Camera Zoom Animation

Changing the area a camera shows while keeping its exported image size.

Camera Zoom changes a camera's zoom over time. With it you can:

Zoom in or out: show a smaller area of the board so the shapes inside look larger, or a wider area so they look smaller, while keeping the pixel resolution of the camera's exported image. See How the zoom works.
Follow the zoom during playback: each block targets one camera, and the playback view follows the zoom while that camera is the active camera.
Chain zooms on a camera: each zoom starts where the camera's previous zoom block ended. See Before and after the block.

Creating it

Adds a block that animates the selected camera's zoom.

Operation:
1. Select one camera on the board.
2. In Animation mode, choose Camera Zoom in the Actions panel.
Result: a selected block starts at the playhead with a duration of 0 seconds and no zoom change yet:
- Set the end zoom: drag the side handles of the end frame on the board, or enter the end Zoom in the Attributes panel.
- Duration with Maintain speed (in the Timeline panel header):
  - Enabled: the block's duration adjusts to the zoom change, so a larger change takes longer.
  - Disabled: the duration stays at 0s and the zoom changes at once until you drag the block's end handle in the Timeline panel or enter a Duration.

Shows in emerald: Camera Zoom blocks use emerald (), like Scale blocks.
Uses camera handles: the start and end handles are shaped like a camera to distinguish them from shape Scale blocks.

The zoom indicator shows the camera's start frame and end frame on the board:

When it shows: appears while the block is selected, or for any selected camera while Show all animation indicators is on.
Set the end zoom: drag any of the four side handles on the end frame. The frame grows or shrinks around the camera's center and keeps its proportions.
Check the start zoom: the start frame shows the area for the start zoom, which you edit in the Attributes panel.

A Camera Zoom block's settings are in the Camera Zoom section of the Attributes panel:

Time: when the zoom starts and ends, in seconds. Each field is outlined while the playhead sits on that time.
Duration: the block's total length in seconds, including block pauses.
Speed: speed multiplier relative to the board's base camera zoom speed (50 percent per second by default). Changing it updates the block's duration:
- How it is measured: measures the zoom change as a percentage of the start zoom, so zooming from 1 to 2 is a 100% change and zooming from 1 to 0.5 is a 50% change.
Zoom: the zoom at the start and at the end of the block, using the same value as Zoom on the Cameras page. A higher zoom frames a smaller area of the board:
- Start zoom: begins where the camera's previous zoom ends. See Before and after the block.
- Multiple blocks selected: edits their end zoom together.
- With Maintain speed enabled: changing the zoom adjusts the block's duration, whether you type a value or drag a handle on the board.
Easing: how the zoom speeds up and slows down (Cubic in and out by default). See Easing.

Each Camera Zoom block connects to the camera's zoom before and after it:

Before the first block: the camera uses its own Zoom until its first Camera Zoom block starts.
After a block ends: the camera stays at the block's end zoom, and the next Camera Zoom block on that camera starts from there.
Editing the start zoom:
- On the first block: changing the start zoom resizes the camera around its center, so the camera uses that zoom until the block starts.
- On a later block: changing the start zoom updates the end zoom of the block before it, while that earlier block keeps its timing.
- When blocks overlap: you cannot edit a block's start zoom while an earlier zoom on the same camera is still running. Move the block after that earlier zoom first.
- With Maintain speed enabled: changing a block's start zoom adjusts that block's duration to match the new zoom change. The block can grow only up to the next zoom on that camera and must keep its own block pauses inside; if it hits either limit, its Speed adjusts instead.

Zooming a camera changes the board area it captures without changing the pixel dimensions of its output:

Resize the frame, keep the output pixels: the block changes the camera's W and H around its center while Exported image width and Exported image height stay fixed. A zoom of 2 on a camera that exports 1600 pixels wide frames an area 800 board units wide.
Keep parented shapes fixed in the view: shapes parented to the camera scale with the camera on the board so they keep their place and size inside its view, like a title or HUD overlay, while the board behind them zooms in or out. They scale with the camera even when another camera is active.
Follow the active camera: the playback view follows the zoom while the camera is active and See through active camera is on.

With a Camera Zoom block selected, the Actions panel shows:

Delete: removes the block. See Deleting animation.
Cut, Copy, and Paste: move or copy the block to another time or sequence. See Cut, copy, and paste blocks.
Reassign: moves the block to another camera. See Reassign targets:
- Keeps the framed width: the width of the board area at the end of the zoom stays the same, and the height follows the new camera's proportions.
- Updates zoom values: the start and end zoom values recalculate if the new camera has a different export resolution.
Create Block Pause: holds the zoom for a moment inside the block. See Block pauses.