Camera Overlay
ScreenKite can show a live camera overlay (picture-in-picture) during recording. The camera feed is saved as a separate track in your project bundle.
- In the Recording Hub, toggle Camera on
- Select your camera device from the dropdown
- Start recording — the camera overlay appears on screen
Camera Overlay Positioning
The camera overlay window snaps to corner positions:
- Bottom-left or Bottom-right (default positions)
- The position is persisted across sessions
The overlay can be resized and moved. It follows you across all Spaces/desktops.
Camera Enhancements
After recording, open the Camera tab in the Project Editor inspector to access the Effects section. These controls are non-destructive and apply during export.
Crop Shape and Center Face
The Appearance section of the camera inspector lets you choose a crop shape:
| Option | Aspect ratio |
|---|---|
| 16:9 | Widescreen (default) |
| 4:3 | Classic TV ratio |
| 3:4 | Portrait |
| 1:1 | Square |
| Circle | Circular mask |
| Free | Unconstrained |
The Center Face toggle in the Effects section keeps the detected face centered inside square and circle crops using smoothed interpolation — so the crop gently follows your head rather than snapping.
- Default: off
- Scope: active only when crop is 1:1 (Square) or Circle; has no effect on 16:9 or other rectangular crops
- Auto-switch: enabling Center Face while the crop is set to 16:9 automatically switches the crop to 1:1 (Square)
- Undo labels: Enable Center Face / Disable Center Face
Camera inspector Effects section showing Center Face toggle (off) alongside Mirror Camera and Remove Background toggles
Camera inspector Effects section with Center Face enabled and crop set to Square, showing a face-centered preview
Background Removal
Toggle Remove Background in the Effects section to isolate the subject from the camera background. An Edge Softness slider controls the feathering of the mask edge (0–100%).
Processing runs entirely offline and preserves the original camera clip — you can restore it at any time by toggling Remove Background off.
Encoding: the processed clip is saved as HEVC with Alpha at approximately 0.11 bits/pixel/frame, targeting 4–24 Mbps, capped at 60 fps. On hardware that does not support HEVC with Alpha encoding, ScreenKite falls back to ProRes 4444.
When the encoder version is updated in a newer release of ScreenKite, cached processed assets from previous versions are automatically reprocessed on next open.
- Undo labels: Enable Background Removal / Disable Background Removal
Camera Availability Monitoring
Mid-recording monitoring
ScreenKite monitors camera availability throughout a recording. If your selected camera becomes unavailable mid-recording (disconnected or claimed by another app), ScreenKite detects it and falls back gracefully.
Preflight check at iDevice recording start
When you start an iDevice recording with Camera overlay enabled, ScreenKite runs a camera preflight check before the screen capture begins. This catches problems early so you receive a clear error instead of a recording bundle with a missing camera track.
The preflight runs three steps in order — permission, device resolution, and preview warm-up — and shows a Camera Unavailable toast if any step fails:
| Situation | Toast message | Remedy |
|---|---|---|
| Camera permission denied | Camera access denied. Enable in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Camera. | Grant camera access in System Settings, then retry. |
| No cameras found | No cameras are currently available. | Connect a camera and retry. |
| Selected camera disappeared between resolution and start | The selected camera is unavailable. Choose another camera to continue. | Select a different camera in the Recording Hub. |
| Preview warm-up timed out (camera in use by another app) | Camera could not start. It may be in use by another app — please close other camera apps and try again. | Quit any app using the camera and retry. |
Automatic fallback: if the selected camera is unavailable but another camera is connected, ScreenKite continues with that device and shows the toast:
Selected camera unavailable. Falling back to <device name>.
The fallback device is persisted as the new camera selection.
Show Camera Toggle
The Show Camera toggle in the inspector lets you quickly hide or reveal your camera overlay without removing it from the project. This is useful when you want to record a section without the camera visible, then bring it back later.
Camera Beauty Filter
The camera beauty filter uses a smoothing algorithm for more natural-looking results. It subtly softens skin texture while preserving detail in eyes, hair, and clothing.
Microphone
ScreenKite records microphone audio as an independent track, separate from system audio:
- Toggle Microphone on in the Recording Hub
- Select your input device (or use the default)
- Your selection is remembered across sessions
Audio Format Options
Microphone audio supports multiple formats configured in Settings → Output:
| Format | Description |
|---|---|
| AAC | Default, good quality/size balance |
| ALAC | Lossless Apple codec |
| FLAC | Lossless, widely compatible |
| Opus | Efficient modern codec |
| MP3 | Maximum compatibility |
Audio Quality Levels
| Quality | Bitrate |
|---|---|
| Normal | 128 kbps |
| Good | 192 kbps |
| High | 256 kbps (default) |
| Extreme | 320 kbps |
Sample rate is 48,000 Hz stereo by default.
Mix to Main Track
The "Record Microphone to Main Track" option in Output settings mixes microphone audio into the main audio track. When disabled, microphone audio is kept as a separate track for independent editing in the Project Editor.