An infinite zoom is an effect that creates a seemingly endless camera zoom. For example, the camera can pan into a section of photos or art, someone’s eye, a water droplet, or whatever else, and it just keeps going!
Examples
THX Deep Note Trailer in 4K
Last year Andrew Kramer directed the THX Deep Note Trailer in 4K and it features a spectacular unending zoom.
Röyksopp – Eple
Perhaps one of my favorite examples of the inexhaustable zoom. One of the comments on the post is about the song being called “Apple”, yet it’s full of windows. Haha. This song is now over a decade old, and the YouTube video shows that, but it’s still a creative video. They are both zooming in or out and panning.
Infinite Zoom
Magnus Herfjord’s eternal zoom. Music by Nebula.
Infinite Zoom: The Inner Universe
Tutorials
SUPER EASY Infinite Zoom – AFTER EFFECTS (Limitless)
Jordy at Cinecom.net shows you how to create an everlasting zoom in the opening sequence of Limitless.
After Effects Tips & Tricks – Infinite Zoom
Motion Design School shows you how to achieve a bottomless zoom camera motion in After Effects, using two different methods.
Create an Infinite Zoom | Photos, Videos, Motion Graphics | After Effects Tutorial
Josh from SonduckFilm creates an the forever zoom effect in After Effects, with just parenting and scaling.
Plugins for Infinite Zoom
Sapphire is an awesome tool with so many insanely useful plugins. One of those plugins is called Infinite Zoom. First, Info about Sapphire, then a few tutorials.
Sapphire 2020.5
Sapphire is the most in-demand, unequaled, work-horse plug-in suite for visual effects.
Sapphire plug-ins let you create stunning organic looks unmatched by any host native effect tools. Key features include over 270 effects and 3000+ presets, a powerful Effect and Transition Builder, and integrated tracking and masking with the Academy Award-winning Mocha. Sapphire’s superior image quality, control, and render speed offers massive time-savings — allowing creatives to focus on what matters most, delivering an impact that keeps audiences coming back.
Perpetual License Annual Subscription
How to Create an Infinite Zoom with Sapphire for Adobe After Effects
John Dickinson gives you a quick overview of S_InfiniteZoom. He gives some good tips on how to use footage and shape layers to create your zoom.
Do More with Sapphire S_InfiniteZoom
Ben Brownlee dives deeper into the S_InfiniteZoom plugin in Sapphire. He’s working in After Effects, but the plugin works in other hosts as well.