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Video Studio Beta

Film your session from every angle. Video Studio records several cameras at once — the drummer, the vocal booth, the whole room — with the sound of your audio interface in every file. Your DAW starts and stops it, so every take you record in Logic Pro or Pro Tools has its video too.

Requires StudioTools 2.4.0 or later. Coming soon to the Mac App Store — beta testers have it now.

The Video Studio window recording four cameras in a grid, with a red REC frame and banner — Four cameras recording in Grid. The red frame and banner can be read from across the room.

What Video Studio does

Several cameras at once. The Mac's camera, USB cameras or an iPhone — each one records to its own movie file.
Every file starts on the same frame. All cameras of a take start and stop together, so the files line up without nudging clips around in your editor.
Studio sound in every file. Each movie carries the sound of your audio interface — the mono input or stereo pair you choose — not the camera's own microphone.
Starts and stops with your DAW. Press record in Logic Pro or Pro Tools and the cameras roll. Stop, and the take is saved.
Hard to miss. While recording, a red frame and a REC banner with the running time cover the window — big enough to read from behind the drum kit.
Play takes back in sync. The Takes player shows all cameras of a take in one picture, so you can review a performance right after the take.

Use it to film a session for social media, to review a vocal take together with the singer, or to document a session for a client.

What you need

StudioTools 2.4.0 or later.
One or more cameras: the Mac's built-in camera, USB cameras, or an iPhone used as a camera (Continuity Camera).
For sound: your audio interface, or any microphone the Mac can use.
To record together with your DAW: StudioTools connected to Logic Pro or Pro Tools — see Connect your DAW.

Open Video Studio

Click the StudioTools icon in the menu bar.
Choose Open Video Studio….

When a StudioTools window is in front, Open Video Studio… is also in the StudioTools app menu.

The StudioTools menu bar menu with Open Video Studio… highlighted

The window has two screens:

Setup — choose cameras, sound and where takes are saved. Setup →
Monitor — watch all cameras and record. Recording →

The first time, Video Studio opens in Setup. After that it opens straight in Monitor with your last rig — unless it can't record yet (no camera turned on, no output folder, or the folder's drive isn't connected). Then it opens in Setup, so you can fix that first.

First start: camera and microphone access

macOS asks you before an app may use your cameras and microphones. Video Studio first explains why it needs access. Then:

Click Continue.
macOS asks for access to your camera and your microphone. Choose Allow for both.

Video Studio explaining why it needs camera and microphone access, with a Continue button — Video Studio explains first; Continue shows the macOS prompts.

Clicked Don't Allow? Without camera access, Video Studio can't record. The window shows Open Privacy Settings — turn on StudioTools under Privacy & Security › Camera. Without microphone access, the cameras still record, but the takes have no sound. A No sound chip with Open Privacy Settings shows up; turn on StudioTools under Privacy & Security › Microphone.

Upgrading from the Video Recorder

Video Studio replaces the single-camera Video Recorder of StudioTools 2.3 and earlier. Your settings come along the first time you open it:

Brought over: the audio device, the output folder and your auto-record choice.
Setup opens once, with your old camera already selected (at 60 fps if you recorded at 60 fps). Add more cameras, give them names and pick the sound input — then continue to Monitor.
Takes are saved differently. Each take is now one .stvideo item with a movie per camera, instead of a single take_….mov file. See Takes & player.

The old Video Recorder settings themselves aren't changed.

What you can do

Build your rig — turn cameras on, name them, set their order and pick the sound input from your interface. Setup →
Record with your DAW — Grid, Focus and Single layouts, automatic recording with Logic Pro or Pro Tools, and clear warnings about cameras and disk space. Recording →
Review and edit takes — play a take with every camera in sync, and get the camera files into your video editor. Takes & player →

Known limits

A crash or force quit during a take leaves files that can't be played. Quitting StudioTools or closing the window the normal way is safe: Video Studio asks first and finishes the files.
Several USB cameras on one hub may not run together at high resolutions. Test your rig before an important session.
One sound source per take — a mono input or a stereo pair — shared by all cameras. There is no separate sound per camera.
Playing back many cameras at once (for example 9) may stutter on older Macs.