Recording

Source

Source

The input (source) delivering images to iStopMotion can be chosen from the “Source” pop-up menu. All currently available sources are displayed here. Make sure an external device is connected and switched on before trying to select it here.

iStopMotion supports the following types of sources:

Source Settings

The area below the source pop-up menu contains settings for the selected source. The number of settings and their parameters depend on the kind of source selected.

Source

Internal and external video cameras

Video cameras, both built-in and external ones provide the following settings:

Source

Some digital photo cameras (commonly connected via USB) can provide a Live View in iStopMotion. Please check the list of supported cameras on the iStopMotion support website. You need to turn on Live View with the button next to the Calibrate… button. If your camera does not provide a Live View, or you do not want to use it in order to save battery, use the preview capture button in the toolbar in order to see a preview shot from the camera. The settings for still cameras are very similar to the ones for video cameras, except that there is no resize warning and no preview window.

Some DSLRs Live View does not match with the captured image. In this case, you can calibrate your Live View by pressing the Calibrate… button. Please read Calibrate Live View for further information.

Source

iPhone/iPad/iPod touch

iOS devices connected through a shared Wi-Fi network can act as a live camera by using the iStopMotion Remote Camera (iStopCamera) app. They provide the following settings, configurable both on the touchscreen of the device and in iStopMotion:

Source

Screen Source

You can define a part of one screen to be the source for iStopMotion. This is very convenient for making a movie out of anything you produce in another app. It could be a drawing in Photoshop, another movie being played back or stepped through in QuickTime Player, a 3D rendering app or anything else. A screen source has two settings:

Time Lapse

Time Lapse

Often it is handy to be able to capture frames automatically at a specified interval, for example to record a flower blooming.
This is what time lapse is for.
You just need to enter the time lapse capture interval and press Start. iStopMotion will now capture frames at the given interval until you press Stop.

If a still camera is used, the interval must be greater than the time it takes to transfer the image over the camera's USB connection. This varies considerably based on camera model and image size (megapixels) captured, but is usually between 5 and 20 seconds.

Color Correction

Color Correction

Color Correction allows you to remove a color tint from your input source or to add one for artistic reasons. Just click anywhere inside the color wheel to have all colors adjusted towards that color. Choose the entry “Default” from the action menu on the right in order to reset the color tint to neutral.

The two sliders next to the color wheel allow you to adjust Saturation and Gamma Curve of the input source. Use it either to compensate for lighting or to add a specific effect to your movie. As with the color tint you can select “Default” from the action menu on the right to reset the adjustments to neutral.

The action menu on the right provides you with tools to create and manage presets for color correction. This is especially useful when working on a larger project to get access to specific settings at any time.

Tilt Shift

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Tilt Shift allows you to create great looking miniature effects right in iStopMotion. It can add a new dimension of depth to your scenes. There are three parts to the effect: the general geometry, the color settings and the sharpening that occurs in the non-blurred part of the image. Use the toggle on the top right to enable or disable the Tilt Shift effect altogether.

Geometry

Press the Configure button to have controls for the geometry of the effect overlaid over your preview on the left. The two handles connected by a line define the center, non-blurred, part of the image. The other two handles let you define how big that center area should be. Move the handles and watch the effect update live to find the perfect settings.

Color

The three sliders in the color group allow you to set Saturation, Brightness and Contrast of the effect. Typically the miniature effect looks better with increased Saturation.

Sharpen

The controls in this group allow you to apply additional sharpening to the center part of your image. Controls Intensity and Radius of the sharpen effect using the two sliders.

The action menu on the right lets you define and manage presets for all parameters of the Tilt Shift effect. This can be especially useful when working with multiple scenes for a movie.

Older MacBook and Mac mini computers with on board Intel GMA graphics are not powerful enough to calculate the graphics-intensive Tilt Shift effect. Tilt Shift functionality is not available on those computers.


Related Topics:  Source menu