Screencast maker is a really simple tool to help you create screencasts on your Mac.

Selecting the area of the screen to record

The default area to capture is set to the entire screen, however if you wish to record from just a small portion of the screen, click on 'Select Area of screen to capture'. This will dim the screen and allow you to set a rectangular portion of the screen by clicking and dragging the mouse.

If you wish to see the area currently set or if you would like to specify a different area to capture, simply click the same option again

Enabling additional input sources

Screencast maker allows capturing from your webcam and microphone. You can toggle whether or not the webcam or microphone is used, simply by clicking on the respective option.

If you enable capturing webcam input, you will be able to view from the webcam in a separate window which hovers over the other windows. You can drag the window around the screen and resize it as necessary, however please note that this window will not be available when another app is currently running in fullscreen mode on the screen.

If you would like to switch off the webcam or turn it on while the screencast is running, you can do so by right-clicking the dock icon.

Output settings

Screencasts are recorded in 720p HD by default if possible, with a number of other settings available to choose from. Please note that recording in custom resolutions beyond those already provided is not possible.

Click on start to begin the screencast. You can pause and resume the screencast at any time by right-clicking on the dock icon. Screencasts can be stopped by clicking on the option in the status menu bar or even by right-clicking the dock icon and selecting the option to Stop Recording.

Screencast Maker will prompt for an output directory the first time that you record a screencast. You can change this by setting a new output directory in the preferences

Green screen or green bar on Retina display based devices

Recording on devices with a retina display sometimes results in a green bar at the edge of the video if an output mode other than "High", "Medium" or "Low" is used.
The green bar should be removed if you choose one of these presets instead of a resolution based preset

Users of Macbook Pro Retina devices using OS X Mountain Lion sometimes encounter an issue wherein screencasts record only a green screen and no other video. This can be fixed by repairing your disk permissions as follows

  • Quit Screencast Maker using Cmd + Q
  • Go to Disk Utility in Utilities
  • Select each disk shown and click on "Repair Disk Permissions"
  • Restart Screencast Maker

In case you require further assistance, please feel free to contact us at [email protected]