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Monitor · 5 minute read

# Use the monitor and guides

Set and lock phone focus and exposure, correct the way the preview reads, judge composition, and keep the phone level.

Camera + monitor tools Preferences remembered

## The monitor toolbar

Control | Purpose | Shortcut
--- | --- | ---
New Window | Open an independent session for another phone. | `⌘N`
Source | Choose the wired or wireless camera route. | `⌘1`
Refresh | Repeat Bonjour discovery across USB and Wi-Fi. | `⌘R`
H Mirror | Flip the preview left to right. | `M`
V Mirror | Flip the preview top to bottom. | `⇧M`
Grid | Show or hide the rule-of-thirds grid. | `G`
Level | Show or hide the two-axis camera level. | `L`
VU | Show or hide the phone-audio meter. | `V`
Info | Show or hide the current focus, exposure, shutter, and ISO readout. | `I`
Prompt | Open or edit the teleprompter script. | `P`
Camera aperture | Adjust the connected phone's focus and exposure. | —

## Control phone focus and exposure

Click the camera-aperture button after the stream connects. Viewfinder reads the camera's real limits and shows only the controls that the connected iPhone or Android phone supports.

### Focus

- Auto continuously follows changes in subject distance.
- Lock holds the current focus distance so the lens does not hunt during a take.
- Manual shows a Far / ∞ to Near slider and holds the lens at the chosen position. It starts at the current focus plane for a smooth handoff, and its percentage readout lets you repeat marks on the same lens.
- Click inside the visible image to focus there. Auto keeps working around the new point; Lock focuses once and holds the new distance.

Clicks in letterbox bars are ignored. Point-to-focus follows the phone orientation and both preview-mirror settings, so the target remains correct even when the displayed image is transformed. Manual positions are relative to the selected lens rather than calibrated distances in metres or feet.

### Exposure

- Auto lets the phone choose shutter speed and ISO. The EV slider changes its brightness target.
- Lock freezes the current automatic shutter speed and ISO.
- Manual provides separate ISO and shutter sliders that snap through familiar photographic and video values.
- Reset Auto restores automatic exposure at `0 EV`.

Turn on Info or press `I` to keep a camera-style settings strip over the lower-left of the live image. It shows focus mode and manual lens position when applicable, exposure mode and EV compensation, plus the shutter and ISO values reported by the phone. The readout follows automatic changes and every setting you apply.

### A quick manual setup

1. Choose Manual.
2. Set Shutter for the motion rendering you want. `1/60` is a common starting point for a 30 fps stream.
3. Adjust ISO for brightness. Lower ISO generally gives a cleaner image; higher ISO helps when less light is available.
4. Check APPLIED. It shows the shutter and ISO reported by the phone after it accepts the request.
5. Click Reset Auto to return exposure control to the phone.

The sliders use commonly recognised values rather than changing one numeric unit at a time. Their available values are trimmed to the connected camera's real ISO and shutter limits. Manual shutter is limited to `1/30 s` so the fixed 30 fps stream keeps its cadence.

Controls vary by phone

Viewfinder only offers the modes and ranges reported by the connected iPhone or Android camera. Focus and exposure are applied before HEVC encoding, so they change both the live image and the movie recorded on the Mac.

## Preview mirrors and orientation

Phone orientation metadata rotates the preview automatically. Use H Mirror when a presenter prefers a mirror-like view; use V Mirror only when the camera arrangement requires a vertical correction. The two choices are independent.

Mirrors do not change the MOV

Horizontal and vertical flips apply only to the monitor. The incoming camera picture is recorded without those preview transforms.

## Rule-of-thirds grid

The grid is clipped to the visible video rather than the whole window. It remains aligned to the image through letterboxing, orientation changes, window resizing, and full screen.

- Place eyes near the upper horizontal third.
- Use a vertical third for deliberate looking room.
- Toggle the grid with `G` once the framing is set.

## Camera level and reference

The level uses motion telemetry from the phone. Turn it on with `L`. The central bubble shows two-axis alignment while the roll indicator makes horizon drift easy to see.

If the rig’s useful “straight” position differs from the phone’s physical zero, place it correctly and click the target button beside Level, or press `⇧L`. The current attitude becomes the reference until it is changed.

## Full screen and clean monitoring

Use the green window button or `⌃⌘F` to enter or leave full screen. The monitor remains dark, and the same overlays, prompt controls, and keyboard shortcuts stay available.

Monitor overlays are non-destructive

Grid, mirrors, level, VU, image settings, battery, connection badge, and teleprompter never appear in the recorded movie.