Record your Mac screen with your camera in the corner
On a Mac a screen recording is usually a demo, a lesson or a meeting recap, and it is better with the presenter in it. Here is the Mac workflow, including the parts Mac gets that iOS does not.
What Mac capture is
Reel records on Mac through ScreenCaptureKit, Apple's capture framework. It is the same route the system's own recorder and the major streaming tools use, so quality and performance are the platform's rather than a workaround's. The first recording asks for Screen Recording permission in System Settings → Privacy & Security; grant it once.
The presenter setup
- Open Reel, turn on Show Camera. On Mac the camera opens as its own pop-out window.
- Place the window over the corner of the area you will record, or on a second display if it should not appear in the capture at all.
- In Settings → General, choose which windows or apps to include or exclude. Excluding a chat app means a notification never ends up in the recording.
- Optionally assign start/stop keyboard shortcuts so you never have to bring Reel forward to end a take.
- Toggle the live preview if you want to see what is being captured while it happens; turn it off to save the screen space.
Audio on Mac
Mic and system audio are separate here too. System audio on macOS is captured through ScreenCaptureKit's audio, so there is no virtual device to install. Keep the app you are demonstrating audible and your voice above it.
Files
Recordings are written as MP4 to the folder you pick. Native resolution on a Retina display is large — a 5K screen produces big files fast. If the recording is for the web, 1080p is usually plenty.
Can I record only one window?
Yes — include just that window in Settings → General and the capture is limited to it.
Does the in-app video player work on Mac?
No, that is iOS only. Play the clip in any player and record its window with the camera pop-out.
