Camera Overlay

Add a camera feed to your recordings to create a personal, engaging video with your face visible alongside the screen content.

Setting Up Your Camera

In the recording settings, enable the Camera option.
Select your camera device from the dropdown (built-in FaceTime camera, external webcam, etc.).
Preview your camera feed and adjust position and size before recording.

Camera Clip Properties

The camera overlay appears on its own dedicated track in the timeline. Each camera clip can have independent settings, so you can change the look at different points in your video:

Position — Place the camera in any corner (Bottom Right, Bottom Left, Top Right, Top Left, Center) or drag it to a custom position directly in the preview.
Size — Choose from Small, Medium, or Large presets.
Scale — Fine-tune the overlay size from 50% to 200% on top of the size preset.
Camera Zoom — Zoom into your camera feed from 1.0x to 3.0x to crop out more of your surroundings and focus on your face.
Shape — Choose from Circle, Rounded Rectangle, Square, or Pill.
Enable/Disable — Toggle camera visibility per clip, so you can show or hide your face at different points in the video. You can also toggle the camera on or off mid-recording from the HUD.

Shape and Style

Customize the appearance of your camera overlay in the Shape & Style section of the Camera settings:

Shape — Circle, Rounded Rectangle, Square, or Pill. Each shape clips the camera feed differently.
Corner Radius — When using the Rounded Rectangle shape, adjust the corner radius from 0 to 60 points for anything from slightly rounded to fully circular corners. This setting applies to both the preview and export.
Border Width — Add a border around the camera overlay (0–10 points).
Border Color — Pick any color for the border using the color picker.
Shadow — Add a drop shadow behind the camera overlay for depth.
Mirror Camera — Control whether the camera feed is horizontally mirrored. Enabled by default (selfie/mirror view). Turn it off to show the non-mirrored perspective as others see you. This works consistently across the preview, frame grabber, and export.

Virtual Backgrounds

Replace or blur your camera background for a cleaner look. Options include:

Blur — Light, Medium, or Heavy blur intensity.
Solid Color — Replace with any color.
Custom Image — Upload your own background image.

Virtual backgrounds can be applied in the editor after recording — you don't need to set them up before you hit record. See the Virtual Backgrounds article for full details.

Per-Clip Camera Settings

Each camera clip on the timeline can have its own independent camera settings — position, size, shape, corner radius, zoom, mirror, border, shadow, and virtual background. When you select a camera clip (or the playhead is over one), changes in the Camera settings panel apply to that specific clip. This lets you change your camera look at different points in the video — for example, a small circle in the corner during a demo, then a large rounded rectangle when you're talking to the viewer.

Camera Presets

Save your camera configuration as a preset to reuse across projects. Presets store all camera settings including shape, corner radius, position, size, zoom, border, and style. Apply a preset with one click from the Camera settings panel.

Face Tracking

Highlight Studio includes smart face tracking that keeps your face centered in the camera overlay. The app detects facial markers and can record facial expression data for advanced overlay effects and smart markers on the timeline.

Camera Branding

Add a branded label, logo, or custom graphic next to your camera overlay. Configure camera labels and overlays in the Brand Kit settings.

Camera-Only Export

You can also export just the camera feed without the screen recording, useful for creating standalone talking-head clips.