Settings · Cinemac Help

Click the Cinemac icon in the menu bar and choose Settings…. It has seven pages, General, Recording, AI voice, Sharing, Shortcuts, Storage and About. In the editor, press ⌘, for Editor settings.

Open Settings… from the Cinemac icon in the menu bar. Each page starts with what it's for. Less common settings sit behind More settings.

General

Setting	What it does
Open at login, in the menu bar	Starts Cinemac when you log in.
Dock	Cinemac lives in the menu bar. Its Dock icon shows while a window is open. Choose Never show the Dock icon or Hide it while recording.
Show the recording time	Shows the time in the menu bar while you record.
On launch	Open the recorder when Cinemac starts.
New projects	The starting cursor smoothness, camera layout, Auto zoom and microphone clean-up for new recordings. Each project can change them.
After recording	Open the recording in the editor, or show it in Finder.
Quick export	Show the quick-export widget after each recording. See Quick share.
Setup	Permissions… opens the permissions helper. Show the welcome again replays the first-run screens.

Recording

Setting	What it does
Countdown	Off, or a few seconds before recording starts.
Codec	HEVC files are about half the size. H.264 opens everywhere. Screens bigger than 4K, like a 5K display or a 5K2K ultrawide, always record in HEVC, because H.264 can't go that big. Exports use the codec you pick when you export.
Frame rate	Display records at each display's refresh rate, up to 120 fps on ProMotion. Or choose 30 fps or 60 fps.
Hide desktop icons	Hides the files on your desktop while you record.
Show my camera while recording	Shows your camera preview. Its Camera shape and Quality (720p is recommended) are here too.
Show the control bar	The recording bar. Without it, stop and pause from the menu bar or with shortcuts.
Highlight	For window and area recordings: outline what's recorded, or dim everything around it. Never shows in the video.
Speaker notes	Your prompter: scrolling, Follow my voice, placement and text size.
System audio	Which apps' sound is recorded.
Window sizes and Saved areas	Sizes a window can be set to before recording, and areas you saved.
Record the characters I type	Lets the editor show what you typed on screen. When off, only shortcuts like `⌘C` are recorded.
Note what I click	Lets Cinemac write callouts like Click Publish from what you clicked. Password fields are never read.
Warn me when the pointer is enlarged	Warns before recording if your Mac's pointer is set larger.

AI voice

Your ElevenLabs and HeyGen keys and accounts. See Connect your accounts.

Agents

Lets Claude Code, Codex, Cursor and other coding agents make videos with you. The quickest way in is Connect agent, next to undo and redo at the top of the editor (or at the top right of Home): pick your agent, and Cinemac adds itself to it, restarts it if it needs to and tells you when it's connected.

Setting	What it does
Allow coding agents	Turns agents on or off. Off, no agent can reach Cinemac.
Connect an agent	Connect opens the same steps as the button. Copy setup copies what to paste to add Cinemac by hand.
Let agents use the pointer and keyboard	Agents can click and type, only inside what they record, while they record. Move your mouse to take over.
Allowed agents	Agents that may use Cinemac. Remove takes one back: it asks again next time.

Account

Sign in with your email: Cinemac sends an 8-digit code, so there's no password. Signed out, this page shows Sign in and Create account, which open the sign-in window. It opens by itself too when Cinemac starts signed out, and from Sign in when saving or exporting asks for it. Paste the code, or let Open Gmail (or your mail app's button) find the email. Cinemac remembers the email you last signed in with on this Mac; Not you? forgets it.

Section	What it shows
Account	Your Email and Plan. Without a plan, Cinemac is a trial: you can record and edit, but not save or export. Subscribe opens the plans ($20 a month or $129 a year, on up to 2 Macs). Manage billing changes or cancels it.
Have a code?	Redeem a free-pass code. Nothing is charged, and when the pass ends Cinemac goes back to the trial.
Macs	The Macs signed in to your account. Sign out of this Mac frees a place.
Invite a friend	Your link to share, with Copy link.

Sign out signs this Mac out. Your projects stay where they are.

Your links: every video you've shared, with Copy link, Open and Stop sharing, and how much storage they use. See Share a link. Developers can add Your own share server.

Shortcuts

The global shortcuts. Click one and press new keys. A clash with macOS or another app shows right in the row, with Reset to go back. See Recording shortcuts.

Storage

Setting	What it does
Recordings folder	Where new projects go. Movies › Cinemac unless you change it.
Disk usage	How much space your recordings and Cinemac's other files use, and how much is free.
Recent projects	Clear list empties the list in the menu bar.

About

The version, credits, a Support link, Cinemac Help to open these guides, and Show in Finder for the settings file.

Editor settings

In the editor, press ⌘, for settings that apply to every project:

Setting	What it does
Autosave	Saves a second after each change. `⌘S` always saves.
New zoom level	How far new zooms go in.
Preview	The preview's Resolution and Size, and Playback. Lower resolution helps on older Macs. Energy saver plays at half resolution and an even 30 frames a second (25 for a 50 fps video); Automatic saves energy in Low Power Mode. Exports are always full quality.
Presets folder	Keep presets in another folder, such as one synced between Macs.
Use the last project's look	New projects start with the look of the one you edited last.
Quick Look	Saves a preview image so Finder shows the project's look.
Keep caches inside projects	Keeps waveforms and thumbnails with each project.