# Punch-in

Edit / Edit effect / Zooms and reframes. Checked 2026-11-13.

A tighter crop on a line says this part matters.

- Use when: Face cam, on a key sentence or on every other segment.
- Phrase: punch in to 1.12 times on every other sentence, the face staying at the same height in the frame
- Page: https://directorchair.ai/effect/punch-in
- JSON: https://directorchair.ai/api/effect/punch-in.json

## Watch out

- Punch-ins soften a 1080 pixel take. A sharp crop needs a source of 2160 pixels on the short side. (practitioner; Director Chair field notes on editing)
- Two of our four starter styles use a light punch-in on every other segment; the fast one was measured from a clip at 6.8 changes per 10 seconds. (measured; Director Chair field notes on editing)

## Prompts

### Any chat model

```
Give me an edit brief: where it goes on the timeline, the exact settings, and what to check before export, for a short video about [your product], for [your audience]. The technique is punch-in: a tighter crop on a line says this part matters. How it works: punch in to 1.12 times on every other sentence, the face staying at the same height in the frame. It is right for: face cam, on a key sentence or on every other segment. Punch-ins soften a 1080 pixel take. Two of our four starter styles use a light punch-in on every other segment; the fast one was measured from a clip at 6.8 changes per 10 seconds. Be concrete: numbers, seconds and settings, no theory. Ask me one question first if something you need is missing.
```

## Goes well with

- Jump cut: https://directorchair.ai/transition/jump-cut
- Reframe around the face: https://directorchair.ai/effect/face-reframe
- Crash zoom: https://directorchair.ai/move/crash-zoom

## Source

Definition from Director Chair field notes on reading published videos; values from Director Chair field notes on editing

Text CC BY 4.0, Director Chair (directorchair.ai). Reference clips and their card texts belong to their makers.