How do I use Focus mode and Crop to reframe my clip?
Learn how to zoom into a specific part of your footage or cut out the edges of a clip using Focus mode and Crop.
Focus and Crop are framing tools that let you control exactly what part of your footage is visible, alongside the existing Fit and Fill options.
How to access Focus and Crop
Click on a clip in your timeline.
Open the settings panel on the right side of the screen.
Choose Focus or Crop from the framing options.
Using Focus mode
Focus lets you zoom in and center on a specific area of your footage.
Click Focus in the settings panel.
Use the Scale slider to zoom in (optional).
Click on the part of the screen you want to highlight.
This works best for talking-head footage or clips where the subject stays in roughly the same position.
❗️Note: If your footage has a lot of movement, one focus point may not work for the whole clip. In that case, split the clip into smaller sections and set a separate focus for each one.
Using Crop
Crop lets you cut out the edges or sides of your footage entirely.
Click Crop in the settings panel.
Adjust the crop handles to remove the parts of the frame you don't want.
Like Focus, Crop works best on footage that's fairly static.
💡 Tip: If you need to crop a clip that has movement, split it into smaller clips first and crop each one separately. You may want to add transitions between the cropped sections to avoid a jarring visual jump.
How to split a clip
You can split a clip two ways:
In the transcript, highlight the text where you want the split to happen
In Pro Mode, use the keyboard shortcut (command K or control K) to cut at the playhead position
Troubleshooting
My cropped clips look jumpy when played back
This usually happens when adjacent cropped clips have very different framing. Try adding a transition between them to smooth out the cut.
Focus looks good at the start of my clip but not at the end
Your footage likely has movement. Split the clip at the point where the subject shifts, then apply a separate focus to each section.