Recording
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:
- Internal video cameras like built-in iSight or FaceTime HD camera
- External video cameras, connected via FireWire, USB or Thunderbolt, as long as they work with QuickTime
- Video capture cards, if they work with QuickTime
- iStopMotion Remote Camera. iStopMotion Remote Camera (iStopCamera) is an iOS app running on iPhone 4 or later or iPad 2 or later (including iPad mini).
- Certain still cameras, like modern DSLR cameras. Check the list of supported cameras on the iStopMotion support website.
- The Screen Source. This innovative source enables capturing any part of the screen of your Mac as source for your Clip.
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.

Internal and external video cameras
Video cameras, both built-in and external ones provide the following settings:
- Aspect Ratio: Pixels on the computer screen are square. They have the same height and width. However, both movies and cameras can have non-square pixels. This setting helps you match them if needed. Usually 'Automatic' should just work.
- Resize/Aspect Ratio warning: A small white exclamation mark icon next to Aspect Ratio informs you that the resolution of the source is not the same as the resolution of your Clip. A yellow warning icon is displayed when the Pixel Aspect Ratio of source and Clip do not match, resulting in sequeezed or streched pixels.
- Open preview: The button with the eye icon opens the source preview in a seperate window. This is especially useful to put on a secondary screen when working from a distance.
- Orientation: Sometimes it might be useful to capture something on the side or upside down.

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 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 Live View for further information.
button. Please read
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:
- Points (Focus/Exposure): Clicking the button shows the points defining the region of interest for focus and exposure overlaid in the live prview. Drag those points to the areas that should be focused and define exposure. iOS does not allow setting specific values for those parameters, you can only set points that should be taken into consideration.
- Exposure Fixed/Continuous switch: For Stop Motion you usally want the exposure to stay fixed within a scene. For Time Lapse it may be better to have the exposure continuously update to the scene in front of camera, e.g. when capturing a sunset.
- White Balance Locked/Unlocked switch: Again, for Stop Motion you usually want the color tint to remain constant during a scene, so you may want to set the camera to keep the white balance. Unlocking makes the camera change its White Balance depending on the scene in front of the camera. To set up White Balance, place a piece of white/neutral papter in front of the camera, so that it is lit by the same light sources as the scene later on. Set the switch to Unlocked, let the camera update the color value for a moment and the set it back to Locked.

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:
- Area: Clicking
- Size: This popup menu offers a few presets like 50%, 100% of the clip size and so on. The number of entries depends on clip and screen size.
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 . iStopMotion will now capture frames at the given interval until you press .
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 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

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
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.