Blackmagic Forum

Hello,

I like the Dynamic Zoom feature but wonder how one holds the final zoom position or delays the beginning of the zoom. Right now if you use Dynamic Zoom the zooming begins at the very start of the clip and ends at its end. But so often one wants to hold the zoomed-in shot at the end of the zoom or begin the zoom well into the shot. I can see how you can delay the start of the zoom: just make a break in your clip and the zoom will start at that point, but I've yet to figure out a way to continue the zoomed clip at the point of full zoom. Can't imagine the answer is to make a break there and then crop the rest of the clip to match the positioning and degree of zoom that's just come before. Possible I suspect but a lot of work trying to match the on-going clip's crop with the final position of the zoom in the section of the clip before it.



Thanks.

John

If you want a lot of control of your zoom parameters, it would probably best to avoid using the dynamic zoom and just manually keyframe the zoom so you can set it up anyway you like.

Thanks Eric.

Now any hints where in the manual I begin to figure out where and how to keyframe zooming, etc.?

John

Use Razor to cut the clip at the start or end points of your zoom.
Then apply the Dynamic Zoom to that part of the clip.

Jack Swart wrote:.....Use Razor to cut the clip at the start or end points of your zoom...

That's a Matched Frame Edit! Odd how old traditions die hard. MFE was always something best avoided with video tape editing. (unless you had Shotlister and 2 field precision...)

I would wager not too many people on this forum understand that ancient term Craig.
Curiously a razor was used to physically splice video tape before even your and my time.

Jack Swart wrote:Use Razor to cut the clip at the start or end points of your zoom.
Then apply the Dynamic Zoom to that part of the clip.

The problem with that is he is zooming in with the Dynamic Zoom, once he goes to the next clip it will zoom back out, he wants it to stay zoomed in the same way the Dynamic Zoom ends with.

Not it does not. I just tried it.
The zoom should start at a cut or end at a cut.
If those cuts are made by Razor, it will still work correctly.
You need to razor the required bit of the clip before applying the Dynamic zoom.
You must start or end the zoom at a cut to another shot or it will jump.
Hope I have explained this clearly.

John Whiteway wrote:Thanks Eric.

Now any hints where in the manual I begin to figure out where and how to keyframe zooming, etc.?

John

Just click on the clip, make sure the Inspector is enabled, button is on the upper right. Then under the zoom click the diamond shape next to the x and y parameters. Then whenever you make a change to the zoom parameters you will create a keyframe. There are also tutroials on Youtube that go over keyframe animation in Resolve and Fusion.

Jack Swart wrote:Not it does not. I just tried it.
The zoom will start at a cut and end at a cut.
If those cuts are made by Razor, it will still work correctly.

The zoom will end at a cut, but if it is zoomed in close on something, it will then go back to the normal unzoomed state of the next clip following the razor cut. He wants it to stay zoomed in after the cut. I just tried it, that is exactly what happened.

I have two screenshots below, one is right before the end cut where it is zoomed in on the car name, the next is just after the cut where it is zoomed out again.

I see your problem now.
Let me get back to you.

On the 3rd clip activate the dynamic zoom overlay so you can see the start and end green and red rectangles.
Put the playhead at the start of the 3rd clip.
Grab the green rectangle and drag it to the same size and position as the red one.
That makes the 3rd clip do a zoom from the same place to the same place, that being the end point of the zoom on the 2nd clip.
I do love workarounds on a Sunday morning with too little coffee

Hi,

Don't think now that dynamic zoom will work in the circumstances I described - after the blade cut the clip jumps back to its pre-zoomed dimension. Think I'll have to learn the route you suggested, Eric - keyframes in Transform in the Inspector, etc.

I did find a YouTube demonstration after I last posted that helps and has set me on the way. Maybe I'll figure it out this evening, but I'm suspecting you'll have to apply Bezier curves at the keyframes to ease the zoom in and out. Really did like that dynamic zoom could be set to do that for you.

Thanks again Eric and all you other folk who have posted responses to my question.

John

John Whiteway wrote:Hi,

Don't think now that dynamic zoom will work in the circumstances I described - after the blade cut the clip jumps back to its pre-zoomed dimension. Think I'll have to learn the route you suggested, Eric - keyframes in Transform in the Inspector, etc.

I did find a YouTube demonstration after I last posted that helps and has set me on the way. Maybe I'll figure it out this evening, but I'm suspecting you'll have to apply Bezier curves at the keyframes to ease the zoom in and out. Really did like that dynamic zoom could be set to do that for you.

Thanks again Eric and all you other folk who have posted responses to my question.

John

You're welcome.

You might try this YouTube video for help with keyframe animation, actually the whole channel has great tutorials. It is based on Resolve 12 and 12.5 but most of the tips are helpful with 15.

This would be a nice additional feature if they added the ability to offset the start and/or end of the dynamic zoom.

