Zoom In to Focus Attention

Zoom in or out on important parts of your video to draw attention to key actions or enhance difficult to view parts within a video.

Zoom-n-Pan

Quickly add zoom in, zoom out, and pan animations on the timeline.

Windows

Drag the playhead on the timeline to where you want the zoom to occur.
Select Animations > Zoom-n-Pan subtab.
Move and resize the zoom rectangle to get the desired effect. The area fills the canvas and displays what your viewers see.
A zoom animation appears on the timeline.
- To position when the animation occurs, drag the arrow.
- To change the animation duration, drag either end of the arrow.
To zoom out, drag the playhead where the zoom animation ends. Repeat steps 3 and 4 to zoom out or use the Scale to fit button to quickly zoom to full scale. A second animation arrow appears on the timeline.

Mac

Drag the playhead on the timeline to where you want the zoom to occur.
Click to select the media or group to apply the zoom and pan to.
Select Edit menu > Zoom-n-Pan. The Zoom and Pan Window appears. The highlighted area in the white rectangle is what your viewers see.
Complete any of the following options:
- Resize the white rectangle to zoom in or out. Yellow lines appear when the preview snaps to the canvas edge.
- Move the rectangle to pan across the canvas.
- Drag the Zoom slider or enter a percentage value to zoom in or out.
- Click Actual size to scale the video to 100% its original size.
- Click Scale to fit to display the entire media on the canvas.
An animation arrow appears on the timeline.
- To position when the animation occurs, drag the arrow.
- To change the animation duration, drag either end of the arrow.
Drag the playhead and repeat steps 4 and 5 to add more zoom and pan animations.

SmartFocus

SmartFocus™ collects data during recordings such as cursor movements, mouse clicks, and other actions and uses that to add zoom and pan animations to your media.

Note: SmartFocus can only be applied to .trec files using Camtasia version 2019 or later.

Select Animations > Animations subtab.
Drag the Smart Focus animation onto a .trec file on the timeline.

Tip: Apply SmartFocus first.

To apply additional zoom and pan animations manually, see Manually Apply Zoom Animations.

To help SmartFocus predict where to apply zoom and pan animations, follow the tips below during recording:

Slow down. Use slow, deliberate mouse movements.
Limit clicking. Do not randomly click around the screen or repeatedly click with the mouse.
Record at full screen dimensions and produce at smaller dimensions. SmartFocus is ideal for cases where you need to record at full screen or large dimensions, but want to produce the final video at smaller dimensions. For example, if you record a full screen application and then produce the final video for distribution on a smaller mobile device, the full screen recording is not clearly viewable at the original dimensions without zooming.

Note: After applying SmartFocus, a dialog appears with the option to change the editing dimensions of your video to a smaller size.
Record clips longer than 30 seconds. SmartFocus is optimized for recordings longer than 30 seconds. For shorter clips, manually add zoom and pan animations. See Manually Apply Zoom Animations.
Do not “talk” with the cursor. Do not move the cursor around or point at unnecessary areas on the screen as you speak. Try to keep the cursor still in the area of focus in the recording unless you are demonstrating a focused action.
Keep the cursor close when entering text. SmartFocus may not predict the correct action if you click in a text box, move the cursor to the other side of the screen, and then start talking. If you want the viewer to see what is typed into the text box, keep the cursor in or near the text box.
Use the mouse scroll wheel (if applicable). Try using the mouse scroll wheel instead of clicking and dragging on the scroll bar. SmartFocus may zoom in on the scroll bar instead of the content scrolling. For example, use the mouse scroll wheel when scrolling long web pages.

SmartFocus at Time (Mac Only)

SmartFocus at Time allows you to apply SmartFocus at a specific point in your video.

Drag the playhead on the timeline to where you want to apply SmartFocus.
Click the Animations tab.
Drag the SmartFocus at Time animation onto a .trec file on the timeline.

Manually Apply Zoom Animations

Manually apply zoom animations, for example after applying SmartFocus or when recordings are longer than 30 seconds.

Select the Animations tab > Animations subtab (Windows) or click the Animations tab (Mac).
Drag the Scale Up animation onto media on the timeline.
- To position when the animation occurs, drag the arrow.
- To change the animation duration, drag either end of the arrow.
Click Properties to customize the annotation. See Discover the Properties Panel.
- To adjust the zoom, move the playhead to the right of the arrow and drag the Scale slider.
To zoom out, drag the Scale Down or Scale to Fit animation onto the media on the timeline and adjust the location, duration, and properties of the animation.