Lesson 5: A guided tour of the window
Let us walk around the ZoomISO window together so nothing feels strange later. We will look at the row of controls along the top, then meet the four main tabs you will switch between as you work.
The controls along the top
The top of the app holds the buttons for moving around and for the most important actions. On the newest macOS, Tahoe, these may look a little different thanks to Apple’s “Liquid Glass” styling, but they do the same jobs.
Window buttons, top left
The three standard Mac window buttons sit at the top left. Notice that the close button is deliberately disabled, so you cannot quit the app with a single accidental click. You can still minimise the window, but the makers advise against it while you are live, because it can hurt performance.
The Capture Engine toggle
This is the button that starts and stops the flow of raw video and audio from Zoom into ZoomISO. It is so central that the next lesson is devoted to it. For now, just notice it is there, and that it changes depending on what is happening.
Global navigation
These buttons switch you between the four main areas of the app: Meeting, Video Outputs, Audio Outputs, and Participants. They are your main way of getting around.
Recording controls
There is a button for the built-in recorder. When you are not recording, clicking it opens a small menu where you choose which outputs to record, and reach the relevant folders and settings. When you press Start Recording, the button turns into a red indicator with a timer showing how long you have been recording, plus any warnings. Pressing Stop brings up a confirmation so you do not end a recording by mistake.
Settings
The main Settings window opens from a button next to your profile picture, in the top right corner. There is a whole lesson on settings later.
The App Menu at the very top of the screen
When ZoomISO is the active app, the Mac menu bar at the very top of your screen shows ZoomISO’s own menus. These hold some genuinely useful options, including exporting and loading your saved app configurations, clearing the app’s cache, reaching the logs, and quitting the app. The configuration export is worth remembering: it lets you save a setup and load it again another day.
The four tabs, in one breath
- Meeting: start or join a meeting, and set your camera and microphone.
- Video Outputs: create the video feeds you send out, and choose what each one shows.
- Audio Outputs: manage where your audio goes and how it is balanced.
- Participants: a table for assigning people to feeds quickly.
Each of these tabs gets its own lesson, so you will know every corner soon.
In short
Along the top you have window buttons, the Capture Engine toggle, the four navigation buttons, the recorder, and Settings by your profile. The Mac menu bar adds configuration saving, cache clearing, and logs. The four tabs are Meeting, Video Outputs, Audio Outputs, and Participants.