Record a Keynote, PowerPoint or Google Slides presentation with your face in the corner
A recorded presentation is the slides, your voice and, ideally, your face, so the viewer is watching a person rather than a deck. The catch is the full-screen slideshow: it covers everything, including most camera windows. On a Mac, Reel draws your camera into the recording itself, so the slideshow cannot cover it; on an iPad the camera floats over the slides in Picture in Picture.
On a Mac: let Reel draw the camera into the video
Reel's default camera mode on a Mac, Floating Window, does not rely on a window staying on top. The camera is placed inside Reel's window, and when you record, Reel draws it into the video at the same place and size on the recorded display — so it is in the file even while Keynote or PowerPoint fills the screen and Reel is hidden behind it.
Reel's window works as a map of the screen: a camera in its bottom-right corner lands in the bottom-right corner of the video. You will not see your face over the slides while you present; the Preview button on Reel's toolbar shows what is being captured.
- In Reel, turn on Show Camera, and check that Settings → Camera → Mode is Floating Window.
- Drag the camera to the corner where your slides have the least, and pinch or drag its corner to size it.
- In Settings → General, turn off Show this app in the recording, so Reel's window never appears in the video.
- Turn on Do Not Disturb or a Focus: a notification that appears during the talk is in the file.
- Start the recording in Reel, then switch to your presentation and start the slideshow.
- At the end, leave the slideshow, click Reel's window and press ⌘R or Stop Recording, then choose where to save the MP4. Trim the last seconds in Photos or QuickTime if you like.
Your voice, and the slides' own sound
Your voice comes from the Mac's default microphone. If a slide plays a video with sound, Reel records that too as system audio; if you want your voice only, set the System Audio level to zero or mute it on the toolbar.
Two displays
Reel records one whole display. Started from Reel's main window, that is the first display macOS lists — normally the main one. If your slides play on another display, open the camera as a Pop-out Window, put it on the slide display and start the recording from its own record button: Reel records the display the pop-out is on. Do a short test first, because a full-screen slideshow may cover the pop-out on that display, and the Floating Window camera is the one that is always in the file.
On an iPad
Choose Picture in Picture in Reel's camera settings and start the camera bubble, then start recording and go to Keynote or PowerPoint. The bubble floats over other apps and is in the recording. Present on the iPad's own screen: when the iPad sends the slides to an external display or AirPlay, the recording is what the iPad itself shows, which is usually the presenter view rather than the slides.
For landscape slides, set Locked Mode to Landscape under Lock Orientation, and hold the iPad in landscape when you tap record.
Will my camera be covered by the full-screen slideshow on a Mac?
Not in Floating Window mode: Reel draws the camera into the recording itself, so the slideshow cannot cover it in the file. You will not see it over the slides live; Preview shows the capture.
Can I record just the Keynote window?
No. Reel records a whole display. Play the slideshow full screen and the slides are the whole recording.
Why does my iPad recording show presenter notes instead of slides?
The slides went to an external display or AirPlay. Reel records the iPad's own screen; present on the iPad itself.
