How to Add a Zoom Effect in OBS Studio

Some time ago, I wanted to be able to add a live zoom effect with the webcam in OBS Studio for my streams. I’d use this as a punch line of a joke or pause-for-affect style of humor (don’t judge me). Formally, I could only do this with high quality broadcast software and I really didn’t want to fork over the $$$ for something like that when I know there had to be a FOSS (Free Open Source Software) version of it. So I put that idea on the back burner…

Enter Move Transitions for OBS Studio.

It’s an amazing plugin created for OBS Studio that allows you to fully control screen moves, transitions, and a whole bunch more.

In this article, I’ll be taking you thru how I created my version of the Live Zoom Effect. I’m going to assume, you already have the Move Transition plugin installed and are ready to get right into it. If you need help installing it, refer to This

Step 1 – Create Scene

Make a new Scene in OBS Studio. I labeled my Slow Zoom for brevity

Step 2 – Select Filters

Right click on your new Scene and select Filters

Step 3 – Create Filters

Create 2 Filters. I named mine “Zoomed In” and “Zoom Reverse”

Step 4a – Manual Setup

If you don’t want copy the transform details I’ve provided so you can collect your own, here’s how:

Select “Zoomed In” and then move the “Filters for Slow Zoom” window out of the way to see your Scene.
Select your webcam or desired Source and move it to how you want to END UP. This will be the final destination for the scene.
Go back to “Filters for Slow Zoom” window and click on Get Transform. You should see something similar to what I posted above.
Now go to “Zoom Reverse” and put the webcam back to where you have it on your main Go Live scene. (I suggest going back and forth to make sure the webcam is as exact as possible)

Step 4b – Copy/Paste Setup

Copy all the settings in the image below to your “Zoomed In” Filter. Don’t worry about the “Transform” settings. We will set those manually later. ^{However, if you’d like to copy it for exactly how I have it (assuming you’re using a 1080p source) look below the picture.}

Transform Details (this basically says “make webcam big”):

pos: x 0.0 y 0.0 rot: 0.0 bounds: x 1920.000 y 1080.000 crop: l 0 t 0 r 0 b 0

To explain these settings:

Source – Selects the source to which you’d like to make adjustments to
Start Delay – Will pause for given amount of time then begin whatever you’ve set it to do
Custom Duration – Specifies how long the scene takes to play out.
End Delay – Is the same as Start Delay but at the end.
Easing and Easing Function – Affects the ramp-in/ramp-out options
Transform – Designates where the Source will start.
Curve – Relates to Transform.
Visibility and Order – Allows you to show or hide Scenes based on specific actions
Audio and Fade – Relates to Audio timing
Action – Is how the scene will be triggered.

The key settings we will be focusing on is Source, Custom Duration, and Start Trigger.

Source – Select what you’d like to control. In our case, being a webcam.

Custom Duration – This will slow our zoom affect to take place over 6 seconds.

Start Trigger – We’re selecting that it trigger when Source is selected. This is important for later.

Step 5 – Zoom Reverse

Create “Zoom Reverse” and copy the below settings again.

Transform Details:

pos: x 1340.0 y 692.0 rot: 0.0 bounds: x 580.000 y 388.000 crop: l 0 t 0 r 0 b 0

Step 6 – Hotkeys

At this point, the Zoom affect should work as intended if you switch from your main scene to the Slow Zoom seen. You’ll notice 2 things though.

It stays on the “Slow Zoom” scene and doesn’t switch back.
Lack of ease i.e no hotkey.

Let’s setup a hotkey first.

Go to Settings -> Hotkeys -> Scroll to “Slow Zoom” Section -> Set “Switch to Scene” to your desired hotkey. I chose F8.

You’ll now noticed that when you’re on your main Scene, if you click your hotkey, it’ll carry out your Zoom. However, it still stays on the Zoom scene when we really want it to switch back. Onward!

Step 7 – Scene Return

The only way I was able to get the Scene to return exactly how I wanted it to was to install another plugin: Advanced Scene Switcher. One that is incredibly useful and I know I’ll be using it for many more effects in the future. Check out THIS PAGE to learn how to install it then return here to continue.

Select Tools -> Advanced Scene Switcher

Adjust the below options so that the Switcher is always on and ready.

Switcher Options

Select the “Sequence” Tab.

Hit the “+” sign at the bottom of the window and copy the settings below

This will swap back to “Gaming Main” (which is my normal scene for streaming) after 6 seconds of delay using the Fade transition. 6 Seconds is enough time to have the Zoom effect play out and now you won’t have to swap back or worry about adding overlays a different scene.

Congratulations!

You now have a working zoom affect in OBS Studio that you can toggle at anytime and return back to your main scene that should look something like this:

These two plugins have so many possibilities that I’ll be toying around with. If you have problems settings this up, feel free to comment below and I’ll do my best to help you out.

Thanks for reading and if this helped out, consider swinging by my stream to check me out at: Twitch.tv/OdditysWorld