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Getting Started

Get up and running in under 5 minutes.

1. Installation

Download the latest .msix installer or portable .zip from the GitHub Releases page. The MSIX installer is signed and can be double-clicked to install on Windows 10/11.

Option B: Run from source

Prerequisites:

Requirement Notes
Windows 10 (build 1903+) or Windows 11 Required for Windows Graphics Capture API
Python 3.13 Download — check Add to PATH during install
ffmpeg Bundled automatically via imageio-ffmpeg — no manual install needed

ARM64 Windows

Install the x64 edition of Python, not ARM64. Many dependencies (OpenCV, windows-capture) don't have ARM64 wheels. x64 Python runs fine via emulation.

One-command setup:

cd followcursor
.\scripts\Start-Dev.ps1

This creates a virtual environment, installs all dependencies, and launches the app. A brief startup splash stays visible while the recorder, tray icon, and editor shell finish initialising.

Manual setup:

cd followcursor
python -m venv .venv
.venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1
pip install -r requirements.txt
python main.py

Option C: VS Code

  1. Open the repo root in VS Code
  2. Press F5 to launch with the debugger attached
  3. Or press Ctrl+Shift+B to build a standalone .exe

2. Record Your First Video

Step 1 — Pick a source

Click Select Source in the sidebar to open the Source Picker.

Tab What it captures Method
Screens An entire monitor Windows Graphics Capture (hardware-accelerated)
Windows A single application window Win32 PrintWindow (no bleed-through)

Each option shows a live thumbnail so you can confirm the correct source.

Step 2 — Start recording

Click the red Start Recording button. A 3-second countdown (3, 2, 1) gives you time to switch to the target app. Then:

  • The app minimizes to the system tray
  • A subtle red border pulses around the captured area
  • Mouse position (60 Hz) and clicks are tracked

Live zoom hotkeys

Press Ctrl+Shift+= during recording to zoom in at the cursor, or Ctrl+Shift+- to zoom back out. These are global hotkeys — they work from any app.

Step 3 — Stop recording

Press Ctrl+Shift+R (global hotkey) or right-click the tray icon and select Stop Recording.

The app restores and switches to the Edit view with your recording loaded.

3. Edit & Add Zoom

Auto-generate zoom keyframes

  1. In the Editor Panel (right side), find the SMART ZOOM section
  2. Choose a sensitivity: Low (few zooms), Medium, or High (many zooms)
  3. Click Auto-generate zoom keyframes

The analyzer detects:

  • Activity bursts — when the pointer stays settled during a dense patch of interaction, the camera zooms into that area
  • Click clusters — clicks in a short window, zooms into the click region (highest priority)

Spatially close activity is merged into sustained zooms, and consecutive clusters are chained — the camera pans between them instead of zooming out and back in.

Add manual zoom

  • Right-click the preview to add a zoom at the clicked position
  • Press Z to insert a keyframe at the playhead position
  • Editor panel click Add Zoom to add at the current playback position

Edit zoom segments

Interaction What it does
Right-click a segment Set depth (Subtle 1.25x, Medium 1.5x, Close 2x, Detail 2.5x), set centroid, or delete
Drag a segment edge Resize the zoom duration
Drag the segment body Move the zoom to a different time
Set centroid Click the preview to reposition where the camera focuses

Add pan path points

While viewing a zoom segment, right-click the preview and select Add pan point here to create smooth panning within the zoomed view. Pan points show as numbered yellow markers on the timeline.

Generate narration

  1. In the NARRATION & VOICEOVER section, click Generate narration
  2. FollowCursor uses GPT-5.4 to draft five presentation-style, timestamped voiceover segments — Context, Background, Prompt / Action, Walkthrough, and Result — from frame samples plus activity and zoom cues. The wording stays focused on the point of the work rather than on-screen mechanics
  3. The combined script is saved as <video_name>_voiceover.md beside the recording, then speech starts automatically with the current default TTS voice from AI Settings, using timing-aware pacing so the narration stays close to the recording length without obvious silence padding
  4. The generated segments appear on the timeline's Voice track with short labels such as Context and Result. Double-click or right-click a segment to review the spoken line, drag it to retime it, or delete it with confirmation
  5. If you generate narration again, FollowCursor replaces only the previous generated voiceover segments and leaves manual voiceover segments alone
  6. If you also add manual voiceover segments, they stay separate and are mixed into the same MP4 audio track during export

