How to zoom in on a point without scaling the video (with Simple Border + crop issue)

Hello everyone,

I’m having a problem with zooming and borders in Final Cut Pro and I hope someone here can clarify the correct workflow.

Here’s my setup:

• On the timeline I have the main video.
• Above it, I placed a second video with reduced scale (to keep borders visible around it).
• I applied the Simple Border effect to this second video.

When I try to zoom in on a specific point, I don’t want to increase the scale of the second video itself, because that removes the borders.

Instead, I want the zoom to behave like in some YouTube channels I’ve seen: they can zoom in smoothly on a portion of the video while keeping the Simple Border visible at all times.

If I use Crop + keyframes, the borders disappear.

I’m attaching two screenshots where the creator zooms in but the border always stays visible.

How can I achieve this effect in Final Cut Pro?

• Is there a specific way to animate zooming without touching the scale?
• Or do I need to use compound clips / masks to keep the border consistent during zooms?

Any tips or a step-by-step explanation would be really appreciated!

This is before the zoom:

This is after the zoom: the border is still there. How did he zoom in without increasing the scale?

Thanks in advance 🙏

[Edited by Moderator]