@Austin-Miseque

Welcome to MEP! Double-click on the image, then over on the extreme right hand side, just above the timeline, you'll see a tiny clock and an input box. That's the duration of the image. Change as required, then hit Enter. 👍

or...

Do you want to zoom in for say half the time then stop it for the rest?

Thanks for a super quick reply!

I'd like to set the zoom anywhere from half the time on a picture to maybe a second on a video if possible!

@Austin-Miseque

Sorry Austin, I still don't understand what you're after. Do you want a static zoom on a picture or a "live" zoom where as the movie plays, you zoom in on the picture, or do you want to change eg shorten the time that a picture (or video) plays for?

I'd like to be able to zoom in as the video plays for a brief amount of time and then unzoom.

@Austin-Miseque

Check this tutorial by @terrypin for what you want

https://www.magix.info/us/tutorials/how-to-create-ken-burns-effects--858590/

Below direct link to his video tutorial on YT

Thanks, it does seem quite a bit different than the 2021 version though!

Thanks, it does seem quite a bit different than the 2021 version though!

@Austin-Miseque, yes it does. But the same buttons and functions remains so you should be able to accomplish the same. Also note the little "graph" on the keyframe line. This is a function where you decide if the movement is constant, progressive or regressive, ie the motion starts slow and accelerate or starts fast and decelerate.

@Austin-Miseque

Sorry about that delay; had to get dinner!

Gotcha. Use the "Camera-Zoom" effect (I don't use Size position for this, because we're zooming, not resizing or positioning). In summary, use the keyframe feature to set 1/the start position, before the zoom-in starts, then you 2/set the position for the end of the zoom in, then 3/the finish of the zoomed-in portion of the video, then finally 4/the point at which the zoom-out finishes.

Click on the video object to highlight it.

Drag the Play Marker to the point where you want to start your zoom-in.

On the Effects tab, click on Camera/Zoom

Now we get into the juicy stuff. Set your first keyframe ie where the zoom-in commences by clicking on the white diamond with a Plus sign on it under the Effects tab.

You will note the white keyframe on the mini timeline above the main timeline in the position of the Play Marker.

Next, drag the Play marker along the timeline for the amount of time you want for the zoom-in eg 3 seconds. Now, set the zoom by dragging the selection box to the desired size, covering the desired area. As you do that, you'll notice that another keyframe, in the new position, has been created automatically. You can preview what the zoom looks like by clicking the Preview button at the top of the Camera/Zoom section; it flips between Preview and Edit.

Third, drag the Play marker along to the point where you want the zoom to start come off (don't change the size of the selection box). Because you won't be adjusting the size of the box here, you must set a keyframe manually. Click the white diamond with the plus sign. This will be the last anchor point for the zoomed-in portion of your video or image.

Now, lastly, drag the play marker along to the point where the Zoom-out will finish ie back to the original size. Then drag the selection box out to full size. The final keyframe will be added auto. Alternatively, to quickly reset the selection box to full, in Effects, click on Size and Position then click Movie Size (make sure you return to Camera/Zoom to see the position of the box for later editing). That's it.

Put the play marker back to the start and hit the space bar to watch.

You can modify everything you've done:

You can drag the keyframes along left or right to speed up or slow down the zooming;

Using the white left and right arrows, you can jump between keyframes and then adjust the size of the selection box.

Give it a shot!

@Austin-Miseque

After doing what @AAProds shows, switch to Size/Position to see what actually happens. You need to learn how to use Size/Position and keyframing because the Camera/Zoom shot feature is a simple way to do a few things. You may want to do things differently, so learn how to do it manually.

Once the Camera/Zoom shot is done, when you look at Size/Position you'll see the keyframes that were created. Click on one and you'll see the height, width and location X/Y of the upper right corner of the object. Click on another keyframe and you'll see different values. Click in between and you'll see different values. MEP calculates the values in between keyframes.

Keyframes can be used on most effects, which is why it is important to learn how to create and use them.

John CB

@browj2

Gday John, I'm not sure why people defer to Size/Position for this type of action. When I did that tute above, I didn't use any of the the "official" Camera/Zoom functions (eg Zoom to section, zoom from section); I did it as manually as I could do. MEP creates exactly the same keyframes as you would get with S/P (and you have to manually set the 1st and 3rd KF anyway), with the benefit of actually seeing the selection box to size and drag around.

The Camera/Zoom feature is, IMO, more intuitive. Take that other thread on panning across a long photo. No need for pixel values here or there, it can be set up entirely visually (and that's not using the C/Z preset effects, which do have their uses eg quick Ken Burns, but are limited). I can see there are scenarios where setting the exact pixel positions is desirable, but for a dynamic pan across an image or video, camera/Zoom is the way to go IMO.

More than one way to skin a cat, I suppose.

It would be better if Camera/Zoom was called "Pan/Zoom".

