> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://dacruzdev.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Limits and Troubleshooting in ScreenshotKit

> Fixes and workarounds for common issues: resolution caps, AOV pipeline limits, transparency, GIF memory, video formats, and panoramas.

## Resolution cap: roughly 132.7 megapixels per capture

The largest capture is Full HD at 8x supersampling (15360 x 8640). Anything beyond this is rejected up front with a clear log message. At 16 bytes per pixel a capture near the cap peaks around 2 GB, so larger captures would run the editor out of memory inside the readback. To work around it: lower the **Size Multiplier**, or capture at base resolution and upscale externally. 8K (33 MP) and 4K at 2x SSAA (33 MP) fit comfortably; Full HD at 8x (132.7 MP) is the largest that fits, so anything beyond it, such as 4K at 8x, is rejected.

## AOV passes on the Built-in render pipeline

The lighting and data-buffer shaders are URP-targeted. On Built-in they fall back to a Diffuse render, so a request for **Normals** or **Motion Vectors** will produce a lit image instead. Switch to URP for full fidelity. HDRP is detected and reported but not actively supported.

## Transparent capture disables post-processing by default

The standard transparent path renders the camera with an alpha-cleared background, which Unity uses as a signal to skip post-processing. The **Post-Process Only** and **Hybrid** alpha sources work around this with a dual black-and-white render, so pick one of those if you need bloom or grading in a transparent screenshot.

## GIF recording memory cap

The in-memory frame buffer is capped at 512 MB. If your duration x resolution x frame rate would exceed that, the recorder caps the duration, logs a warning, and you get a partial GIF instead of a crash. To capture longer or higher-resolution GIFs, drop the resolution to Half or Quarter.

## GIF finalisation takes time

Encoding runs on a background thread after **Stop Recording**. The window stays responsive but the `.gif` file is written when encoding finishes, so wait for `OnEncodingComplete` or watch `EncodingProgress` when scripting.

## Simple RGB24 vs Multi-layer EXR Cryptomatte

Simple RGB24 produces hue-rotated PNGs that are not loadable as real Cryptomattes in Nuke / Fusion / AE; they are for thumbnail preview only. Use **Multi-layer EXR** for actual compositing.

## Recording requires Play Mode

`GifRecorder` and `SequenceRecorder` both refuse to start outside Play Mode and log an error. In the window you rarely notice: the Record tab's **Record** button enters Play Mode and starts the recording automatically, and the Gif tab offers **Auto-Record on Play**. Turntable video recording is the exception: it renders deterministically in Edit Mode.

## Video and GIF capture never stalls the frame

Frames are read back with `AsyncGPUReadback` (no `ReadPixels` pipeline stall) and handed to the encoder as raw buffers; the OS media backend encodes H.264 on its own worker threads. If the GPU falls behind, at most four readbacks stay in flight and further capture slots are skipped, so a heavy scene records with dropped frames instead of collapsing the frame rate. The recorder logs a warning and reports the drop count.

## Game speed changes while recording

Live video recording follows the **Pacing** switch above the Record button. **Gameplay** (the default) records in real time and caps the game's frame rate to the recording frame rate while a recording runs (restored on stop): frames above that rate would never reach the file and would only starve the capture and encode work of headroom. **Smooth** locks the engine clock to the frame rate for a perfectly even file, so game speed bends with rendering performance and a fast machine plays the game faster while recording. Turntable renders are deterministic and ignore the switch.

## VP8 is slow for live recording

WebM (VP8) encoding costs far more per frame than H.264. With **Prefer H.264 For Live** on (the default), live recordings without transparency automatically write MP4 (H.264) even when WebM is selected; turntable renders always honour the chosen format. Turn the toggle off in the **Record** tab's Output section to force VP8 live.

## Video quality and bitrate

The **Quality** preset in the Record tab sets the encoder's target bitrate: **Low** 5, **Medium** 8 (the default), **High** 10, and **Ultra** 25 Mbps. **Custom** exposes an explicit 1 to 200 Mbps slider.

## Panoramas skip post-processing

Cubemap rendering bypasses post-processing and screen-space effects; this applies to every equirect capture tool in Unity. `RenderToCubemap` also requires render pipeline support; if the capture fails, the error notes the active pipeline as the likely cause.

## Sequence folder collisions

If your sequence output folder already contains frames, the recorder warns but proceeds. Pick a new folder per take if you do not want previous frames overwritten.

## Clipboard support by platform

On Windows the clipboard holds both a universal bitmap and a PNG (transparency survives in apps that support it). macOS and Linux support is editor-only and best-effort; Linux needs `xclip` on the PATH.