ZXN Studio
Buy ZXN Prep · $9.99
ZXN Prep New for Mac

Every take starts ready.

The menu-bar app that checks your mic, camera and window before you hit record, clears your desk, and puts it all back when you are done.

Buy for $9.99 Included with ZXN Studio
  • One payment, no subscription
  • Two Macs per account
  • Apple Silicon Mac with macOS 14 or later

Sound familiar?

Twelve minutes recorded on the AirPods mic.

Exported, then noticed the window was 1439 × 812.

A notification slid in halfway through the demo.

Check your microphone, window size and Focus setting before you press record.

The ZXN Prep panel: microphone, webcam, window framing, workspace and storage all ready. The ZXN Prep panel: microphone, webcam, window framing, workspace and storage all ready.
How it works

Five checks.
One glance.

Click the brackets in your menu bar and it answers one question: are you ready to record? Anything that is not opens straight to its fix.

5 of 5 ready

  1. Microphone

    Live levels from the mic you record with, a warning before you clip, and a five-second sample to play back.

  2. Camera

    A big preview with feedback on framing, head position and light, before anyone sees it.

  3. Window framing

    The window you record, sized to an exact 16:9, 9:16, 4:3 or square, with the pixels it will come out at.

  4. Workspace

    Other apps hidden, a nudge to turn on Focus, your recorder opened and waiting.

  5. Storage

    Room on the disk for a long take, checked before you start rather than when it fills.

Window framing

Your window, ready to record.

Pick a window and a shape. Prep keeps the window’s longer side, fits it between the menu bar and the Dock and centres it, then shows the points and the pixels your recording will actually have. Restore puts it back. Try it here, or click the real panel:

Window
Shape

Safari · Product tour 1139 × 731 pt · not framed yet

A 14-inch MacBook Pro display, 1512 × 982 pt. Prep works the sizes out for yours.

Some apps have a smallest size they will shrink to. If a shape asks for less, Prep makes the window as small as that app allows and tells you the size it got.

Window Framing in ZXN Prep, showing the window and size chosen on the desktop beside it. Window Framing in ZXN Prep, showing the window and size chosen on the desktop beside it.
The real ZXN Prep panel. Click it: it drives the desktop.
Prepare for Recording

One click in.
One click out.

  1. 1

    Prepare

    Frames the window, hides everything else, checks your devices and disk, and opens your recorder.

  2. 2

    Record

    Record your video in the app you already use. Prep only records a short microphone sample when you ask it to.

  3. 3

    Restore

    Windows go back to their old size and place, and hidden apps come back. Nothing was closed.

Prepare Workspace results in ZXN Prep: window framed, other apps hidden, storage, microphone and webcam checked, recorder opened. Prepare Workspace results in ZXN Prep: window framed, other apps hidden, storage, microphone and webcam checked, recorder opened.
Profiles

A setup for every kind of video.

A widescreen tutorial with your webcam. A vertical Short without it. A product demo that opens your recorder. Save each one and switch in a click.

ZXN Prep Settings, Profiles: YouTube Tutorial, YouTube Shorts and Product Demonstration, each with its own framing, devices and workspace options. ZXN Prep Settings, Profiles: YouTube Tutorial, YouTube Shorts and Product Demonstration, each with its own framing, devices and workspace options.

Works with the recorder you already use

Prep gets you ready; your recorder records. It opens the one you choose and never installs anything for you.

Private by design

Your mic and camera
stay on your Mac.

  • Only while you lookThe camera and microphone run while their check or setup step is open. Closing the panel stops capture.
  • Nothing uploadedNothing you see or say in a check leaves your Mac.
  • On-device reviewThe optional camera review is a 2.95 GB model you download once and run locally.
  • Windows onlyAccessibility access lets Prep read window geometry, resize your selected windows and restore them.
Pricing

Yours for good, or included with Studio.

ZXN Prep

$9.99 / once
  • Every check, framing preset and profile
  • Two Macs per account
  • Updates included
  • Works with any recorder
Buy ZXN Prep

ZXN Studio

from $15.99 / month
  • ZXN Prep included
  • Screen recorder and multi-track editor
  • Background removal, titles and effects
  • 4K, 60 fps and ProRes export
See Studio plans
Questions

Before you
get ready.

Do I need ZXN Studio?

No. ZXN Prep works on its own with any recorder. If you have a Studio plan, it is already included.

Does ZXN Prep record?

No. It prepares your Mac and opens your recorder. Recording apps do not tell other apps when they stop, so you restore your workspace from Prep when you are done.

How accurate is the camera feedback?

It is an estimate from the camera image. It does not change camera settings or measure studio light, and the optional review can be mistaken.

How many Macs can I use it on?

Two at a time. You can disconnect a Mac from your account page and connect another.

What if it is not for me?

Write to hello@zxn.studio with your Stripe transaction reference. Read the refund policy.

Press it. Glance. Record.

⌃⌥R opens ZXN Prep from anywhere, so checking takes less time than reading this sentence.

Buy for $9.99 Get it with ZXN Studio