How to Record Your Screen With Two Cameras on Mac
Record your Mac screen with a webcam and an iPhone as a second camera: set up both, add iPhone audio, style each camera, and avoid the export limits.
macOS has no built-in way to record your screen with two cameras as separate picture-in-picture videos that you can adjust later. In Screen Bolt, click Camera in the recording bar and pick your main camera. Then open the same menu again, choose your iPhone (or any other camera) under Second camera, and press record. Each camera is saved as its own file and lined up with the screen automatically, so in the editor you only decide where each one sits and how it looks.
Why add a second camera
One camera shows your face. A second camera shows something else the viewer needs to see: your hands on a device, a product on the desk, a whiteboard, or a second person. A screen recording with a webcam and an iPhone is the most common setup, because the iPhone works as a camera you can place anywhere. Typical uses:
- A product demo where the screen shows the app and the iPhone shows the physical hardware it controls.
- A course or tutorial with a face camera in one corner and a close-up angle in the other.
- A talking-head intro filmed on the iPhone, with the built-in camera as a second angle.
The built-in way, and where it stops
Without extra apps, the usual workaround is to open a live camera window in QuickTime Player (File ▸ New Movie Recording), place it on screen, and record the screen with the Screenshot toolbar (⇧⌘5, Command-Shift-5). The camera becomes part of the screen image.
That works for one quick clip, but the camera is baked into the video. You can't move it, resize it, restyle it or switch it to full screen afterward, and the camera window covers part of what you're recording. To get two cameras you can adjust later, you need a recorder that captures each camera as its own track.
What you need
- macOS 14 (Sonoma) or later.
- Two cameras. The first can be the built-in camera or an external webcam. The second can be an iPhone through Continuity Camera or another external camera. The iPhone and Mac need to be signed in to the same Apple Account, with Wi‑Fi and Bluetooth turned on. For the full iPhone setup, see how to use your iPhone as a webcam on Mac.
- Camera access for Screen Bolt. macOS asks the first time you turn a camera on.
- Microphone access if you want to record your voice or the iPhone's audio.
Recording with both cameras works in Screen Bolt's free version. The free limits apply only to exports, covered below.
Set up camera 1 and camera 2
- Mount the iPhone (or second camera) where it can stay still for the whole take.
- Open Screen Bolt. The floating recording bar appears.
- Click Camera in the recording bar.
- Choose your main camera from the list. The system default is marked (default). Choosing a camera turns camera 1 on, and a 200×200 round live preview appears on screen.
- Click Camera again. Under Second camera, choose the other camera. A small "2" badge appears on the Camera button.
- Optional: under Max camera resolution, choose 720p, 1080p or 4K. The default is 1080p. A few things that catch people out:
- The Second camera section only appears when Screen Bolt detects two or more cameras, and you can only pick a second camera while camera 1 is on.
- Make your face camera camera 1. It's the only camera the quick-export option renders (see the limits below), and new projects place it as a rounded card in the bottom-left corner.
- If you choose an iPhone as camera 1, the Camera button shows an iPhone icon, so you can tell at a glance which device is active.
- Device lists refresh on their own when you plug in or remove a camera, so you don't need to restart the app.
You can also choose both devices in Settings: click the gear in the recording bar (or press ⌘, Command-Comma), open Recording, and set Camera and Camera 2.
Record the iPhone's audio
When camera 2 is an iPhone or iPad, a Record iPhone audio toggle appears in the Camera menu. It's off by default. Turn it on to record the phone's microphone along with its video. This helps when the phone is closer to the person speaking than your Mac's mic.
If Mic is also on in the recording bar, both microphones will pick up your voice. Record a short test take and listen back before you record something long. Recording the iPhone's audio needs microphone permission for Screen Bolt.
Record your screen with two cameras
- Choose what to capture: Display, Window or Area.
- Click the red record button, or press ⌃⌘↩ (Control-Command-Return) while Screen Bolt is the active app.
- Present as usual. The round camera previews float on screen but aren't captured in the recording. You can drag them out of the way.
- Click Stop when you're done.
If the preview bubbles distract you, choose Hide camera preview in the Camera menu. The cameras keep recording.
Recording starts the moment you press record, with no countdown, so pause for a second before you start speaking. For more on capture modes, see the Recording help page.
How the cameras stay in sync
Each camera records to its own H.264 .mov file (webcam.mov and webcam2.mov inside the .screenbolt project). When the editor opens, it lines both cameras up with the screen using start offsets measured during recording. You don't need to clap or match waveforms by hand. Pausing and resuming also keeps the screen and both cameras in step.
Style and position both cameras
Open the Webcam panel in the editor sidebar (⌘3, Command-3). It has two sections: Camera (toggle Show Webcam) and Camera 2 (toggle Enable Camera 2). In new projects, camera 2 is set to the bottom-right corner and switched off. If you don't see it in the preview, turn on Enable Camera 2. Both sections have the same controls:
| Setting | What it does | Range or options |
|---|---|---|
| Position | Which corner the camera sits in | Bottom Left, Bottom Right, Top Left, Top Right |
| Aspect | Shape of the camera frame | Native, 1:1, 4:5, 16:9 |
| Size | Camera size relative to the canvas | 8%–40% |
| Roundness | From square corners to fully round | 0–100% |
| Border, Border opacity, Border color | Outline around the camera | Border 0–8 px |
| Opacity | How see-through the camera is | 30%–100% |
| Border Beam | Animated light along the edge, with Beam color and Speed | Speed 0.2×–3.0× |
| Shadow | Drop shadow with Blur, Strength and Offset Y | Blur 0–40 px, Offset Y 0–20 px |
| Mirror | Flips the camera horizontally | On/off |
New projects start camera 1 as a softly rounded 4:5 card in the bottom-left at 17% size, with the border beam on.
