> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://www.tella.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Add zooms and screen effects

> Add zooms in the editor's Effect tool (press E): select a range and click Add zoom, or click Generate to create zooms from recorded cursor movement. Zooms work on footage in a layout's Screen slot.

Add zooms in the **Effect** tool in the editor sidebar (press `E`), which was called **Zoom** until September 2026. A zoom draws attention to a detail in the footage shown in a layout's **Screen** slot: a screen recording, an uploaded video, or image or video B-roll used in a media layout. Looking for a control that used to be somewhere else? See [Where did the Zoom tool go?](https://www.tella.com/docs/help/faq/where-is-the-zoom-tool.md)

[https://www.tella.tv/video/vid\_cmvjsqg76005202nzemo9dsa8/embed?b=0\&title=0\&a=1\&loop=0\&t=0\&muted=0\&wt=0](https://www.tella.tv/video/vid_cmvjsqg76005202nzemo9dsa8/embed?b=0\&title=0\&a=1\&loop=0\&t=0\&muted=0\&wt=0)

## Open the Effect tool

1. Open your video in the Tella editor.
2. Click **Effect** in the sidebar, or press `E`.

The Effect timeline shows zoom, blur, and highlight cards over the clip's waveform, with transcript words underneath.

> [!NOTE]
>
> On a camera-only clip, you can use **Effect** while a media layout puts image or video B-roll in the **Screen** slot. If the clip has no screen recording and no Screen-slot media, the panel asks you to record your screen or add a media layout.

## Generate zooms automatically

[https://www.tella.tv/video/vid\_cmvweyhzd00a508jkdgcz2pt5/embed?b=0\&title=0\&a=1\&loop=0\&t=0\&muted=0\&wt=0](https://www.tella.tv/video/vid_cmvweyhzd00a508jkdgcz2pt5/embed?b=0\&title=0\&a=1\&loop=0\&t=0\&muted=0\&wt=0)

Auto Zoom can generate zooms from cursor movement recorded by the Tella Mac and Windows apps, or from a Chrome tab recorded with the Tella Chrome extension. Web recordings and Chrome extension recordings of a window or entire screen do not include cursor data for automatic zooms.

> [!NOTE]
>
> Single window recordings from the Windows app capture cursor data from version 0.15.0. Window recordings made with an earlier version have no cursor data, so Auto Zoom can't generate zooms for them. You can still [add zooms manually](#add-a-zoom-to-a-selected-range).

1. Open **Effect** on an eligible screen recording with no existing zooms.
2. In **Zooms**, click **Generate** (the sparkles button).
3. Choose a **Style**:
   * **Gentle:** the calmest style. Shallow zooms that ease in softly and start a little before your click.
   * **Subtle:** shallow zooms on your clicks that move slowly and smoothly.
   * **Moderate:** zooms follow your clicks as you work. This is the default style.
   * **Focused:** zooms settle quickly so content is easy to read.
   * **Intense:** deeper, snappier zooms that let go sooner.
4. Click **Generate** at the top. The menu stays open while you compare styles and closes after you generate the zooms.

Every style zooms in on groups of clicks and aims at the spots your cursor lingered on. Clicks in the last second of a clip don't start a zoom, and zooms end at least a second before the clip does.

Zooms are placed on the clip as it plays, with your cuts removed. Clicks in footage you've cut don't start a zoom, and clicks that end up close together after a cut share one zoom instead of zooming out and straight back in. The last second is measured from where the clip ends after its cuts. Zooms you've already generated don't move when you add cuts later; delete them and generate again to place them around your edits.

**Gentle**, **Subtle**, **Focused**, and **Intense** also set the [zoom animation style](https://www.tella.com/docs/help/editing/animation-style.md) to **Gentle**, **Smooth**, **Focused**, and **Snappiest**. The style is saved on the clip if it has its own zoom settings, otherwise on the whole video. **Moderate** clears the zoom animation style saved in that same place. A clip with its own zoom settings then uses the video's zoom animation style, and a video uses your [layout animation style](https://www.tella.com/docs/help/editing/animation-style.md#change-the-layout-animation-style).

Tella remembers the last style you chose, so your selection replaces Moderate as the default for future videos. You can move, resize, retarget, split, or delete generated zooms just like manual zooms.

If the recording is still uploading, **Generate** is unavailable until the upload finishes. If Tella finds no cursor data, **Generate** becomes unavailable and the **Zooms** panel explains why. You can still [add a manual zoom](#add-a-zoom-to-a-selected-range). A temporary error loading cursor data does not mark the recording as lacking it; try generating again if the request fails.

