This article will show you how to add cameras to your project to control how your video moves around the canvas as it progresses
Top tip: Watch our Using the camera in VideoScribe browser tutorial
Using cameras
When you create a new project, the starting camera (C1) will already be set. The starting camera is the area of the canvas that will be in view at the very start of your video.
- Place your initial elements within this camera view to start your project
- To extend your project, simply move to a new area of the canvas, and add a new camera (using the 'Camera'
button in the left-hand panel) - Position the camera on the timeline at the point where you want the camera movement to occur
- Then place your new elements within this next camera view
This is how you control the movement of the camera in your project, allowing you to focus on different areas of the canvas and different elements as you go through your video.
Top tip: It's a good idea to plan out the layout of your project in advance as this can make these camera movements much easier to setup. Check out this blog post on choosing the right layout for your video.
Moving around the canvas
The VideoScribe canvas is very large, so you have plenty of space to build your project. To see more of the canvas area, use the scroll bars to move around, or you can use the zoom controls in the bottom right corner of the canvas to zoom in or out.
Top tip: You can also use your mouse to move around the canvas area:
- Use the mouse wheel to scroll up and down - holding the Shift key down allows you to scroll left and right
- Alternatively, holding the space bar down allows you to click and drag to move the canvas
- Holding down the Ctrl key or the Command key on a Mac allows you to use the mouse wheel to zoom in and out
Adding a camera
- Select the ‘Camera’ button from the left-hand panel to add a new camera to your canvas
Note: The position of the new camera on the timeline will depend on what you have selected when you add it:
- If an element is selected, the camera will be added just before the selected element.
- If a camera is selected, the camera will be added just after the selected camera.
- If nothing is selected, the camera will be added to the end of the timeline.
You can move cameras on the timeline just like you can with other elements.
There will always be a starting camera (C1) in each project at the beginning of the timeline. The starting camera cannot be deleted or moved on the timeline but it can be repositioned and resized on the canvas.
And remember, you can add as many cameras to your canvas as you wish!
Resizing and positioning the camera
Once you've added a camera, you can resize it and position it where you want on the canvas:
- To resize a camera, select the corners and drag the box to the desired size
Please note: The aspect ratio of each camera will be locked and cannot be changed. This will be the aspect ratio you selected when you created the project (i.e. portrait, landscape, or square).
- To move a camera, simply drag the bounding box on the canvas
Camera settings
When the camera is selected, you will be able to edit the camera settings in the right-hand panel:
Set camera to fit current view - use this button to reposition the camera to your current view of the canvas. If the camera is already positioned to the current view, the button will be greyed out.- Width and Height - manually input the size (px) of the selected camera
- Camera movement type - select from 'None', 'Ease out' or 'Linear'
- Duration - set how long the camera movement will take - longer durations mean slower movement
- Pause - set how long to pause after the camera movement and before the next animation starts
Transform options:
Lock - lock the camera to the canvas so it cannot be moved
Pin - pin the camera to the canvas so it will be visible all the time. There is also a pin icon on the top toolbar to allow you to pin or unpin all of the cameras on the canvas.
Top tip: Pinning cameras is useful as it means you will still see the camera outline on the canvas while you add and arrange the elements within the camera view.