Create smooth zoom effects with precise motion curves.
Control how the camera gets there, not just where it ends. Set zoom amount, horizontal and vertical focus, and a custom curve so a punch-in eases instead of jumping.
This is manual zoom motion. Reframe is for aspect ratio. Spotlight Me lights the subject and calms the edges inside the current frame.
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Frame · curve · result
1.0× → 1.30× → 1.0×
What is a zoom effect on video?
A zoom effect changes how much of the frame you see over time — pushing in on a detail, pulling back to the wide shot, or holding a punch-in. In Cubix, Zoom Curves is the keyframed version of that motion: scale, focus point, and easing on a curve, not a one-click crop to a new aspect ratio.
Control how the camera gets there, not just where it ends.
A hard scale change looks like a jump. Two keyframes with easing look like a move. The useful question is not “zoom or don’t zoom” — it is how far, toward which part of the frame, and how quickly the move settles.
The move, written as a curve
- Start at 1.0×
- Ease to 1.30× on the line
- Focus Center
- Hold, then return to 1.0×
Normal punch-in is 1.30×. You still aim it.
What Zoom Curves actually controls
- 01
Custom zoom curve
Drag points for time and zoom. Click to add, double-click to delete (keep at least two). Type starts-at, ends-at, zoom-to, and Smooth or Snap.
Drag points
- 02
Zoom amount and focus
Scale from 0.1× to 10×. Horizontal focus Left / Center / Right. Vertical focus Top / Center / Bottom.
0.1×–10×
- 03
Punch in
Mark a moment, or find moments from the audio. Intensity: Subtle 1.15×, Normal 1.30×, Strong 1.55×, Dramatic 1.85×. Snap speed: Snappy, Normal, or Slow.
1.15×–1.85×
- 04
Depth motion presets
Optional motion presets on top of the curve: Float, Ken Burns, Parallax, Orbit, Pan, Zoom In, Zoom Out, with travel and speed. These are Depth presets, not separate timeline layers.
Ken Burns / Parallax
- 05
Manual, not tracked
The Zoom panel does not follow a face. Subject-aimed punches live in other workflows. Here you aim the curve.
You aim it
How to add a smooth zoom in Cubix
- 1
Open Polish → Zoom
The panel is Movement, Punch in, and Depth. Movement is the curve. Punch in writes zoom keyframes on a marked moment. Depth applies a motion preset.
- 2
Set where the move should land
Choose zoom amount and the focus point so the punch-in ends on the part of the frame that matters — a face, a button, a line of UI.
- 3
Shape the curve
Open Custom zoom curve. Ease in, hold, ease out. Smooth interpolates; Snap is a faster settle.
- 4
Use Punch in for a marked beat
Park the playhead on the line, pick intensity and snap speed, or let Cubix suggest moments from the audio onsets. Every punch is still a curve you can edit.
Zoom motion controls
Movement is the manual curve. Punch in is a helper that writes the same keyframes. Depth is an optional motion preset that can run with the curve.
Mode
How you build the move.
Intensity
Punch-in scale.
Snap
How fast the punch settles.
On the curve
- 0.1×–10× zoom
- Horizontal focus
- Vertical focus
- Smooth or Snap
- Ken Burns / Parallax
Zoom Curves vs Reframe vs Spotlight Me
Reframe / Spotlight Me
“Change the frame, or keep the subject treated automatically.”
- Reframe: Fit, Fill, or auto-reframe for a new aspect ratio
- Spotlight Me: light the subject and calm the edges inside the current frame
- Reframe changes ratio. Spotlight does not.
Zoom Curves
“Animate scale on the shot you already have.”
- Keyframe zoom and focus
- Punch-in helpers with intensity and snap speed
- Optional Depth motion presets
- No live subject tracking on this panel
When a zoom should be drawn, not guessed
Tutorials
Push in on the control you are talking about, hold, then ease back so the viewer is not hunting the UI.
Creator videos
A 1.15×–1.30× punch on the claim, not on every sentence. Contrast is what makes the move readable.
Screen recordings
The useful zoom is aimed at a button or a line of code. Aim it with focus sliders, not with an automatic crop.
You aim the move. The curve fills the in-between.
Zoom Curves does not reframe the project to 9:16 and does not track a speaker. Those are other tools writing different results.
Cubix provides
- A keyframed zoom curve with easing
- Focus sliders and 0.1×–10× scale
- Punch in from the playhead or from audio onsets
- Depth motion presets such as Ken Burns, Parallax, and Orbit
You decide
- How far to push in
- Which part of the frame stays in view
- Whether the settle is Smooth or Snap
- When Reframe or Spotlight Me is the actual job
Zoom effect FAQs
A zoom curve is a graph of scale over time. Points set how zoomed in the picture is at each moment; Cubix interpolates the motion between them.
It is the same idea. Cubix stores zoom as keyframes (time, zoom, position, easing) and the panel calls that a custom zoom curve. You are editing those keyframes, not a separate engine.
Reframe changes aspect ratio and how the shot is fitted or filled. Zoom Curves animates scale inside the frame you already have. Use Reframe to make a vertical version. Use Zoom Curves to punch in on a line.
Spotlight Me lights the subject and calms the edges, with an optional slow push-in toward a detected center. Zoom Curves is manual motion you draw. Spotlight does not follow every frame; Zoom Curves eases a scale change you aimed.
No. The Zoom panel is manual focus plus optional audio-onset punches. Subject-aimed punches exist in other workflows such as Make it Pop. They are not this editor.
You are cropping the source. 4K punched into a 1080p export has room. On 1080p source, keep the zoom modest — Normal 1.30× is a typical talking-head punch.
Subtle 1.15× is a creep. Normal 1.30× is the usual talking-head punch. Strong 1.55× and Dramatic 1.85× are for a clear, obvious move.
Yes. The curve can go 1× → 1.3× → 1×. That hold-and-return is a normal Movement edit.
Depth is a set of motion presets — Ken Burns, Parallax, Orbit, pans — that can run with the zoom curve. They are not separate timeline layers, and they are not a replacement for the curve.
Punch in can find moments from the audio (onsets), then you pick intensity and snap speed. It is not a full beat-grid editor — that is Beat Edit.
Need the whole shot reframed for Shorts instead of a punch-in? Open Reframe
Punch in on the line that matters.Ease there. Hold. Ease back.
Draw the zoom curve, aim the focus, and keep every keyframe editable.
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