## Apply zooms automatically after recording

Turn on **Auto zooms** in Automated editing to add click-based zooms to eligible screen recordings automatically after you finish recording:

1. Click your workspace name in the top left of the sidebar and open **Settings**.
2. Go to **Preferences** under **Account**.
3. Under **Recording**, in **Automated editing**, check **Auto zooms**. Choosing **Auto edit** in the dropdown also turns it on.

Tella uses the last Auto Zoom style you selected in the editor. If you have not selected one, Tella uses **Moderate**. New recordings also start with the zoom animation style that style sets. Tella adds the zooms after the recording's uploads finish, and after any filler words and silences that [Automated editing](https://www.tella.com/docs/help/account/automated-editing.md) removes, so they may take a moment to appear in the editor. You can then adjust or remove them.

> [!NOTE]
>
> Auto zooms only works when the screen recording includes usable cursor click data. It does not add zooms to camera-only clips.

## Customize screen effects

The **Effect** panel keeps zooms, cursor styling, blurs, and highlights together. Under **Zooms**, expand **Advanced zoom settings** to control motion blur, camera shrinking, [zoom animation style](https://www.tella.com/docs/help/editing/animation-style.md), and clip-specific settings.

> [card] [Customize animated cursors](https://www.tella.com/docs/help/editing/customize-animated-cursor.md)
>
> Restyle the pointer, smooth its movement, and add click ripples.

> [card] [Add motion blur](https://www.tella.com/docs/help/editing/add-motion-blur.md)
>
> Soften fast zooms, pans, and cursor movement.

> [card] [Shrink the camera during zooms](https://www.tella.com/docs/help/editing/shrink-camera-during-zooms.md)
>
> Keep the screen clear while a camera bubble is visible.

If your video has several clips, motion and cursor styling use the video-wide settings unless you turn on **Adjust this clip only** under **Advanced zoom settings**. That checkbox only appears when the video has more than one clip. With video-wide settings, turning on **Cursor** enables it on the selected clip and on eligible clips that already have zooms. Tella skips clips recorded with **System**. Turn on **Adjust this clip only** first when you want to control only the current clip.

## Reuse effect settings in your next recording

When you change video-wide settings, Tella uses them as the starting point for your next Mac or Windows app recording made with **Animated**. Tella remembers:

* **Cursor** on or off, size, smoothing, movement tilt, click effects, and visibility settings
* **Motion blur** on or off and its amount
* **Shrink camera during zooms** on or off

Tella chooses the cursor style for the operating system you record on. Changes made with **Adjust this clip only** turned on apply only to that clip and do not change the starting settings for your next recording.

## Add a zoom to a selected range

1. Drag across the time you want to zoom. You can also click or drag across words in the transcript row.
2. Click **Add zoom**, press `Z`, or right-click the range and choose **Add zoom**.
3. Select the new zoom card. Under **Mode**, choose:
   * **Manual:** use **Target** to choose a fixed focus point, then set **Scale**.
   * **Auto:** follow the recorded cursor movement throughout the zoom.

**Auto** is available only when the footage at the start of the zoom includes cursor data. Zooms on image or video B-roll are always manual.

Each selected range must be at least one second long. Its start must contain footage in the **Screen** slot. If a new zoom overlaps an existing one, Tella trims, splits, or replaces the existing zoom so the cards do not overlap.

> [!TIP]
>
> Hold **Cmd** on Mac or **Ctrl** on Windows while dragging a manual zoom's target to keep it on a horizontal or vertical line.

> [!TIP]
>
> Hold **Shift** while dragging to select several ranges, then click **Add zoom** to create one zoom for every range at once.

## Make a zoom smooth or a hard cut

1. Open **Effect** and select a single zoom card.
2. Expand **Advanced** in the selected zoom's controls.
3. Choose **Smooth** or **Hard cut** separately for **Intro** and **Outro**.

**Intro** controls how you enter the zoom; **Outro** controls how you leave it. **Smooth** animates the change, while **Hard cut** changes the framing immediately. Choose Hard cut for both to zoom in and back out without animation, or mix them for a smooth entrance and an immediate exit.

Both default to **Smooth**, so existing zooms keep their animation. These choices apply to the selected zoom, in both **Manual** and **Auto** mode, rather than every zoom in your video.

