Zoom Blur — effect skill for transitions

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Both shots smear into a radial zoom blur that bursts open on the next shot.

What it does

Built on CrossZoom by rectalogic (gl-transitions), MIT. The write-up and recipes below are varg's.

Streaks radiate from the centre, peak at the cut, then resolve sharply on B.

When: Energetic promos, gaming, sport, speed-themed edits.

Watch out: Overuse; and on faces where the radial smear distorts features.

Timing: 0.4–0.7 s, ease-in-out

Also called: radial zoom blur, Radial Blur, Twinkle Zoom, cross zoom, warp zoom

In FFmpeg

xfade has no radial blur. Use a GL transition via editly (CrossZoom) or approximate with zoomin plus a strong blur at the peak:

ffmpeg -i a.mp4 -i b.mp4 -filter_complex \
"[0:v]fps=30,settb=AVTB,format=yuv420p[a];[1:v]fps=30,settb=AVTB,format=yuv420p[b];\
 [a][b]xfade=transition=zoomin:duration=0.5:offset=4.5,gblur=sigma=18:enable='between(t,4.6,4.9)'[v]" -map "[v]" out.mp4

In HyperFrames

Shader cinematic-zoom from @hyperframes/shader-transitions placed at the cut (t = 4 s):

<div id="s1" class="scene" style="background:#0a0a0a"><video src="a.mp4" muted playsinline></video></div>
<div id="s2" class="scene" style="background:#0a0a0a"><video src="b.mp4" muted playsinline></video></div>
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@hyperframes/shader-transitions/dist/index.global.js"></script>
<script>
  const tl = HyperShader.init({ bgColor: "#0a0a0a", scenes: ["s1", "s2"],
    transitions: [{ time: 4, shader: "cinematic-zoom", duration: 0.6 }] });
  window.__timelines = window.__timelines || {}; window.__timelines["main"] = tl;
</script>

Each .scene needs an explicit background-color equal to bgColor. Or install the ready block: npx hyperframes add cinematic-zoom.

In Remotion

import {TransitionSeries, linearTiming, springTiming} from '@remotion/transitions';
import {crossZoom} from '@remotion/transitions/cross-zoom';

<TransitionSeries>
  <TransitionSeries.Sequence durationInFrames={90}><ShotA /></TransitionSeries.Sequence>
  <TransitionSeries.Transition presentation={crossZoom({strength: 0.4})} timing={linearTiming({durationInFrames: 18})} />
  <TransitionSeries.Sequence durationInFrames={90}><ShotB /></TransitionSeries.Sequence>
</TransitionSeries>

Total = 90 + 90 - 18 frames: the transition overlaps the two shots. Shader presentations are built on Remotion's HTML-in-canvas: renders work out of the box (--gl=angle, or --gl=swangle without a GPU); the Studio preview needs Chrome with chrome://flags/#canvas-draw-element enabled. Also zoomBlur({}) from @remotion/transitions/zoom-blur.

In CapCut

Transitions tab → Blur / Camera → Radial Blur, Twinkle Zoom. Desktop: drag the tile onto the cut between two clips and set Duration in the right panel ("Apply to all" reuses it on every cut). Mobile: tap the small white square between clips, pick the transition, drag the duration slider, tap ✓. Tab labels and placement change between versions and regions.

Ready-made components

Where this comes from

Use when

Not for

Install

Example output

https://s3.varg.ai/how-to/previews/4aaf6a92fce1/take-zoom-blur.mp4 — zoom-in between two shots, with the timeline strip of the edit. Footage: Coffee Run (2020), Blender Studio | studio.blender.org, CC BY 4.0; Cosmos Laundromat (2015), (CC) Blender Foundation | gooseberry.blender.org, CC BY 4.0. (credit: Rendered by varg · Coffee Run (2020) + Cosmos Laundromat (2015))

More transitions skills

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