# How to make product demo videos with Vidiyo

Canonical URL: https://getvidiyo.app/for/product-demo-videos
Last updated: 2026-10-08

> TL;DR: Import a screen recording and your talking-head or narration take, then tell Vidiyo what to show. It lines the screen up with what you say, puts you in a corner or a card, keys punch-ins on the UI you name, draws arrows and highlights, and adds captions and music. You review and export a 1080p MP4.

Image: Vidiyo editor showing a 160 GB counter graphic above a speaker card, with the colour inspector open and layout, caption and motion scene rows on the timeline.

A product demo lives or dies on whether the viewer can see what you're talking about at the moment you say it. Vidiyo is a Mac video editor you direct by chat, and its assistant looks at the actual frames, so it can match the screen to your words, keep the UI readable and keep captions off the part people need to see.

## What makes a product demo hard to edit?

The hard part is synchronizing three things: what you say, what the screen shows, and what the viewer should look at. A raw screen recording has dead time, small text and a cursor wandering around. A good demo cuts the waits, makes the right part of the UI big enough to read, and points at it exactly when you mention it.

Doing that by hand means scrubbing back and forth between the transcript and the recording. In Vidiyo you describe it once ("zoom on the export button when I say export") and the assistant finds the moment, places the punch-in and checks the frame.

## How does a demo go from screen recording to finished video?

Most demos follow the same path:

1. **Record.** Capture the screen at full resolution, and record your voice or a face-to-camera take. They can be one file or separate files.
2. **Import.** Drag them into a project. Choose 16:9 for a website or YouTube, or 9:16 for social.
3. **Tighten.** "Cut the pauses, the false starts and the part where the page loads." The assistant removes confirmed silences without clipping words.
4. **Arrange.** "Show the screen full frame and put me in the bottom-right corner." Or: "Put me in a card at the bottom while the chart shows above."
5. **Direct attention.** "Punch in on the settings panel when I say settings. Circle the Share button." Punch-ins are keyframes on the clip; annotations are motion scenes timed to your words.
6. **Label it.** "Add a title card with the feature name and a lower third with mine."
7. **Finish.** Captions, light music under the voice, a click sound on each UI action if you like.
8. **Review and export.** Ask for a review, fix notes with comments and **Fix with AI**, then export.

## What can I say to Vidiyo for a demo?

Describe what the viewer should see, not the editing steps. Requests that work well for demos:

- "Show the product above me."
- "Punch in on the pricing table when I mention plans."
- "Draw an arrow to the new toggle."
- "Highlight the number 42 ms on screen."
- "Add a three-step checklist that ticks as I say each step."
- "Cut the loading spinner."
- "Keep the captions clear of the UI I'm pointing at."
- "Make a 9:16 version with the screen on top and me below."

## Which features matter most for demos?

The layout, zoom and annotation tools do most of the work.

| Demo need | How Vidiyo handles it |
|---|---|
| Screen and speaker together | Layers: screen above or below you, side by side, or you in a corner inset |
| Animated framing | Speaker card above or below, speaker bubble in a corner, eased in and out |
| Readable UI | Keyframed punch-ins and push-ins on the screen clip |
| Pointing at things | Annotation scenes: hand-drawn arrows, circles, underlines, boxes, highlights, spotlight, checklist |
| Numbers and titles | Counters, title cards, lower thirds and charts as [motion graphics](https://getvidiyo.app/features/motion-graphics) |
| Fine control | [Layers and keyframes](https://getvidiyo.app/features/layers-and-keyframes) with per-key easing |
| Captions that don't cover the UI | Face- and layout-aware [caption placement](https://getvidiyo.app/features/auto-captions) |

Text and shapes you draw on the preview are layers you can animate by hand. Anything the assistant makes is editable the same way.

## How does the assistant know where things are on screen?

It measures the frame instead of guessing. Vidiyo samples faces and on-screen text in your footage, maps them through the current layout and zoom, and gives the assistant the composed frame's geometry. After each edit, quality checks flag captions over faces, text running off the frame, and graphics under the Reels, TikTok and Shorts interface in vertical video. The assistant can also inspect still frames it picks.

## Can I make several versions of the same demo?

Yes. A common pattern is a 16:9 walkthrough for the website and a 45-second 9:16 cut for social. Keep each version in its own project with the same footage, so both stay editable. In the vertical one, switch the aspect ratio to 9:16 and ask: "Make this a 45-second version that starts on the payoff, and re-place the captions and graphics for vertical." The safe-zone checks then run against the Reels, TikTok and Shorts interface.

For longer walkthroughs, keep in mind that one timeline stops at 5 minutes. Split a long tour into chapters, one project each.

## What are the limits for demo videos?

The two that matter most are zoom and speed. Zooms are keyframed punch-ins rather than automatic cursor-follow, so you (or the assistant) choose each one. There's no speed control, so long waits are cut instead of fast-forwarded. Export is 1080p at 30 fps, which keeps UI text sharp on social platforms but isn't 4K. Colour tools are basic.

Vidiyo is free during its invite-only beta. [Download Vidiyo](https://getvidiyo.app/download) if you have a demo to make.

## Honest limits

- No cursor-follow zoom. Zooms are keyframed punch-ins you or the assistant place.
- No speed ramps or speed control. Long waits are cut, not sped up.
- Timelines max out at 5 minutes; export is 1080p at 30 fps.
- Colour tools are basic.
- Mac only: Apple Silicon on macOS 14 or later.

## Frequently asked questions

### Can Vidiyo zoom in on parts of a screen recording?

Yes, with keyframed punch-ins and slow push-ins on the clip. It doesn't follow the cursor automatically, so you name the moment or the UI element and the assistant places the zoom there.

### Can I show my face and the product at the same time?

Yes. Layouts put the screen above or below you, side by side, or with you in an inset corner. Motion layouts move you into a rounded card or a round bubble and back.

### Can it highlight a button in my UI?

Yes. Ask for an annotation and the assistant adds a hand-drawn circle, arrow, underline, box or spotlight as a motion scene, timed to the word where you mention it.

### What if my demo has long pauses while things load?

Ask the assistant to cut the dead time. It tightens pauses it confirms in the audio. There's no speed control, so a long load is cut rather than sped up.

## Related

- [Vidiyo for founders: launch and feature videos without hiring an editor](https://getvidiyo.app/for/founders)
- [Vidiyo for developers: edit video with the Claude Code or Codex you already use](https://getvidiyo.app/for/developers)
- [Layers and keyframes, by hand or by chat](https://getvidiyo.app/features/layers-and-keyframes)
- [How to turn a screen recording into a polished demo](https://getvidiyo.app/blog/screen-recording-to-polished-demo)
- [How to make a SaaS demo video](https://getvidiyo.app/blog/make-a-saas-demo-video)
- [Punch-in zoom](https://getvidiyo.app/glossary/punch-in-zoom)

Download Vidiyo for Mac (free during the beta): https://getvidiyo.app/download