Cinemac Help · Record, edit and share on your Mac

Cinemac records your screen and camera on your Mac, then zooms in where you click, keeps you framed and cleans up your sound, so the video is ready when you press stop. These pages show you how, one task at a time.

Tip

New here? Start with Your first video in 5 minutes. It covers everything from the first recording to a file you can share.

Learning paths

Your first video

Basics · about 15 minutes

A polished product demo

Next steps · about 30 minutes

On camera, looking good

About 15 minutes

Narrated with AI

About 20 minutes

Start here

Install CinemacDownload Cinemac, move it to Applications and open it for the first time.Allow Cinemac to recordGive Cinemac the macOS permissions it needs, with the helper that does most of it for you.Your first video in 5 minutesRecord, look at the automatic edit, and export a file you can share.A tour of the editorThe four parts of the editor and what each one does.What you needThe Macs, macOS versions and devices Cinemac works with.

Record

Record your screen, a window or an areaChoose exactly what goes in the video, and the options that keep it clean.Camera and microphonePick the camera, microphone and computer sound to record, and check them before you start.The recording barPause, start a take again, drop a marker, throw a recording away or stop.Start and stop from anywhereStart, pause, mark and stop a recording with the keyboard, from any app.Record in partsBuild a video from several short recordings, then reorder, re-record or leave out any part.Swap one take for anotherCompare recordings of the same part and play the one you like best, without redoing your edit.Read your notes while you recordA prompter only you can see, which scrolls by itself or follows your voice.Record an iPhone or iPadRecord the screen and sound of an iPhone or iPad over a cable, then show it in a device frame.Bring in an existing videoTurn an MP4 or MOV file into a Cinemac project, to add a background, captions, music and more.Tips for a clean recordingA few habits that make your videos look and sound better with less editing.

Edit and polish

Timeline basicsPlay, split, trim, delete and change speed. Nothing you cut is ever lost.Find any settingJump straight to a setting by name, see what you've changed, and try looks before you pick them.Cut by editing wordsEdit the video like a document. Delete words to cut them, remove filler words and shorten long pauses.Change speedSpeed up or slow down any clip. Voices keep their natural pitch.Speed up typingMake long stretches of typing quicker to watch, with one click.Fix restartsWhen you said a line twice, keep the last attempt and cut the others.Add slidesPut a title, a list of points, a big number, a picture or an end card between parts of your video.How clips join, open and endPick a look for every join, set how fast transitions play, change one join on the timeline, and set how the video opens and ends.Markers and in and out pointsFlag moments to come back to, and mark a stretch to cut or export on its own.Start a blank projectStart a project with nothing recorded, then make slides or bring in videos, a PDF or new recordings.ProjectsFind, open, rename, copy and delete your projects. Cinemac saves your work as you go.Find any action with ⌘KType what you want to do and press Return, instead of hunting through menus.Choose a backgroundPick what sits behind your screen, from the gallery, a gradient, a colour or your own image.Style your screenSet the space around your recording, its rounded corners and its shadow, or pick a ready-made look.CropShow only part of your recording, with snapping, ready-made shapes and exact numbers.Size for each platformMake a wide, square or vertical video from the same recording.Device framesShow iPhone and iPad recordings in a phone or tablet, or put any recording in a laptop or display.Save a look as a presetSave your background, frame, cursor, zoom, camera, captions and sound settings, and reuse them on any project.Zoom in on what you clickPick how everything moves, set how close Cinemac zooms, add your own zooms, and fine-tune each one.Fine-tune zoomsAim a zoom exactly, follow the mouse, cut in instantly, and change many zooms at once.Make the cursor look smoothSmooth the pointer, make it bigger, pick one of twelve styles, and add click effects and sounds.Show keyboard shortcuts on screenShow the shortcuts you press, like ⌘S, as neat keycaps in the video.Callouts, highlights and notesLabel each click for viewers, add your own notes, and highlight, blur or magnify part of the screen.Hide private detailsBlur, pixelate or black out part of the screen, or highlight what matters.Glass loupeA round magnifying glass that follows the pointer, for small details without zooming the whole screen.

You on camera

Your camera in the videoChoose how you appear next to your screen, and change it for any stretch of the video.Record yourself over the videoFilm your camera after you've edited, while the video plays, and appear over any part of it.Keep yourself framedCinemac follows your face so you stay centred, and lets you mirror, zoom and crop the camera.Blur or replace your backgroundBlur or dim the room behind you, or swap it for a colour or a picture, without a green screen.How you look on cameraPick a look, touch up your skin, fix your lighting, add a key light, and fine-tune colour with grades, your own LUT files and sliders.Hide the camera when you're quietShow your camera only while you talk, so the screen has the room when you're silent.

Sound and words

Clean up your voiceMake your voice clearer, remove room noise, and balance your microphone with the computer's sound.Add musicPut a built-in track or your own song under your video. Add more songs for long videos, and it gets quieter while you talk.Click soundsAdd a soft click sound to each mouse click, and other small sounds for drags, scrolls and fast moves.Record a voiceoverTalk over your finished edit while it plays, and fix or redo parts of it.Transcribe your recordingTurn what you say into text on your Mac, to edit by words and add captions.Add captionsShow your words on screen as you speak, styled to match your video.Fix transcript mistakesCorrect a misheard word, so your captions are right, without changing the video.

AI narration

How AI narration worksWrite what a narrator should say, and an AI voice or an AI presenter says it over your video, in time with it.Connect ElevenLabs and HeyGenPaste an API key once, and Cinemac can speak your narration with your own account.Write a narration scriptAdd what the narrator says at the right moments, reword lines, and keep them in time with the video.Narrate with an AI voiceHave an ElevenLabs voice, one of theirs or a clone of yours, speak your script over the video.Add an AI presenterA HeyGen avatar, a stock one or a digital twin of you, speaks your script in the camera bubble.AI narration troubleshootingWhat to do when a line won't speak, a key isn't accepted or a presenter clip fails.

Export a videoMake an MP4 or GIF, pick the quality and size, and share it or paste it anywhere.Share a linkSend a link to your video instead of the file, see how many people watched, and update the video without changing the link.Share right after recordingSave or copy the video the moment you stop, without opening the editor, or send the whole project to someone.Make a GIF or a stillExport a short looping GIF for a README, a pull request or a chat, or a single frame as a picture.Make a launch packFrom one edited demo, make every version a product launch needs in one go, from a short cut to captions.Make an interactive demoTurn your recording into a click-through web page, with one step for each click, that people can try at their own pace.

Reference and help

Keyboard shortcutsEvery keyboard shortcut in Cinemac, for recording and for the editor.Every editor actionEvery action in the editor, grouped the way the Commands list shows them, with its shortcut.SettingsEvery setting in Cinemac, page by page, and the editor's own settings.Where your files areWhat a Cinemac project is, where recordings, exports and settings are kept, and how to move or back them up.Privacy and your dataWhat stays on your Mac, what leaves it and when, and why Cinemac asks for each permission.Questions people askShort answers to the questions people ask most, with links to the full page.TroubleshootingFixes for the problems people run into most, from permissions to silent microphones.Contact supportHow to reach us, and what to include so we can help quickly.