HOW TO VIEW

To see the effect, your camera or light needs to capture the motion in sync with the animation frames.

There are two main ways to achieve this:

  • Through your phone or camera

  • With a strobe light or strobe app

Viewing through your camera/phone

1. SPEED

Play the record/slipmat at the speed specified for your design (33 or 45 RPM).

2. FRAME RATE

Set your phone to record at 30FPS.

3. SHUTTER SPEED

The faster the shutter speed the sharper the image. To counter the darkness, film in bright settings (daylight is king) or increase ISO.

Apps:
If your phone doesn’t allow you to control frame rate, shutter speed or ISO, try these free apps:


- ‘ilumiscope’ - for iPhone
- ‘BlackMagicCam’ - for iphone & Android.

View by phone model – click here

Viewing with the naked eye using a strobe light

1. SPEED

Play the record/slipmat at the speed specified for your design (33 or 45 RPM).

Set your strobe light (or strobe app) to 30Hz and shine at the spinning record. Close curtains and turn off other lights for optimal results.

2. STROBE LIGHT

Free Apps:
- ‘Strobe Light Tachometer’ - for iPhone
- ‘Strobily’ - for Android

  • Good news – this one’s easy. Just head to the App Store and download Ilumiscope (it’s free!).

    It should work right out of the box, but for best results:

    • Open the app and set the shutter speed to the highest available setting.

    • This tends to make things darker, so adjust the brightness to compensate.

    And don’t forget: more light = better results. Natural daylight works best.

    Note: We haven’t tested all models, so please let us know if yours doesn’t work.

  • Open the Camera app, swipe over to More, and select Pro Video.

    At the top, choose your video quality and frame rate. You can pick HD, FHD, or UHD — just make sure it’s set to 30fps.

    Along the bottom you’ll see a range of manual controls: ISO, SPEED, EV, FOCUS, WB.

    Start by turning SPEED (shutter speed) up (by scrolling to the right) this brings the zoetrope into focus. A good starting point is around 1/1500, but in general, the higher the better.

    As you increase the shutter speed, the image will get darker. To balance that out, try increasing the ISO slightly — but don’t go too high or it might get grainy.

    And don’t forget: more light = better results. Natural daylight works best.

    Note: We haven't tested all models so let us know if this doesn't work for you.

  • Open the Camera app, switch to Video mode, and tap the settings icon. Make sure you’re set to 30fps.

    Start recording — this lets you adjust settings in real time and see the changes as you go.

    At this point (if you’re in a bright room) the zoetrope should start to work, though it might look a bit blurry at first.

    To sharpen it up:

    • While recording, tap the settings icon again (bottom right).

    • Select Exposure and turn it down slowly until it brings everything into focus.

    And don’t forget: more light = better results. Natural daylight works best.

    Note: We haven’t tested all models, so please let us know if yours doesn’t work.

View by phone model

Don’t see your phone here?

Still having trouble? Drop us a message and we’ll help you get it working.
Once we’ve cracked it, we’ll add your phone to the list so others can benefit too.

We’re here to help make sure your animated record experience is as magical as the music itself!
So if you have any questions, just reach out to us.