@AAProds

Hi,

I agree that Camera/Zoom is a very good and simple way to do a pan zoom. My point is that one should learn what it actually does by reviewing what occurred under Size/Position. I rarely do zoom/pans.

The big use of Size/Position is in overlays. If you want an image to fly in and resize, rotate, etc., you have to learn the basics. I use overlays a lot. Animated map background, overlay video showing the action (out the car window). Then the overlay image might zoom to full screen, and vice versa. Or, the overly image might reduce in size and fly off of the screen. Another example, I have an image pop up from a point on a map - zoom = 0 with the location XY and the point on the map, then zoom up to 40% but with the upper left corner located at the point of the map. These cannot be done using Camera/Zoom. One has to learn how to use keyframing for Size/Position and for other effects.

John CB

@Austin-Miseque

Sorry about that delay; had to get dinner!

Gotcha. Use the "Camera-Zoom" effect (I don't use Size position for this, because we're zooming, not resizing or positioning). In summary, use the keyframe feature to set 1/the start position, before the zoom-in starts, then you 2/set the position for the end of the zoom in, then 3/the finish of the zoomed-in portion of the video, then finally 4/the point at which the zoom-out finishes.

Click on the video object to highlight it.

Drag the Play Marker to the point where you want to start your zoom-in.

On the Effects tab, click on Camera/Zoom

Now we get into the juicy stuff. Set your first keyframe ie where the zoom-in commences by clicking on the white diamond with a Plus sign on it under the Effects tab.

You will note the white keyframe on the mini timeline above the main timeline in the position of the Play Marker.

Next, drag the Play marker along the timeline for the amount of time you want for the zoom-in eg 3 seconds. Now, set the zoom by dragging the selection box to the desired size, covering the desired area. As you do that, you'll notice that another keyframe, in the new position, has been created automatically. You can preview what the zoom looks like by clicking the Preview button at the top of the Camera/Zoom section; it flips between Preview and Edit.

Third, drag the Play marker along to the point where you want the zoom to start come off (don't change the size of the selection box). Because you won't be adjusting the size of the box here, you must set a keyframe manually. Click the white diamond with the plus sign. This will be the last anchor point for the zoomed-in portion of your video or image.

Now, lastly, drag the play marker along to the point where the Zoom-out will finish ie back to the original size. Then drag the selection box out to full size. The final keyframe will be added auto. Alternatively, to quickly reset the selection box to full, in Effects, click on Size and Position then click Movie Size (make sure you return to Camera/Zoom to see the position of the box for later editing). That's it.

Put the play marker back to the start and hit the space bar to watch.

You can modify everything you've done:

You can drag the keyframes along left or right to speed up or slow down the zooming;

Using the white left and right arrows, you can jump between keyframes and then adjust the size of the selection box.

Give it a shot!

Hey!

I've done all of that but I have one problem. Using preview on the 2021 version doesn't show any of the effects from editing, only once I export the video does it show them ( they do work though, thank you! )

@Austin-Miseque

Good stuff, Austin. To Preview, make sure the Edit/Preview button says "Edit". That means it's in Preview mode. Then drag the play marker along: you should see your zooming. Alternatively, if "Preview" is displayed (meaning it's in Edit mode), when you drag the play marker along, you should see the selection box moving in and out (indicating the zooming).

If that doesn't happen, it could be a bug?

Thanks, it does seem quite a bit different than the 2021 version though!

@Austin-Miseque

@shgrude

Hi Austin,

I’m late to the thread but just want to reassure you that, as @shgrude says, all the steps in my tutorial at

https://www.magix.info/us/tutorials/how-to-create-ken-burns-effects--858590/

remain fully valid in all subsequent versions of MEPP.

Using key frames within Size/Position gives you complete and intuitive editing flexibility over what part of your source you will see on the finished screen, at what size it will be zoomed, and at what speed you will move between views.

Terry

Thank you both!

I think there must be a bug of some sort on the latest software on the steam version. No effects show in the preview but they do show after I've exported the file!

@Austin-Miseque

Hi

Click the ... on the blue lightning symbol bottom right and ensure that the Deactivate effects is not checked ie as shown below

John EB

Having just watched Terry's tute, it is obvious to me that Size and Position, in this use, is exactly the same as Camera/Zoom. The critical point with using SP here is that you have to zoom in using the zoom slider, and there is no "resizing" or "positioning" going on at all. What is actually going on is simply cropping and panning on an expanded image.

I still reckon that for Ken Burns/panning and zooming, Camera/Zoom is easier because you can see and manipulate the selection box. Of course, you will be setting keyframes as you move the selection box about and they can be used in exactly the same way to control the timing of the movements and adjusting of the size of the selection box.

Perfect, thank you all for the help.

Is there any possible way to do multiple picture in pictures too? Like 3 smaller pictures within a larger one?

Sure. Just Size and Position each of them! Either manually (dragging), or numerically (doing the maths and entering your calculations).

It’s also sometimes effective to key-frame their entry and exit in a wide variety of ways.