## Add a zoom from the playhead

With no range selected, move the playhead and click **Add zoom**. Tella creates a zoom up to five seconds long, stopping sooner if it reaches another zoom or the end of the clip.

Hold **Cmd** on Mac or **Ctrl** on Windows while clicking to change the action to **Add until end**. The zoom fills the available gap.

## Work with zooms on the Effect timeline

**Move and select zooms**

* Drag a zoom card to move it, or drag either edge to change its duration. While you resize it, the video previews the moving edge while the red playhead stays parked.
* Drag across an empty part of the timeline to select a time range. The preview follows the moving edge while the playhead stays parked, then the playhead moves to the selection's start when you release.
* Hold **Cmd** on Mac or **Ctrl** on Windows and click zoom, blur, or highlight cards to select several. You can move or delete the selected effects together. When you select only zooms, you can also copy, cut, or change their scale together.
* Hold **Cmd/Ctrl** and drag across several effect cards to select them as a group.
* Press **Escape** to clear range and card selections.

**Navigate precisely**

* Scroll to pan. Hold **Cmd/Ctrl** and scroll to zoom around your pointer. **Shift + scroll** over the timeline zooms too.
* Zoom cards and selections snap to transcript word boundaries, other zoom edges, and the parked playhead. Hold **Option** on Mac or **Alt** on Windows while dragging to turn snapping off.
* Click a card edge or a seam, then press the left or right arrow key to move it by one pixel at the current timeline zoom. Hold **Shift** to move it by 10 pixels.

**Use connected zooms**

Place two zooms directly beside each other to move between different targets without zooming out. The move is smooth unless the first zoom's **Outro** or the next zoom's **Intro** is set to **Hard cut**. Drag their shared seam to move the boundary while both cards stay connected. Hold **Option/Alt** while dragging the seam to pull them apart.

**Right-click for more**

* Right-click a zoom card to **Split at playhead**, switch between manual and auto zoom, **Add layout to zoom** (a layout section over the zoom's range), or **Delete zoom**.
* Right-click an empty gap to **Add zoom here**.
* Right-click a layout card in the Layout timeline and choose **Add zoom to layout** to add a zoom over the layout's full range.
* Right-click a selected range in any timeline to **Add layout**, **Add zoom**, **Add blur**, **Add highlight**, **Add overlay**, **Cut selection**, **Copy to new clip**, or **Copy to new video**. See [Right-click a selected range](https://www.tella.com/docs/help/editing/multi-track-timeline.md#right-click-a-selected-range) for what each does.

## Copy, cut, and paste zooms

1. Select one or more zoom cards.
2. Press **Cmd/Ctrl + C** to copy, or **Cmd/Ctrl + X** to cut.
3. Move the playhead and press **Cmd/Ctrl + V** to paste.

Tella preserves each zoom's target, scale, duration, and spacing. You can paste into another video, and Tella fits the pasted zooms around existing zooms. If you paste an Auto zoom onto media or other footage without cursor data, Tella changes it to a manual zoom.

## Split, delete, or reset zooms

* **Split:** Select a zoom, move the playhead inside it, then click **Split** or press `X`. Both halves keep the original mode, target, and scale.
* **Delete:** Select one or more zooms, then click **Delete zoom** or press **Delete** or **Backspace**.
* **Reset:** Open **More actions** and choose **Reset all zooms** to remove every zoom from the current clip. Click **Undo** in the confirmation message if you want to restore them.

## Combine zooms with layouts

Zooms follow the footage in the layout's **Screen** slot at the start of the zoom. If a media layout puts image or video B-roll there, the zoom applies to that media. Media in the **Camera** slot is unaffected.

When the Screen-slot media changes, create a separate zoom for the new media. Use [Layouts](https://www.tella.com/docs/help/editing/use-layouts.md) to control which source appears in each slot.

> [!TIP]
>
> Higher scales can look soft if the original screen recording is low resolution. Use the lowest scale that makes the detail clear.


## Related topics

- [Add media (B-roll)](https://www.tella.com/docs/help/editing/use-media.md)
- [Record with the Tella Windows app](https://www.tella.com/docs/help/recording/record-a-video-using-the-windows-app.md)
- [Where did the Zoom tool go?](https://www.tella.com/docs/help/faq/where-is-the-zoom-tool.md)
- [Customize the animated cursor](https://www.tella.com/docs/help/editing/customize-animated-cursor.md)
- [Add motion blur to screen recordings](https://www.tella.com/docs/help/editing/add-motion-blur.md)


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