Core concepts & glossary

TurtleScene uses a small set of terms across the app and these docs. Each entry below gives a short definition and links to the page that covers it in full.

#What you start from

Recording. A capture of your screen made in the browser from the create wizard, or a screen recording you upload with Upload a video. Everything else in TurtleScene can be made from one. Recordings are stored in your workspace, so you can make more outputs from them later without recording again. See Record your screen.

Recordings page. The list of every recording in the workspace, with what has been made from each one. Open it from Recordings in the sidebar. See Recordings library & reuse.

Screenshots. An alternative starting point: upload images and TurtleScene stitches them into a clickable demo. Screenshot demos are unlimited on every plan. See From screenshots.

Start from anything. An option in the create wizard that builds a story video from a description, documents (PDF, DOCX, PPTX, Markdown or text), screenshots, or a mix. See Create a story video.

#What you make

Narrated demo video. An MP4 of your real screens with an AI voiceover, zooms and a highlight on each step, in the Studio or Classic video style. In the app it is listed under Demo videos. See Create a narrated video.

Demo kind. The style of narration you choose before a demo video is made: Product demo, Module demo, Storyline or Step-by-step workflow. See Create a narrated video.

Clickable demo. A click-through demo that viewers step through themselves, with hotspots, tooltips and Back and Next buttons. The app calls it an interactive demo and lists it under Interactive. See From a recording.

Story video. An animated explainer made of designed scenes with a voiceover, built around your product's screens or from a brief. See Create a story video.

Formats. The extra files made from a finished video on its Formats tab: captions, square cuts (and vertical ones from a narrated video), a 30-second highlight, a GIF, a thumbnail, and a help article or launch posts. See Social cuts, GIFs & captions.

Translated version. A copy of a video or clickable demo in another language. A narrated video gets new narration, on-screen text and captions; a story video, new narration and on-screen text; a clickable demo, its on-screen text only. Available on Starter and up. See Translated versions.

#Inside the editor

Hotspot (step). One detected click in a recording. Each hotspot has a time, a position on screen, a title and a line of narration. In a narrated video a hotspot becomes a zoom and a spotlight or step card; in a clickable demo it becomes a step. See Steps, zooms & timing.

Click detection. How TurtleScene finds your clicks: it analyses the frames of the recording and places a hotspot at each one. You can move, add or remove hotspots afterwards. See Recording tips.

Script. The narration, one line per hotspot. TurtleScene writes it for you, or cleans up what you said while recording. See Script & voice.

Hold. When a step's narration takes longer than the screen was on show, the video pauses on the frame just before the click until the line finishes. The editor shows the total as narration pauses on the timeline. See Steps, zooms & timing.

Cut. A stretch of the recording left out of the finished video, such as a loading screen or a mistake. You can mark cuts yourself or use Find waits to cut to get suggestions. See Trim & cut waits.

Render. Making the MP4 from the script, voice, hotspots, cuts and music. You render again after changes to include them. See Render, download & share.

#Your account

Workspace. Where your recordings, demos, videos, brand settings and team live. Everyone in a workspace can see and work on its content. You create one when you sign up; owning more than one needs the Team plan, and each workspace has its own plan. See Workspace settings.

Library. The list of every clickable demo, demo video and story video in the workspace. Open it from Library in the sidebar. Recordings themselves are on the Recordings page.

Product brain. What TurtleScene knows about your product: the brand it learns from your website (Brand Brain), how to sign in to your app (App Access) and the screens it has mapped (App Map). Scripts and stories are written from it. Brand Brain needs Starter or higher. See Product brain.

Brand & player. Your logo, colours and the look of shared demos. See Brand & player.

Creator. A person who can make things in the workspace. Each plan includes a number of creators; viewers are unlimited and need no account. See Members & roles.

#Credits and limits

AI recording (credit). The unit of your monthly allowance. The app also calls it a credit or a recording. One is used by each new screen recording (which includes the first demo or story made from it), each further demo or story made from a stored recording, each story started from a brief or documents, and each translated version. See Plans, credits & limits.

Reuse. Making another demo or story from a recording you already have. The first output from a recording is included; each one after that uses one credit. See Recordings library & reuse.

Recording length limit. The longest single recording your plan allows, from 3 minutes on Free to 20 minutes on Team. The recorder stops by itself when you reach it. See Plans, credits & limits.