Two layouts that work well:
- Face plus detail shot: camera 1 (your face) bottom-left at 4:5, around the default size. Camera 2 (the product or your hands) bottom-right at 16:9, so the wider shot isn't cropped to a tall frame.
- Two people: both cameras at the same aspect and size in opposite corners, so neither looks secondary.
Put each camera in its own corner. Positions are corner presets, so you can't drag a camera to any other spot in the preview. For a single-camera walkthrough of these options, see how to add a webcam overlay on Mac.
Switch a camera to full screen for part of the video
Fullscreen Moments let a camera take over the whole canvas for a stretch of time, for example an intro where you speak straight to camera.
- In the timeline, move the playhead to where the full-screen shot should start and press I (Set In point).
- Move to where it should end and press O (Set Out point).
- In the Webcam panel, under Fullscreen Moments, click Add from Marked Range.
You can also right-click the webcam track and choose Add at Playhead (3s) or Add at Playhead (5s). If the webcam track isn't visible, open the visible-timelines menu above the timeline and turn on Show Webcam Track. With two cameras recorded, play the range back in the preview to check which camera fills the frame before you export.
To remove a moment, right-click it on the track and choose Delete This Region, or click Delete Region in its row in the panel. Delete All Regions in the track's right-click menu clears them all. For more ways to cut between camera and screen, see how to switch between webcam and screen in a video.
Export with both cameras
- Click Export in the editor toolbar.
- Choose MP4 (H.264, plays everywhere) or MOV (HEVC, smaller files).
- Choose a Quality preset: Original, 4K, 1080p or 720p.
- Check the Save to folder (Desktop by default) and click Export.
Both cameras export with their styling and any Fullscreen Moments. In the free version, exports are limited to 720p and 3 minutes and carry a "Made with Screen Bolt" watermark. The 3-minute check uses the full recording length, so a long recording that you trimmed below 3 minutes is still refused. Details are on the Export help page.
Limits to know
- Quick export renders only camera 1. If After recording is set to Export to file (in the Record menu or Settings ▸ Recording), the file skips the editor and leaves camera 2 out. Set it to Open editor for two-camera recordings.
- Corner positions only. Each camera goes in one of four corners. You can't drag it elsewhere in the preview.
- "Remove Background" has no effect. The toggle is in the Webcam panel, but nothing changes in the preview or the export.
- Camera 2 depends on camera 1. You can only choose a second camera while camera 1 is on.
- A disconnected camera is turned off. If a camera disappears during setup (for example, the iPhone drops off Continuity Camera), Screen Bolt turns it off. Check that both previews are live before a long take.
- Separately recorded camera files won't export as picture-in-picture. A video dropped on an overlay track shows in the preview but isn't rendered in exports. A video dropped on the main clip track becomes a clip in the sequence, not an overlay.
- One screen source at a time. You record one display, one window or one area alongside the cameras.
If the second camera doesn't work
No "Second camera" section in the Camera menu. Screen Bolt only sees one camera, or camera 1 is off. Check that the iPhone is near the Mac, signed in to the same Apple Account, with Wi‑Fi and Bluetooth on. Turn camera 1 on, then open the Camera menu again.
"Camera permission denied. Enable in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Camera". Open System Settings, go to Privacy & Security ▸ Camera, and turn Screen Bolt on. To check every permission at once, choose Help ▸ Screen Bolt Help (⌘?), which lists each one's status with an Open Settings button.
A red "Webcam:" or "Camera 2:" banner, or "Cannot access webcam". The camera couldn't be opened. Quit other apps that may be using it, reconnect it, and select it again in the Camera menu. You can confirm the camera itself works with the free webcam test.
No "Record iPhone audio" toggle. It only appears when camera 2 is an iPhone or iPad. A regular USB camera won't show it.
Camera 2 is missing from the exported video. Either the file came from quick export, or Enable Camera 2 is off in the Webcam panel. Open the project with File ▸ Open last project (⌥⌘Z, Option-Command-Z), turn the toggle on, and export with the Export button.
If none of this helps, choose Help ▸ Report an Issue…. It opens a pre-filled email with your app version, macOS version, Mac model and permission states. More fixes are on the troubleshooting page.
FAQ
Can I record two cameras in the free version? Yes. Recording with both cameras is free and has no time limit. Exports are watermarked, 720p and capped at 3 minutes until you buy a license.
Does the iPhone have to be the second camera? No. Any two cameras Screen Bolt detects work, in either order. Making the iPhone camera 2 is a good default when your face camera is the one you'd want in a quick export.
Can I hide one camera for part of the video? Not with a timed toggle. Show Webcam and Enable Camera 2 turn a camera off for the whole video. For timed changes, Fullscreen Moments switch to a full-screen camera for a marked range.
To try this setup, download Screen Bolt free; the pricing table shows what Pro adds.