How do you zoom in (animated) on a portion of your canvas?

Question

I'm using After Effects to create a Motion graphic and I would like to make the animation zoom in on a specific point, do something and then zoom out again.

To clarify what I exactly try to achieve: I'm animating a browser and I would like to zoom in on the URL bar, type an URL and then zoom out and work on just like before zooming.

One option is to scale all the visible layers, so it looks zoomed, but that's a strange way to achieve the zooming effect, I think.

What's your advice?

Answer 1

Here's what I would do...

• Create a camera
• Create a null object
• Set the parent of the null object to be the camera
• Make the null object a '3D' object
• Use the null object's properties to zoom and move the camera around, e.g. use the 'z' position to zoom

You could do this with the camera by itself, but the null object is sometimes easier to deal with. Ease in and out of the keyframes for a smooth animation. I hope this helps!

Answer 2

You can simply scale the layer (or a null object) to get something like:

• Click on the stop watch of the position and scale properties of the layer at the first frame (to enable the properties: select the layer, hit S followed by Shift+P)
• Move 10-20 frames ahead
• Scale your layer
• Edit the position property or simply dragging the layer in the viewer to set the desired end position value
• Sharpen the layer (Effect Panel > Sharpen)
• Optional: Enable Motion Blur (for the layer and the composition property)

Project file

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Note: Also check if your OS supports HiDPI mode for a better screenshot:

• HiDPI on Linux: https://blogs.gnome.org/alexl/2013/06/28/hidpi-support-in-gnome/
  
• HiDPI on OSX: https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/48433/enable-hidpi-on-23-imac
  
• HiDPI on Win: http://www.tekrevue.com/tip/chrome-high-dpi-mode/