Generate chapters

  1. In the CHAPTERS section, click Generate chapters
  2. FollowCursor reuses the same shared recording understanding as narration — frame samples, activity, and zoom beats — to suggest timeline-friendly chapter markers with GPT-5.4
  3. Hover a chapter flag to review its name, left-click it to jump there, or right-click it to delete the marker
  4. Regenerating chapters replaces the previous generated chapter markers but keeps any manual chapter markers you added
  5. Exported MP4 files include those chapter markers as metadata for players that support navigation

4. Customize the Look

Setting Options
Background 84 presets in 3 categories — Solid (39), Gradient (37), Pattern (8: wavy)
Device Frame Wide Bezel, Slim Bezel, Thin Border, Shadow Only, No Frame
Output Size Auto, 16:9, 3:2, 4:3, 1:1, 9:16
Click Effects 8 presets — Subtle Purple, Bold Red, Neon Cyan, and more

Trim the recording

Drag the yellow trim handles at the timeline edges to cut unwanted content. Only the trimmed portion is exported. Right-click a handle and select Reset trim to undo.

Undo & Redo

  • Ctrl+Z to undo, Ctrl+Shift+Z or Ctrl+Y to redo
  • Up to 50 levels of undo history

5. Export

Click Export in the title bar.

Format Extension Best for
MP4 Video .mp4 Sharing, uploading, presentations
GIF Animation .gif GitHub READMEs, Markdown docs, Slack
  • MP4 — H.264 at CRF 18 quality. GPU-accelerated encoding (NVENC, QuickSync, AMF) is auto-detected with software fallback.
  • GIF — 15 fps, 256-color palette with Bayer dithering for smooth color transitions.

Export renders every frame with zoom, cursor, click effects, device bezel, and background.

6. Save & Resume

  • Ctrl+S — saves a .fcproj file (ZIP bundle with raw video, narration script metadata, and voiceover audio)
  • Re-saving is near-instant — only metadata is updated, the video is never re-copied
  • The title bar shows the project name and a dot indicator for unsaved changes
  • Closing with unsaved changes prompts Save / Don't Save / Cancel

Keyboard Shortcuts

Global Hotkeys (work from any application)

Shortcut Action
Ctrl+Shift+R Start or stop recording
Ctrl+Shift+= Zoom in at cursor position (during recording)
Ctrl+Shift+- Zoom out to 1.0x (during recording)

Editor Shortcuts

Shortcut Action
Space Play / Pause
Z Insert zoom keyframe at playhead
Delete Remove the selected zoom section, voiceover segment, clip, or click event
Ctrl+Z Undo
Ctrl+Shift+Z / Ctrl+Y Redo
Ctrl+S Save project

Mouse Interactions

Interaction Where Action
Left-click Timeline Seek to that time
Left-click Zoom segment Select segment
Left-click Voiceover segment Select segment for drag or Delete
Left-click Click event dot Select click event
Double-click Voiceover segment Review or edit the segment
Right-click Preview Add zoom at click position
Right-click Timeline (empty) Split a clip, add zoom, or add voiceover
Right-click Zoom segment Depth / centroid / delete
Right-click Voiceover segment Review or delete the segment
Right-click Clip segment Delete the clip with ripple retiming
Drag edge Zoom segment Resize duration
Drag body Zoom segment Move in time
Drag body Voiceover segment Move the segment in time
Drag handle Timeline edge Set trim start/end

Troubleshooting

No monitors found or blank thumbnails

  • Make sure you are running on Windows 10 build 1903+ or Windows 11
  • Some Remote Desktop sessions don't support WGC — the app falls back to GDI capture automatically

Recording is laggy

  • Close unnecessary apps to free GPU resources
  • Check the status bar for WGC confirmation — WGC is hardware-accelerated and should be smooth

Export takes a long time

  • If a GPU encoder is available, it is auto-selected for faster exports
  • Check Settings, Video encoder to verify which encoder is active
  • Progress is shown in the title bar Export button

Next Steps