Each semester, I need to make a video for student asynchronous viewing. This is a note about how I do this now.

Tools I use are:

  • macOS machine
  • iPad with Apple pencil
  • GoodNotes iOS app
  • QuickTime Player
  • USB-C to USB-C cable
  • Yeti microphone connected to headphones with 3.5mm cable

I record on a macOS machine running the OBS app. I connect an iPad to my machine with a USB-C to USB-C cable. I also use a Yeti microphone and a headset connected directly to the microphone with a 3.5mm cable. (This allows me to monitor audio while I’m recording with no dependence on the software or its settings.)

After making sure the iPad ‘trusts’ the macOS machine, I open QuickTime Player and in the File menu, select New Movie Recording. A small dialog will open up with a red record button in the center. To the button’s right is a small downward pointing arrow/chevron. Click on it and a menu will appear. In the Screen section of the menu, choose your iPad.

A QuickTime window will open up showing the screen of your iPad.

Open OBS. Create and name a new Scene. Add a new source by clicking on the + button; in window that appears, choosemacOS Screen Capture in the left column and then, in the window to the right click on the + Add a new macOS Screen Capture. A window titled Properties for macOS ScreenCapturewill open with two drop-down menus below the midline, one titled Method and the other titled Window. In the Method menu, choose Window Capture. In the Window menu, a list of your screens will show up. Choose the option that starts with [QuickTime Player]. This will cause your iPad screen to appear in the OBS app window. Click OK in the Properties for macOS ScreenCapture window to close it.

Next, you will want to resize and crop the appearance of your iPad screen. I use GoodNotes, so I like to crop out the GoodNotes menu.

If the iPad screen is appearing cropped or otherwise the wrong size try this:

  • control-click on the macOS Screen Capture item in the Sources list in OBS, and choose Transform from the menu that pops-up. Choose Fit to Screen to see if the iPad image adjusts to allow you to see the whole picture.
  • Option-clicking on the bounding box lines or anchors in the OBS window allow you to adjust how OBS crops the image from the iPad.

Then I like to do a quick test recording (just a few seconds) to see how the output will appear. By default in macOS, the output is saved in your home folder’s Movies subfolder.

After I create screencasts in this way, I publish them to my YouTube channel as a public video that is not made for children under 18. (This allows commenting, though nobody ever comments.) If I need to edit my video before posting, I do that work in Apple’s iMovie app.