Make software tutorials people can follow

A tutorial fails at the step where the viewer loses track of where you clicked. Zoom, numbered steps and captions exist to stop exactly that.

Smart Zoom is part of Pro, a one-time $39 purchase. Everything else on this page is free.

A screen recording of the OwnClip site marked up with arrows, a box, a highlighter sweep and numbered step badges, each appearing and leaving at its own moment — Arrows, boxes, highlighter and numbered steps, each on its own stretch of the timeline

Where tutorials lose people

Almost always in the same three places: the cursor moved somewhere off-screen, the control was too small to see, or the narration said "click here" while three things were on screen.

Each has a specific fix, and none of them requires a video editor.

The editor

Everything in one place.

Trim the false start, mark the steps, generate the captions and export — without moving the file between applications or learning a second tool.

Auto-numbering
Highlighter
Freehand pen

The OwnClip video editor: a recording on the timeline with its filmstrip, the microphone and system audio waveforms on separate tracks below, and the tool panel open on the right — The editor the recording opens into — clips, both audio tracks, and the tools down the side

Smart Zoom — Pro

Push in on the control.

The frame moves to where you actually clicked, so a menu item is readable at playback size instead of a few pixels in the corner.

The same screen recording shown twice: flat and unzoomed, then with Smart Zoom pushing in on the part the cursor is working on — The same take, before and after Smart Zoom — the push-in follows where the cursor actually worked

Step Movie — Studio

Some guides should be text.

If people need to copy commands, return to step four repeatedly, or search for one detail, text wins. Step Movie builds a narrated walkthrough and a written guide from the same set of steps.

The OwnClip Step Movie panel with an ordered list of steps, a preview, and the style and motion controls beside it — Steps in order, with the camera move between them under your control

The three fixes

Push in on the controlPro

Smart Zoom moves the frame to where you clicked, so a menu item is readable at playback size.

Number the steps

Badges that number themselves, so a sequence reads as a sequence.

Make the cursor visible

Click effects and smoothing turn the pointer into something you can follow.

Captions

Most of them watch it muted.

Transcription runs on your Mac and produces captions you can correct and style before they are burned in — or exported as a subtitle file instead.

The OwnClip video editor with a recording on the timeline, a filmstrip of clips and the text and style controls open — The editor that opens on the recording you just made

Questions people ask

Yes. Transcription runs on your Mac and produces editable, timestamped captions you can style and burn in. It is free.

Click effects and cursor smoothing are in the editor, and they are free. Mouse-click visualisation can also be enabled while recording.

Step Movie produces a written HTML guide alongside the video from the same steps. It requires the Studio tier.

Free recordings are capped at three minutes each, which suits single-task tutorials. Pro removes the cap for longer courses.

Screen recording that zooms in on its ownCursor-driven zoom moves generated from the recording itself.Annotate your screen recordingsArrows, boxes, highlights and numbered steps, time-ranged.Turn your steps into a walkthroughCaptures become numbered steps, then a video or a written guide.