How to add auto-zoom to your screen recordings on Mac

Vijayraj HJune 15, 2026 · 6 min read

Zooming into a screen recording the manual way is tedious. You scrub the timeline, drop a keyframe, set a scale, drop another to ease back out, then repeat for every click you want to emphasize. Drishti Studio takes that work off your plate. As you record, it tracks where you click and what you do. Then you run Smart Animate, and it generates the zoom keyframes for you, calculated from those clicks. The keyframes are real, and you can fine-tune any of them, but you never place or time a single one by hand. This guide shows how it works and how to get the most out of it.

What auto-zoom actually does

Auto-zoom is the part of editing that usually eats the most time. The idea is simple: when something matters on screen, the frame should move closer so viewers can see it. The hard part has always been doing it by hand. Drishti handles it for you. It tracks where you click and what you do during the recording, then builds the zoom around those moments so the important detail fills the frame.

Smart pan is the companion to that. Once the frame is zoomed in, it follows your cursor with cinematic easing instead of snapping around, so it reads like a person was operating a camera. Together, auto-zoom and smart pan turn a flat capture into something that looks edited.

How to add auto-zoom, step by step

There is very little to configure. You record, run Smart Animate, and export. Here is the full path:

1. Install Drishti Studio and start the 14-day free trial. It is a native macOS app and runs on Apple Silicon and Intel, macOS 15 or later.
2. Record your screen as you normally would. Click through your app, demo, or walkthrough at a natural pace. Drishti tracks where you click and the actions you take.
3. Run Smart Animate. Drishti reads those clicks and generates the zoom keyframes for you, placed and timed to land on what you were doing.
4. Play it back. The frame pushes in on your clicks and smart pan follows the cursor with smooth easing. Fine-tune any keyframe if you want, though most takes need no edits.
5. Trim or cut to tighten the clip. Mark your in and out points and remove the dead spots without leaving the app.
6. Export when you are happy. Choose H.264, HEVC, or ProRes 422, up to 4K at 60fps, or convert to a 9:16 vertical cut in one click for Reels, TikTok, or Shorts.

It locks onto your focus, not every click

Clicking through layers and dense menus could make a naive zoom bounce around. Drishti does not chase every click. It works out where your focus actually is and holds the frame there, so a flurry of clicks in one area reads as a single, calm move instead of a jitter.

Tips for clean, professional zooms

Click where you want viewers to look

Auto-zoom keys off your clicks, so your cursor is the director. Click directly on the button, field, or element you are talking about, rather than near it. The frame will push in on exactly that spot. If you tend to move the mouse to a corner while you think, do it between actions instead of right before the click you want highlighted.

Move at a steady, deliberate pace

Smart pan follows your cursor with easing, so smooth, unhurried movement produces smooth, unhurried camera work. Quick flicks across the screen still track cleanly, but a calmer pace reads more cinematic on playback. This matters most in dense interfaces like dashboards, Figma files, or IDEs where there is a lot to take in.

Let it carry long videos

Auto-zoom shines on longer content. A 30 or 40 minute tutorial would be punishing to animate by hand, but Smart Animate handles it in one pass. Drishti renders locally with Metal GPU acceleration, so even long recordings stay responsive on the timeline and export fast, without the slowdown you hit on heavier, web-based tools.

Pair it with cursor effects

Once the frame is zoomed in on a click, cursor effects make the action even clearer. A spotlight or highlight draws the eye, and animated clicks confirm exactly what was pressed. These stack naturally with auto-zoom because both are reacting to the same thing: where you are pointing.

When you may not want auto-zoom

Auto-zoom is the right default for most recordings, but not for every shot. Reach for a flat, full-screen view when:

• You are showing a layout or comparison where the viewer needs the whole screen at once
• The content is already full-frame, like a slide deck or a video playing back, with no small detail to push into
• You want a raw, unedited capture to hand to another editor

Because the zooms are generated keyframes, you stay in control. Skip Smart Animate for a flat take, or adjust the keyframes it created when you want a different emphasis. For everyday tutorials, demos, and walkthroughs, letting Smart Animate do the work is almost always the right call.