Record
Recording
The HUD, sources, camera and audio, the teleprompter, iPhone recording, GIFs and project types.
The HUD
The HUD is the recorder. Open it from any app with ⌃⌥⌘H, from the Hub’s reactor or from the menu bar. Everything in it works from the keyboard.
| Key | In the HUD |
|---|---|
| Return, Enter or Space | Start recording |
| 1, 2, 3, 4 | Display, Window, Area, iPhone |
| P | Switch between Video and Photo |
| N | Notes and teleprompter |
| M | Mute or unmute the mic |
| A | System audio on or off |
| C | Camera menu |
| L | Look menu |
| , | Gear menu |
| ⌘, | Settings |
| Esc | Cancel the countdown, or close the HUD |
Prefer something plainer? Choose Classic control bar in Settings › General › Recorder style.
What to record
- Display: a whole screen.
- Window: one app window. Press 2, then click the window. You can resize it to 1280×720, 1440×900 or 1920×1080 first, so every take is the same size.
- Area: drag out a rectangle.
- iPhone or iPad: see below.
Options in the HUD: 30 or 60 fps, a 3 s or 5 s countdown, hide desktop icons, hide notifications, and “Use H.264 instead of HEVC” for older editors.
Camera, microphone and system audio
Turn each on in the Hub or the HUD. The microphone has a Test mic level meter. System audio records sounds from apps and alerts. Camera, voice and screen are saved separately, so you can change the camera’s size, shape and position later in the Studio.
While you record
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| ⌃⌥⌘R | Start or stop recording |
| ⌃⌥⌘P | Pause or resume |
| ⌃⌥⌘D | Discard this take |
| N | Show or hide your notes |
A small pill shows the time and status (LIVE, PAUSED, SAVING). Discard asks you to confirm. ZumCast’s own shortcuts and windows never appear in your video or your guide.
Notes and teleprompter
Press N to open your script in a floating window. It never shows up in the recording. Scripts are saved as Markdown in the Hub’s Scripts page.
- Follow my voice: the script scrolls as you speak and waits when you stop. Speech recognition runs on your Mac.
- Step through paragraphs: press ↓ or Space for the next paragraph, ↑ for the previous one.
- Auto-scroll: a steady speed from 5 to 120.
Set the text size (14–40) and highlight colour. In the notes editor, ⌘B makes text bold and ⌘E highlights it.
Record an iPhone or iPad
- Connect the iPhone or iPad with a cable.
- Unlock it and tap Trust if asked.
- After a few seconds it appears as a source. Press 4 in the HUD to pick it.
Your Mac’s cursor and clicks aren’t recorded on a device, so auto-zoom works from the video instead.
Record a GIF
Choose Record GIF in the Hub, the HUD or the menu bar, drag out an area and record up to 30 seconds. You get a looping GIF up to 800 px wide at 15 fps, copied to the clipboard and kept as a project. GIFs have no sound or camera.
Project types
A project type sets everything up for a kind of video: the look, the source, the formats it makes, whether it writes captions, a guide or runs a privacy scan, a script and a brand kit.
| Type | Good for |
|---|---|
| Product demo | Showing a feature, 16:9. |
| Tutorial + guide | How-tos. Also writes a step-by-step guide. |
| Social clip | Vertical 9:16, under a minute. |
| Bug report | A window, a privacy scan, no captions. |
| Sales outreach | Personal videos with your camera. |
| Onboarding | Welcome videos with a guide. |
| Team update | Quick updates to your team. |
Make your own: duplicate a type in the Hub’s Presets page and change it.
Disk space and recovery
If your Mac quits or loses power during a take, ZumCast recovers it the next time you open the app. A recording won’t start with less than 2 GB free.