Until then, you can hack the desired effect by using bits of the suggestions that have already been made:

1. Select the primary clip and ...
   
   • Enable Dynamic Zoom
   • Set the desired zoom extremes
   • Cut the master clip into 3 subclips using the desired zoom start and end frames
2. Select the now 1st subclip and ...
   
   • [Swap] the Dynamic Zoom - so the zoom at the split matches exactly
   • Resize the Red guide box (approximately) to the size of the Green
3. Select the now 3rd subclip and ...
   
   • [Swap] the Dynamic Zoom - so the zoom at the split matches exactly
   • Resize the Red guide box (approximately) to the size of the Green

If the zoom will start at 100%, then you can just cut the master clip at the zoom start -- and then apply the same Set / Cut / Swap principles to the 2ndary clip.

The nice thing about the above is that you still maintain the keyframelessness of the Dynamic Zoom - and can Slide Trim the Zoom Start and End frames whist maintaining the zoom scaling extremes.

John Whiteway wrote:Hello,

I like the Dynamic Zoom feature but wonder how one holds the final zoom position or delays the beginning of the zoom. Right now if you use Dynamic Zoom the zooming begins at the very start of the clip and ends at its end. But so often one wants to hold the zoomed-in shot at the end of the zoom or begin the zoom well into the shot. I can see how you can delay the start of the zoom: just make a break in your clip and the zoom will start at that point, but I've yet to figure out a way to continue the zoomed clip at the point of full zoom. Can't imagine the answer is to make a break there and then crop the rest of the clip to match the positioning and degree of zoom that's just come before. Possible I suspect but a lot of work trying to match the on-going clip's crop with the final position of the zoom in the section of the clip before it.
Thanks.

John

Hello John,

Try this :

In Edit Tab: The easiest way is to open the Keyframe panel of a clip (1). Then click on the icon (2) and select zoom X, Y (they are linked by default).

Then position the TL where one wants a start Keyframe zoom and click on the icon (KF).

Then position the TL where one wants a new Keyframe end zoom and click on the icon (KF).

With the mouse drag up / down to zoom + -. From left to right to accelerate or frain the zoom effect. (If you want to right click on the KF to have Bezier curves).

Thank you to all of you who have suggested various ingenious ways to work around Dynamic Zoom and solve the problem I described in my initial post. Hopefully, as one of you suggests, Resolve will incorporate a solution in a future update to the Dynamic Zoom function that will make the solution to my problem one of its functions. Till then I think I'll try to figure out how to do all this using the Transform box and keyframes of the Inspector.

Thank you Eric Eisenmann for your thoughts and the link you gave me to that video. I learned a lot from it. Amazing how just one little observation in a tutorial can open things up. Here it was drawing attention to the keyframe icon at the bottom right of the video clip: open it and all keyframes and the types of keyframe you've selected become visible. Open the other window, via the second icon at the bottom right of the video clip, highlight one of the keyframe rows above and one can apply Besier curves.

John

John Whiteway wrote:Thank you to all of you who have suggested various ingenious ways to work around Dynamic Zoom and solve the problem I described in my initial post. Hopefully, as one of you suggests, Resolve will incorporate a solution in a future update to the Dynamic Zoom function that will make the solution to my problem one of its functions. Till then I think I'll try to figure out how to do all this using the Transform box and keyframes of the Inspector.

Thank you Eric Eisenmann for your thoughts and the link you gave me to that video. I learned a lot from it. Amazing how just one little observation in a tutorial can open things up. Here it was drawing attention to the keyframe icon at the bottom right of the video clip: open it and all keyframes and the types of keyframe you've selected become visible. Open the other window, via the second icon at the bottom right of the video clip, highlight one of the keyframe rows above and one can apply Besier curves.

John

You're welcome, glad I could be of some help.

Now Eric if I could ask you one more question. If while working in the Inspector I also select the Transform icon from the menu at the bottom left of the Viewer screen I get a pattern appearing that overlays the clip showing a linear description of the zoom/pan and its progress. I've yet to figure out why it's there or how one is to take advantage of it while zooming and panning, etc. Any thoughts, or do you know of any video that might discuss this function?

Thanks.

John

Thanks too Jean Claude for your reply. It's extremely clear in every respect and that's what it takes to make the point.

Hello,

Hello,

From memory, I'm the first to mention Goat's Eye View channel on YT . It's a bit old but still relevant.
I advise anyone who discovers Davinci Resolve to follow all tutorial of this channel. There are many, many answers to all the questions that can be asked.

John Whiteway wrote:Now Eric if I could ask you one more question. If while working in the Inspector I also select the Transform icon from the menu at the bottom left of the Viewer screen I get a pattern appearing that overlays the clip showing a linear description of the zoom/pan and its progress. I've yet to figure out why it's there or how one is to take advantage of it while zooming and panning, etc. Any thoughts, or do you know of any video that might discuss this function?

Thanks.

