Backgrounds and the look

Open the Background tab (⌘1).

Choose a background

• Wallpaper: Slyve’s original picture and procedural collections. Search by name or collection, mark a favourite, or use Surprise me.
• Gradient: a preset, or your own two colours.
• Colour: one solid colour.
• Image: your own picture. Choose image… picks one. Downloaded photos appear in My library here too.

Mark the ones you like with Add to favourites.

Optional Unsplash photos

Unsplash search is off until an access key is configured on this Mac. Create an app at Unsplash Developers, then place a config.json file containing {"unsplash_access_key":"YOUR_ACCESS_KEY"} at ~/Library/Application Support/studio.slyve.app/background-library/config.json. Keep this file private; no key belongs in a project or the app repository.

In Image, type search words and press Search Unsplash. The search sends those words to Unsplash and loads result thumbnails from Unsplash. Press Download on a result to save the photo in My library and apply it. The photo credit links to the photographer and Unsplash; opening a link opens your browser. Slyve never sends your recording, camera, audio or transcript. Cached photos work offline, and an applied photo is embedded in the .slyve project, along with its credit, so it travels with a shared project. Undo restores the previous background.

Gradients receive a subtle stable dither in preview and export to reduce visible bands in dark ramps. It does not guarantee that every encoder or bitrate will be band free.

Frame the recording

Set the padding around the recording, how round its corners are and its shadow. Padding and corners start linked. Under More, choose Unlink padding to set Top, Right, Bottom and Left separately; choose Unlink corners to set Top left, Top right, Bottom right and Bottom left. Click a value, type a whole number and press Return. Padding keeps the project’s existing units: on new recordings it is a percentage of the recording’s mean side. The preview and export use the same values. Link returns to the single slider value. Each change can be undone with ⌘Z.

Shadow sets how strong the shadow is. Under More, set its Angle (0° casts it to the right, 90° straight down), its Distance from the recording and its Softness. Each slider has a Reset back to the default, and each change can be undone with ⌘Z. They appear on recordings made with the current canvas units.

Video entrance and exit

Open More at the foot of the Background card. Under Video entrance and exit, choose how the recording comes in at the start and goes out at the end:

• None: the card is simply there. The default.
• Fade: the card fades in from the background, or out to it.
• Lift: the card rises into place from a little below while it fades in, or rises away while it fades out.
• Settle: the card settles down from a little larger, or sinks back a little as it leaves.

The entrance and the exit each have their own Length (150–1500 ms) and a Preview button that plays it. The card’s frame, shadow, privacy masks and cursor move with it; the background, camera and elements stay put. The export draws exactly what the preview shows. With Reduce Motion on, a lift or settle plays as a plain fade. Every change is one undo step.

Brand kit

Keep your logo, two colours and a font in Settings › Editing & export › Brand kit. Turn it on and new recordings start with that look. Apply brand kit gives an existing project the same look.

Hide desktop icons

⌥⇧D covers your desktop icons with your wallpaper while you record, so they never show. Press it again to bring them back.