How to Use Keyframes to Zoom In and Out in PowerDirector

A keyframe sets how a clip looks at one moment, and PowerDirector fills in the movement between two keyframes. In Pan / Zoom, keyframes let you zoom in toward the part of the frame you choose, hold the shot, and zoom back out. You get camera-style zooms from footage you've already shot.

Think of a keyframe as a note to PowerDirector: at this moment, the shot looks like this. You only describe two moments, such as "full frame" at the start of a clip and "zoomed in on the face" halfway through. The software then generates the movement between them.

Everything below happens inside Pan / Zoom. Double-click the clip to open the Edit panel, then click Pan / Zoom in the Tools list under the Video tab.

For a photo on the timeline, Pan / Zoom works a little differently. Double-click the photo, and on the Image tab under Tools click Pan / Zoom. Instead of keyframe buttons, you get a grid of motion templates such as Classic and Vertical Up. Pick one to apply it as is.

For the keyframe controls you use on a video clip, click Custom, the second tile in the grid. The Pan / Zoom window opens with the keyframe buttons under the preview, so the steps below work for the photo too.

Or click Advanced below the grid to set keyframes in Advanced Overlay Editing. Park the playhead and click the diamond beside Position / Size / Flip to add a keyframe. Then change the photo's size or position in the preview. The Position and Scale rows under the preview show every keyframe you've added.

A zoom needs a start and an end. If the zoom starts at the very beginning of the clip, PowerDirector has already put a keyframe there, so you can skip to Step 3.

For a zoom that starts partway into the clip, drag the playhead on the bar below the preview to the moment it should begin.

Click Add Keyframe, the diamond with a plus sign in the row of buttons under the preview. That pins the shot as it currently looks, so nothing drifts before the point you chose.

Now drag the playhead to the moment the zoom should finish. The zoom takes as long as the gap between your starting keyframe and this point.

Drag the corners of the blue focus area inward. Whatever is inside that box fills the frame, so a smaller box is a tighter shot. Changing the box while the playhead is parked adds a keyframe for you.

On the right, Aspect ratio locks the box to a shape such as 16:9. The Scale fields set its size as a number instead of a drag.

The white dot in the middle of the box is the center of the shot. Hover over it until the cursor turns into a cross, then drag to slide the framing. That turns a plain zoom into a push toward one side of the picture.

Drag the playhead to the moment the zoom-out should begin. Leave a gap after the zoom-in if you want the shot to hold still for a moment first.

Click Duplicate Keyframe, the double diamond just right of Add Keyframe. Then choose Duplicate from Previous Keyframe to copy the zoomed-in framing to this point.

Then drag the playhead to where the shot should be wide again. The zoom-out takes as long as the gap between the duplicated keyframe and this point.

Drag the corners of the blue area back out to the framing you want. Then click OK at the bottom right of the window to save the whole animation.

The row of diamonds under the preview is the whole animation, and the gaps between them matter most. A gap between two different values is movement, and a gap between two identical values is stillness.

To move a keyframe in time, drag its diamond along the bar under the preview. To change it, click the diamond so the playhead jumps to it, then adjust the blue area again. To remove it, click the diamond and then Remove selected keyframe, the diamond with a minus sign just left of Add Keyframe.

We tested these steps in PowerDirector 365 versions 23.5 and 25.0.10 on Windows.