Lesson 2: What you need, and how the pieces fit

Lesson 2 of 14

Before you install anything, it helps to know exactly what ZoomISO needs to run, and to picture how your video travels from Zoom, through the app, and out to your equipment. This lesson gives you a simple checklist and a clear mental map.

The computer

ZoomISO only runs on a Mac, and only on the newer Macs built with Apple’s own chips, known as Apple Silicon. That means an M1 chip or later. Intel-based Macs are not supported.

It runs on these versions of the Mac operating system:

  • macOS 14, also called Sonoma.
  • macOS 15, also called Sequoia.
  • macOS 26, also called Tahoe.

An original M1 Mac already performs well. If you plan to use the richer features, such as the live preview grid, picture effects, and recording, or you want many high-quality feeds at once, a newer machine like an M4 Mac Mini is a sensible choice. There is a whole lesson on performance later.

The Zoom side

You sign in to ZoomISO with a Zoom account. To unlock it fully you need one of two things on that account:

  • The Zoom Enhanced Media add-on licence, or
  • An active Hub Host or Hub Owner role on the Zoom Webinars and Events platform.

If neither is in place, ZoomISO still opens and you can set everything up, but it stays in Trial Mode and cannot join meetings. Lesson 4 covers licensing in full, so do not worry about the detail yet.

Permissions

ZoomISO uses your camera and microphone in meetings, and it uses your network for the methods that send video out, such as NDI and SRT. Your Mac will ask you to grant these permissions in System Settings the first time they are needed. Allowing them is part of normal setup.

How the pieces fit together

Here is the whole journey of your video, start to finish:

  1. Zoom hosts the meeting and all the people in it.
  2. ZoomISO signs in, joins that meeting, and isolates each person and screen into separate feeds.
  3. Your destinations receive those feeds: streaming software, a video mixer, monitors, recording, or other equipment, reached through NDI, SRT, Syphon, System Displays, or Blackmagic hardware.

If you ever feel lost in the app, come back to this chain. Everything ZoomISO does sits in the middle of it.

If you use Blackmagic equipment. Install Blackmagic’s “Desktop Video” software, version 15 or later, for the best results with ZoomISO version 3. The minimum it will accept is 14.3.

A habit worth starting now

Professionals treat the computer running ZoomISO like an appliance: one job, nothing else running, tested in advance. You will see why in the performance lesson, but it is worth planting the idea early.

In short

You need an Apple Silicon Mac on a recent macOS, a Zoom account with either the Enhanced Media licence or a Webinars and Events Hub role, and permission to use the camera, microphone, and network. Picture the chain: Zoom, then ZoomISO, then your equipment.