Tools

Reframer: transparent video overlay for macOS

Native macOS video overlay that keeps reference footage above your workspace: click-through, frame stepping, zoom, opacity and 11 filters. Free public beta.

Client: IVG Design

Reframer: Reframe your workflow

What it is

A transparent video overlay for macOS. It keeps reference footage visible above whatever you are working in.

What it does

Drop a video on it, set the opacity low, lock the window so clicks pass through, and trace, animate or follow a tutorial in the app underneath without switching windows.

Features

Always on top; click-through lock mode
Frame-accurate stepping with the keyboard (Shift jumps 10 frames)
11 video filters (brightness, contrast, edges, line art, noir and more), chainable
Zoom 10 to 1000 percent with fine control, pan with drag or arrow keys
Opacity from 2 to 100 percent; global shortcuts
MP4, MOV, AVI, M4V in H.264, H.265/HEVC and ProRes; the repo version also opens more containers and VP8/VP9 WebM through a bundled FFmpeg helper

Capabilities

Rotoscoping and tracing, matching timing to a reference, comparing UI prototype recordings, following video tutorials.

Compatibility

macOS 14 (Sonoma) or later per the Forge page; the current repository README says macOS 15.0 or later (0.11.0, unreleased), so the Forge page is out of date or the floor was raised. Universal (Apple Silicon and Intel) builds in CI

Availability

Free during public beta, MIT licensed (github.com/ivg-design/reframer). Version 0.8.1-beta.3 on Forge.

Under the hood

Native Swift app (Xcode project) using AVFoundation for video and Core Image for filters, with a bundled network-disabled FFmpeg/libvpx helper for WebM.