The camera bubble
Your face in a round overlay on top of the screen recording, in the same file, with nothing to composite afterwards.
The camera is drawn into the recording as it happens. You do not end up with a screen file and a webcam file and an editing job to join them.
What you can change
- Where it sits. Drag it to any corner, or anywhere else — some people park it over a part of the screen that is empty for that walkthrough.
- How big it is. Small enough to stay out of the way, or large when your face is the point rather than the screen.
- Which camera. The built-in one, or an external webcam.
- Whether it is there at all. Off is a setting, and a fair one for a walkthrough where nobody needs to see you.
When it earns its place
Not every recording needs a face, and a bubble over a dense interface can get in the way. It helps most when:
- You are teaching. People follow an explanation better when there is a person attached to the voice.
- You are handing something over. A handover recording with a face is watched; one without tends to be skimmed.
- You are introducing yourself. A sales or onboarding video where the first twenty seconds are you, then the screen.
It gets in the way when the screen is dense — a spreadsheet, a code editor at small font, a dashboard. Turn it off for those, or shrink it into a corner that is genuinely empty.
Recording without showing your face
If you would rather not appear at all, HappyRec has an avatar instead — the camera drives it, so it moves when you do, without putting your face in the file. Useful for tutorials you are happy to publish but would rather not be in.
What it costs in performance
Compositing the camera into the recording is work, but it is small next to encoding the screen itself. If a long recording is struggling, the setting to change first is resolution — 1080p rather than full Retina — not the bubble.
Free, no account
The camera bubble is not a paid feature, because there are no paid features. Free, no sign-up, no time limit.