> ## 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 manual or automatic zooms to screen recordings, then customize motion blur, camera shrinking, and animated cursor effects.

Zooms draw attention to a detail in a screen recording or uploaded video. They are not available on camera-only clips.

## 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.

## Generate zooms automatically

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.

<Note>
  Cursor data is available for Chrome extension recordings only when you share a browser tab. Recordings of a window or your entire screen do not include it.
</Note>

1. Open **Effect** on an eligible screen recording with no existing zooms.
2. In **Zooms**, click **Generate zooms** (the sparkles icon).
3. Choose a **Style**:
   * **Adaptive:** follows your clicks as you work. This is the default style.
   * **Subtle:** fewer, shallower zooms with longer durations.
   * **Moderate:** a balance between Subtle and Intense.
   * **Intense:** more frequent, deeper zooms with shorter durations.
4. Click **Generate** at the top. The menu stays open while you compare styles and closes after you generate the zooms.

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

## Apply zooms automatically after recording

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

1. Click your avatar and open **Settings**.
2. Go to **Preferences** under **Account**.
3. Under **Recording**, turn on **Auto-apply zooms**.

Tella uses the last Auto Zoom style you selected in the editor. If you have not selected one, Tella uses **Adaptive**. Tella adds the zooms after the recording's uploads finish, so they may take a moment to appear in the editor. You can then adjust or remove them.

<Note>
  Auto-apply zooms only works when the screen recording includes usable cursor click data. It does not add zooms to camera-only clips.
</Note>

## 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, and clip-specific settings.

<CardGroup cols={3}>
  <Card title="Customize animated cursors" icon="arrow-pointer" href="/docs/help/editing/customize-animated-cursor">
    Restyle the pointer, smooth its movement, and add click ripples.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Add motion blur" icon="wind" href="/docs/help/editing/add-motion-blur">
    Soften fast zooms, pans, and cursor movement.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Shrink the camera during zooms" icon="down-left-and-up-right-to-center" href="/docs/help/editing/shrink-camera-during-zooms">
    Keep the screen clear while a camera bubble is visible.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

If your video has several clips, motion and cursor styling use the video-wide settings unless you turn on **Adjust this clip** under **Advanced zoom settings**. 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 **Show cursor**. Turn on **Adjust this clip** 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 cursor**. 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** 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 **Create 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.

Each selected range must be at least one second long. 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>

<Tip>
  Hold **Shift** while dragging to select several ranges, then click **Add zoom** to create one zoom for every range at once.
</Tip>

## 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 pan between different targets without zooming out. 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, or **Delete zoom**.
* Right-click an empty gap to **Add zoom here**.
* Right-click a selected range to **Create zoom**.

## 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 mode, target, scale, duration, and spacing. You can paste into another video, and Tella fits the pasted zooms around existing zooms.

## 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 and layouts can overlap. Use [Layouts](/docs/help/editing/use-layouts) to change how the camera and screen are arranged while a zoom focuses on the important part of the screen.

<Tip>
  Higher scales can look soft if the original screen recording is low resolution. Use the lowest scale that makes the detail clear.
</Tip>


## Related topics

- [Record with the Tella Windows app](/docs/help/recording/record-a-video-using-the-windows-app.md)
- [Customize the animated cursor](/docs/help/editing/customize-animated-cursor.md)
- [Add motion blur to screen recordings](/docs/help/editing/add-motion-blur.md)
- [Blur or highlight part of the screen](/docs/help/editing/blurring-and-highlighting.md)
- [Punch in (zoom in) on your camera](/docs/help/tips/punch-in-zoom-in-on-your-camera.md)