Zoom along with Runway’s digital zoom-in tool

Of all the post-production techniques used to captivate an audience, zooming in is a dependable classic. This useful and sometimes necessary tool can focus viewers’ attention, add dramatic flair to emotional moments, or quickly crop out a busy background. Filmmakers often use the zoom tool in on a keyframe to:

• Bring the subject to the forefront of viewers’ screens
• Reveal hidden or intimate details in the backdrop of environments
• Build suspense
• Underscore comedic reactions
• Add a sense of movement to still images
• Intensify the emotions displayed on-screen by emphasizing imagery or facial expressions

The TL;DR? There are plenty of reasons to try out this technique in your own creative and professional work.
If you’re wondering how to zoom in on something in a video—or feel sick of downloading and reformatting footage through different software—Runway is the one-stop-shop for intuitive, efficient edits. Get familiar with the zoom-in technique and let Runway’s limitless technology take your creativity to the next level.

Although zooming in on a key frame is a simple editing technique, it comes with key benefits—especially when it comes to shaping your audience’s perception and taking the reins of your story.
When you zoom in on a part of your video file, you can highlight a character, add comedic relief, or alter viewers’ impressions of a scene. It’s kind of like saying, “Look here! Now! This is important!”
Whether you want to focus on a specific feature to elicit a reaction or create a sense of dynamic movement, zooming in is an impactful tool that can help you communicate your message.

While resizing and zooming in both change the bounds of your clip, zooming in is considered an artistic technique that can be achieved manually during filming or digitally during post-production. Resizing, on the other hand, is a functional technique that happens during the editing process.
Both zooming in and resizing can change an audience’s impression of a shot and add a layer of sophistication and impact to your video. Runway includes resizing and zoom effects in its all-in-one editing suite so that you can experiment with both features seamlessly without sacrificing quality.

The perfect zoom-in is in the eye of the beholder. Or the camera holder.
While digitally zooming in allows creators to achieve precise results after the fact, manually zooming in with your camera’s lens offers a chance to hone technical skills in the moment.
Traditional filmmakers have relied on camera lenses that manually zoom for generations. Even with the advent of digital technology, many find physically zooming in an essential and rewarding part of their job. Consider a passionate documentarian, instinctively focusing their lens on a captivating subject.
If you don’t have the resources or time to perfect the manual zoom, digitally zooming in is a foolproof way to ensure your clip lives up to its potential. Working off pre-existing footage allows creators to manipulate their images to their heart’s content without the pressure of getting a good take or perfecting their zoom optics while shooting. If you want to ensure your clip comes out exactly how you dreamed it up, Runway’s digital zoom-in feature is the most reliable option.

It depends. The quality of an image, otherwise known as image resolution, is based on the number of pixels captured by the camera. When you digitally zoom in on an image, you’re enlargening each pixel to fill your frame. With lesser editing equipment, this can cause your clip to look blurry or warped.
Before the era of Runway, digital zooms had the potential to fuzz up your image. Luckily we’ve engineered a browser-based editing studio that settles for nothing less than crystal-clear quality. Our technology mimics a traditional zoom (achieved manually with a camera’s moveable focal lens) to preserve the integrity of your clip and eliminate extra image noise. This means that you can take your footage to the next level with zooms that preserve your clip’s original clarity.

Now that you know how to zoom in on a video, you’re probably wondering what other magic you can make in your film. There are plenty of editing techniques creators use to engage viewers, and considering how effortless Runway makes them all, it’s worth your time to experiment with each of them.

• Multitrack audio editing – Using the zoom effect to add suspense? Since the silver screen's inception, composers have been raising goosebumps and riveting viewers through scores, sounds, and songs. Try our multitrack audio editor to overlay dramatic moments with a startling stinger that’ll make every jump scare legendary. Create nostalgia by weaving timely classic tunes throughout your period piece, or introduce your main subject with a bonafide fanfare. Whatever audio your project desires, Runway makes it easy to build a custom sonic landscape.
• Filters – For an eye-catching video, consider pairing your zoom effort with a filter. Zoom into a trippy dream sequence with a black-and-white filter or tap into your protagonist’s subjective experience with a nostalgic, sepia-tinged tone. Or boost saturation for a vibrant pop. Overlay retro transparent patterns, pop-art-inspired colors, and dynamic zoom-ins for a final product that’s as mind-bending as it is inviting.
• Captioning and subtitles – Just as zooming in brings your audience closer, subtitles make your audience broader. Runway’s innovative AI automatically generates subtitles so precisely, that you’ll save hours painstakingly editing your results. You can also easily generate closed captions, which include the background noise as well as dialogue. Getting your work noticed is simpler when even more people have the option to engage, and including subtitles ensures that sound isn’t an obstacle for those looking to experience your work.

Feeling inspired to start video editing? Want to try testing other video effects, such as transition, rotation, slow motion, etc.? Whether you're uploading a YouTube video, Instagram video, TikTok video, or any other social media video, Runway is here to take the nitty-gritty grunt work out of editing by realizing your vision through AI. That means you can spend less time learning how to zoom in on a clip or how to create captions and more time sharing your creative vision.