Editing
Zooms
Pushing into the work: automatic zooms, adding your own, and the angle and focus of each.
Where zooms come from
Prequel adds zooms on its own the first time a recording opens, one for each place you clicked or typed. That needs the Accessibility permission to have been granted while recording. The wand in the editor's header runs the pass again for anything not already covered.
You can add your own in three ways:
- Press Z, or click Add Zoom in the transport, to add one at the playhead.
- Drag across an empty stretch of the zoom row, under the clips, to draw one.
- Right-click an existing zoom and choose Duplicate.

Drag a zoom to move it, drag its ends to change how long it lasts, and press Backspace to delete the selected one. Every change plays the zoom's span once in the composition so you can see what it did.
The Zoom tab
Selecting a zoom swaps the Inspector for the zoom's own three tabs.

- Follow: Cursor keeps the pointer in view as the zoom moves with it; Region holds a fixed area you choose on the map.
- Level is how far in to go.
- Speed is how long the push in and pull out take.
- Ease: Smooth, Linear, Slow in or Slow out, with a curve you can drag for anything in between.
The Angle tab
A zoom can tilt the picture in three dimensions as it pushes in.

- Perspective presets: Flat, Lean back, Lean in, Left, Right and Hero.
- The Angles pad sets tilt and yaw together by dragging.
- Depth, Tilt and Yaw set each on its own.
The Focus tab
- Blur around softens everything outside a sharp region while the zoom is in.
- Sharp area sets how large that region is, and Strength how soft the rest becomes.
- Vignette darkens the edges.
Frequently asked questions
- How do I add a zoom by hand?
- Press Z or click Add Zoom to add one at the playhead, drag across an empty stretch of the zoom row to draw one, or right-click an existing zoom and choose Duplicate.
- Can a zoom follow the pointer?
- Yes. Set Follow to Cursor and the zoom moves with the pointer. Set it to Region to hold a fixed area you choose on the map.
- What do Angle and Focus do?
- Angle tilts the picture in three dimensions as the zoom pushes in, with presets like Lean in and Hero. Focus blurs everything outside a sharp region and can darken the edges with a vignette.