Zoom in on part of your video

Use a zoom to bring part of your screen up close, such as a button, a line of code or a number you want people to see. Zooms live on the zoom track in the web editor's timeline, and each one has its own target and scale.

Note:

This page is about the web editor. To zoom live while recording with the extension, see Zoom while recording.

Add a zoom

Zooms apply to screen recordings, so the scene needs a screen. In a scene without one, the Zoom panel asks you to record or upload a screen recording first.

1. Select the scene, then open Zoom in the toolbar.
2. On the zoom track in the timeline, select where you want the zoom to start. Screenity adds a zoom about three seconds long, or shorter if another zoom is in the way. To choose the length yourself, drag along the track instead.
3. You can also move the playhead and select Add zoom in the panel, or press Z.

A zoom is at least one second long, and zooms never overlap. If you add one where there is no room, nearby zooms shrink to make space. When there is no space at all, Screenity tells you there isn't enough room.

Set where it zooms and how close

Select a zoom on the timeline. Moving the playhead into a zoom selects it too.

• Drag the circle on the preview in the Zoom panel to set where the zoom looks. You can also select a spot on the preview to move it there.
• Use Scale to set how close the zoom gets. A new zoom starts at 150%.

Then play it back to check the result. The panel locks while the video is playing, so pause first if you want to change a setting.

Move, resize or delete a zoom

• Drag a zoom along the track to change when it happens.
• Drag either edge of a zoom to change how long it lasts. An edge sticks to the next zoom when you bring them close together.
• To delete a zoom, move the playhead into it and press ⌫, or use the trash icon at the top of the Zoom panel.

Zooms that follow each other

Two zooms that touch flow straight from one to the next, so the picture moves to the new spot without going back to the full view first. If there is a gap between them, the first zoom eases back out to the full view and the second zooms in again.

Closing the gap is how you choose which one you get. Drag the zooms so they meet for a continuous move, or leave space between them to show the full screen in between. A very small gap closes up on its own, so the picture doesn't zoom out and back in within a few frames.

Camera, 3D and animation options

These appear in the Zoom panel once a zoom is selected.

• 3D effect tilts the screen during the zoom. Turn it on to set Tilt X, Tilt Y and Tilt Z.
• Camera zoom makes your camera scale a little with the zoom, and Depth sets how strong that is. It's only available when the scene has a camera and the layout shows it.
• Animation → Preset sets how the zoom moves, with a choice of Cinematic, Snappy, Bouncy, Smooth or Premium.

Open the More menu at the top of the panel to apply the selected zoom's camera and animation settings to every zoom in the scene or in the whole video, or to choose whether the timeline shows words and thumbnails.

Automatic zooms

When a new recording finishes, Screenity adds zooms for you so the video follows what you clicked. Clicks close together in time and position are grouped into one zoom. Each zoom starts a moment before the click, moves to where you clicked, then eases back out, and zooms are spaced apart so the picture doesn't keep jumping.

They appear on the zoom track like zooms you add yourself, so you can move, resize or delete them the same way. To get the originals back, choose Restore original zooms in this scene from the More menu.

Note:

Automatic zooms come from clicks the extension records on regular web pages in Chrome. These don't get any:

• Instant recordings and camera-only recordings.
• Clicks outside the browser, on chrome:// pages or the Chrome Web Store, or inside embedded frames.
• Clicks on Screenity's own toolbar, or while the drawing tool or blur is on.
• In a region recording, clicks outside the region.

To stop Screenity adding them to new recordings, turn on Disable automatic zooms in Settings → Preferences. You can still add zooms by hand in the editor, and videos you've already recorded stay as they are. See Set recording and sharing preferences.

To change how a scene is arranged rather than zoomed, see Choose a layout for your camera and screen.