What the first and last frame show in Studio
Studio shows the first and last capture in your selected range so you can confirm what a timelapse will cover before rendering — here's what those frames do and don't represent.
Studio shows two photos in the middle of the screen — the first frame and the last frame captured within your selected date range, each labelled with its capture date and time. They let you confirm what your timelapse will cover before you spend credits rendering it. They update automatically whenever you change the feed or the date range.
What they are for
The two frames confirm the span of your video — a quick check that you have picked the right stretch of the feed's history, without waiting for a render.
What they are not
The first and last frame are drawn straight from the camera's captures, before any filters are applied. If you turn on a filter like Stabilisation or Frame blend, the finished video may look slightly different from these two frames. Studio labels them accordingly: "Start and end of the requested video — not a preview. The rendered video may vary slightly after filtering."
When a frame has no preview
Occasionally a capture does not have a usable preview image. When that happens, Studio shows a placeholder in its place — the capture date and time still display, and the other frame is unaffected.
When the range has no captures
If your selected range holds no captures at all, Studio replaces the frames with a message saying so, along with a Change dates button. That button opens the Configuration panel so you can pick a range that covers marked capture days. See Choosing a date range in Studio.
Good to know
- The frames refresh on every feed switch and every range change, so what you see always matches the current selection.
- If the frames fail to load, Studio shows a Retry — this is a display issue, it does not affect your saved settings or the render.
Common questions
Is this the video preview? No. The frames show the start and end of the range, not the rendered result. Any filters you apply are not reflected here.
One frame shows a placeholder — is something wrong? No. That single capture just has no usable preview image. The capture is still counted in the video, and the date and time still show.
Related articles
Creating a timelapse video in Studio
Use Studio to turn a feed's captures into a finished timelapse video — pick a feed, set the date range and output, preview the span, then export to your project's reports.
Choosing a date range in Studio
How Studio's calendar marks capture days, why a timelapse range must start and end on a day your camera captured, and how the quick options work.