John

It's main reason for being there is if you don't like using the Inspector and its scrolling left/right to change values or entering them numerically. If you are more of a visual user, you can manipulate the widgets directly on the viewer to create your zoom and pan, there is also one for crop in the dropdown.

Hello,

And we can also do the 2: have the KF panel and use the inspector

Thanks again for the replies.

Eric, I am now playing around trying to figure exactly how to manipulate those lines that appear on the Viewer screen. I'm getting an idea but I suspect it will take a lot more experimenting before I figure out exactly how to manipulate and use them.

Jean, thanks for that suggestion to go to the Goats channel. I've seen various of their videos in the past but have never really looked at the whole range of topics they cover. I'll do that shortly.

As I plug away trying to figure this all out new questions pop up. One that's puzzling me now concerns a difference between using Dynamic Zoom v.s. Inspector/Transform to make changes. Dynamic Zoom ties changes in zoom and position. If you select "ease in" and or "ease out" it works for both, the efffect is smooth. When trying to create the same movements using Inspector/Transform you can right-click the key frames for zoom amd select "ease in" and "ease out" (or add besier curves). But doing this will distort any position change you are also making. (If you right-click on the position key frames you will always, or at lease I have only ever seen the single option "linear".)

Am I missing something here?

Thanks.

John

You are right about the Position keyframes lack of Bezier curves, this has been an ongoing issue that has been brought up a lot but has yet to be remedied.

It would be a nice hope Eric that Resolve tweaks the Dynamic Zoom funtion so that it allows one to continue a clip at the chosen zoom and position. Nice because of the things, like smooth easing in and out, that Dynamic Zoom already offers, while Inspector/Transform does not.

What I really like most about Dynamic Zoom, though, is the compositional clarity it gives you. With those red and green boxes you can see before you both the initial and final compositions and the path that will be taken by these changes to zoom and position; on that same page you can see and judge and then settle on the compostion of the intial shot and final shot - being able to do that is a great asset.

John

John Whiteway wrote:It would be a nice hope Eric that Resolve tweaks the Dynamic Zoom funtion so that it allows one to continue a clip at the chosen zoom and position. Nice because of the things, like smooth easing in and out, that Dynamic Zoom already offers, while Inspector/Transform does not.

What I really like most about Dynamic Zoom, though, is the compositional clarity it gives you. With those red and green boxes you can see before you both the initial and final compositions and the path that will be taken by these changes to zoom and position; on that same page you can see and judge and then settle on the compostion of the intial shot and final shot - being able to do that is a great asset.

John

I agree, adding a little more functionality into it would make it even better and more useful.

It's hard to line up the red and green frames precisely enough to avoid a jump cut. As a new user, I imagined
there would be a solution similar to the one in Imovie... a button which switches between start and end frames, so that, after you make the razor cut, you can switch the end frame to become the start frame for the next clip. I have looked in vain for this feature, but cant find it. I suggest it would be an easy thing to add.

This is a very clear 10-minute tutorial on zooming with key frames.

Hello,

Interesting Youtube video on the use of key frames. Certainly that approach allows you to zoom into a section of your initial frame and stay there. The problem though is easing in and easing out. Unless I'm missing something the key framing method does not allow that. You can ease in/out of the speed of the zoom but if you are also changing the framing you get what I can only call retrograde motions. If there is a way around this I'd sure like to know.

So, Dynamic Zoom is great for zooming or panning within a frame if you are happy to have this motion go right to the end of the clip. And with Dynamic Zoom you do not get the retrograde motion I mention above; the zoom/pan will move smoothly to the new framing with all or any easing in/out that you want. (Plus, of course, you have the great advantage with the red and blue squares of being able to see both your beginning and ending points, and this makes composing compositional changes much easier.

Key Framing does allow you to zoom into a new frame position and stay there, but as far as I can see being able to do this is balanced by the loss of the ability to smoothly ease in/out, and certainly if you are wanting to remain on the final zoomed-in frame being able to ease in is essential.

Perhaps I'm missing something in all this but I don't think so.

John Whiteway wrote:Interesting Youtube video on the use of key frames. Certainly that approach allows you to zoom into a section of your initial frame and stay there. The problem though is easing in and easing out. Unless I'm missing something the key framing method does not allow that.

You can change the S-curve dynamics by right-clicking on the keyframe itself in the keyframe editor (on the Color page) and change the start and end ramp. I agree, it's not the same thing as Ease-in and Ease-out, but it's close. I wish they'd add this feature to Resolve, and it has been on the request list for awhile.

Thanks Marc, I'll check that out.

My hope is that it's the Dynamic Zoom function that they change. Don't know all that might be involved in tinkering with the key frame route, but in Dynamic Zoom it would simply be a way of allowing one to end a zoom within a clip and continue on with that framing. As I've mentioned, I love Dynamic Zooms for its abilty with those two squares to allow you to carefully plot out the compositional change that will take place - you can see at the same time both beginning and ending compositions, etc.