strip it for EVERY capture!

• LACKS a feature for allowing an "instant" screen shot without UI,

interaction, making it impossible to get shots of full-screen

games in action.

The 2.1.4 and 2.1.5 added nothing i use enough to make much difference to me. Fixes for the above 3 snags would have made it 5 stars straight across.  
(Version 2.1.5)

FRANKO  What's new in v. 2.1.5 (from Read Me)

Changes/enhancements

Snapz Pro X 2.1.5 features the following changes/enhancements:

-- Fixes bugs where audio and/or microphone track were not reliably added to movie.

-- Fixes bug with multipass video when Enforce Frame Rate setting is enabled.

-- No longer requests layer and location information for non-shared windows.   
(Version 2.1.5)

GRYPHONENT  No bug fixes for over a year? Bad user experiences and lack of customer support! Stay away from Ambrosia these days. I've ditched my registered copy of Snapz Pro for Screenium now.  
(Version 2.1.2)

THECAUSE  From the get go Snapz Pro X 2.1.2 is obnoxious with a startup screen that takes a very long time to go away at every launch. Further more, its interface further invades your workspace by requiring you to click again to do something simple like a screen shot. Very invasive, would work better with assigning key commands for each function. (apple+shift+2 for video, apple+shift+3 for screen, etc.) It also corrupted my screen shot button (apple+shift+4), making it give me an error every time I used it. The only redeemable feature is the movie capture mode, and you can now get this from Copernicus for free dollars as opposed to spending $29 and having a bloated app on your computer to take video.  
(Version 2.1.2)

MAC ADAM  Could you unlock the max 30fps to a better like 60fps?  
(Version 2.2.1)