Explainer videos, straight from your screen.
The clearest software explainers show the real product. Record it once with your voice; Dolly adds the camera moves, the cursor polish, music that ducks under you, and captions.
How do you make an explainer video for software on a Mac?
Write a short script (problem, solution, how it works, call to action), then record your product with Dolly while you read it. Dolly zooms in on each click, cleans up your voice and transcribes captions on your Mac. Cut filler words in the transcript, add a music track that ducks under your voice, and export a 16:9 MP4. A 90-second explainer is about 220 words.
Who it’s for: SaaS teams, founders and developer advocates explaining what a product does. Not for character animation or motion graphics.
Show it while you say it.
Your voice and your screen, recorded in sync.
How to make an explainer video in Dolly.
4 steps, most of them automatic.
- Write the scriptProblem, solution, how it works, call to action. At about 150 words a minute, 90 seconds is roughly 220 words.
- Record screen and voiceRead the script from the teleprompter (⇧⌘1) while you click; it sits under your camera and never shows up in the video. Your microphone records in sync; voice clean-up adds a hum filter, a noise gate and leveling.
- Tighten it by textOpen the Transcript tab, select words and press ⌫ to cut them. One button removes the ums and long pauses; ⌘Z brings them back.
- Score it and exportPick one of 12 music tracks; it ducks under your voice. Insert a title card, then export 16:9.
Settings that work, and what to avoid.
Recommended settings
- Shape
- 16:9, plus 1:1 for social
- Resolution
- 1440p on Free, 4K with Lifetime
- Frame rate
- 30 or 60 fps
- Audio
- Voice clean-up on, music ducking on
- Captions
- Burned in, plus an SRT file
Mistakes to avoid
- Features before the problem. Viewers need the why in the first 15 seconds.
- A script that's too long. Cut until it fits about 150 words a minute.
- No captions. Many explainers autoplay muted on websites and feeds.
- Illustrating what the product could show. If the real UI explains it, record the real UI.
Screen explainers vs animated explainers
Animated explainers, made with motion-graphics or character-animation tools, are good at explaining an idea. Screen explainers prove it: viewers see the real product doing the real thing, and when your UI changes you record again instead of re-animating. Dolly makes the screen kind; it doesn't do character animation.
The structure that works
- Problem (10 to 15 s): the pain, in the viewer's words.
- Solution (10 s): what your product is, in one sentence.
- How it works (40 to 70 s): two or three key steps, on screen, zoomed in.
- Call to action (5 to 10 s): one thing to do next.
Explainers on autopilot (Pro)
With Dolly Pro, your own AI (Claude Desktop, Claude Code or Cursor) studies your product, writes a plan you can edit, and records each explainer in Dolly with zooms, captions from its narration, a title card and an end card. Dolly doesn't call an AI itself and needs no API keys. See Dolly Agents, or the explainer video guide for a script template.
Explainer videos: questions
Can I make an explainer video on a Mac for free?
Yes. Free records with no time limit and exports MP4 up to 1440p, ending with a 2-second Made with Dolly card. Lifetime (€5 once) removes the card and adds 4K.
Does Dolly make animated explainer videos?
No. Dolly makes screen-based explainers from a recording of your product. For character animation, use an animation tool and bring Dolly recordings in as clips.
How long should an explainer video be?
60 to 120 seconds for most software explainers. At about 150 spoken words a minute, that's a 150 to 300-word script.
Can AI make an explainer video of my app?
With Dolly Pro (€19 once), an AI assistant connected over MCP, such as Claude Desktop, Claude Code or Cursor, can plan and record explainers of your product in Dolly. Everything runs on your Mac.
Can I add captions to an explainer video?
Yes. Dolly transcribes your voice on your Mac, burns the captions into the export and can save an SRT file.
Related
Roll camera.
Free to use, with no time limit. Everything for €5, once.
First time: open Dolly, click Done, then System Settings → Privacy & Security → Open Anyway (macOS 13–14: right-click Dolly → Open). Once only. Installation help