Yep. That dashed line you're moving around is the area you will see in the output.

OK, I will try to adjust to that point of view... but I still don't understand.... the left - right thing kinda makes sense but I"m not sure about the zoom in and out...I zoom in on the preview and I'm zooming out on the real deal.

one other question... it is possible to view the preview in motion? the only way i can see it all in motion is to go to the main window and hit play.

Pan/Crop adjusts the FRAME, not the image.
That's the way you'll "get it."
For basic image manipulation, experiment with Track Motion instead.

Isn't it about time Pan/Crop was much easier to use?

I try making a dark background for "Lower Thirds" text and it's very Hit-or-Miss . . . sure, I may not be a Regular User - but then I'd have the Pro version, wouldn't I?


- not that Pro-Users will welcome any improvement - Pan/Crop has to be the worst aspect that is in regular use on my timeline - - - - - and if Track-motion is "better" then why isn't that operation style given to Pan/Crop...?

I find the x,y appear to be curiously interconnected - one might say it's deliberate because the software knows I shouldn't be using it. . . . surely not?
...in a similar perverse-way the "Text team" has been asleep on the job since ( dunno...v1? ) - a micro sized window when you want to judge the "look" the Audience will have . . . . it's just not how the cheapest wp works.

Oh dear. There I've said it. . . . . . . . . again.

harrie,
there are lots of tutorials and articles even in this site's Training section that you might like to go through to help avoid the "Hit-or-Miss" experiences with P/C and/or TM.

>>>"the "Text team" has been asleep on the job - - - - a micro sized window when you want to judge the "look"- "<<<
Do you not have the Preview window?

vkmast, you're very helpful, but as to those two windows...
- I have a 40inch monitor (my TV with HDMI input) and I use SMS v12.suite.
TEXT
yet in Text-mode it's a tiny window - grab the corner ///// and it jumps about hiding the small preview. Getting it to a sensible sixe is not easy ( like trying to give a cat a Pill ), and annoyingly it opens with text in 72pt ( or is it 40pt?) . . . . but obviously it has to be some size.
When Editing text, I find I'm moving the scroll bars and I can't even copy/paste from the same Edit window . . . that's not giving Users what they need after a dozen iterations.
It's time the Fonts were shown in their Style - and Ideally I could Group a half-dozen so I don't have to scroll endlessly from T=Times New Roman - to - A=Ariel
PREVIEW
The preview window is made small by Transport controls ( so I turn them off - but "why" are they there? - the Timeline can be controlled elsewhere. And then there are some odd icons above . . . presumably nowhere else for them ( Really?). These have to be turned Off too These two actions increase the window significantly. Yet, when in preview it's a tiny window... unless I grab //// and then that too jumps about like a cat, trying to hide itself at the edges.

Most WP software allows the Editing window to be 50% -100%- 200% and sizes in-between - as does every (dot) pdf viewer I've seen.
Because there are other items on the screen these views will need different "position" values - but once set = easy.
The Preview window needs to be kept small to lower the pixel-count, so movement is smooth ( hence the "Quality Options" - but it would be nice if the window could be instantly raised/positioned so the User can see the details they are trying to evaluate - especially when the timeline is Stationary.
It's not really difficult ( yet the Software Crew don't - or can't get past "Marketing" ), so we can't use Function Keys to give us some View-Options.
OS
I suspect it is a limitation of Windows OS that prevent us using a separate Monitor for things like Text-writing...... when ever I've tried two monitors the Timeline is broken so sometimes it's Left and sometimes it's Right-monitor . . . that's very messy and I've given that up.


I will look for SCS Tutorials on P/C *- but it doesn't alter my belief that it's far from intuitive . . . quite the opposite as I used it for some years ( Starting v10 ).
I think that was OP's gripe - and hence my comments.


+Thank you for yr reply


* SCS Tutorials
I did that and go round and round the site.
If I search Tutorials, it should offer the software which has tutorials, - then I select the software...it gives me the Topics...I select ...and learn.
The alternative is YT is OK, but the quality of the presentations is far from good.... many sticking to what is pretty obvious and those that skate over steps . . . like ...."I have this loaded already"
Sony's "Show me how" is excellent, but doesn't fix my P/C hurdles...indeed the last command:- "Click on Last Keyframe" -the tiny buttons are obscured by the enormous Red frame placed earlier.
- and BTW the Pan/Crop is OK for picture cropping - this is typically minor - but trying to create a "Lower Thirds" using a colour background is not easy, IMHO.and the SMH doesn't cover this.
I have written a "Text" critique for SCS in the hope this might influence v14 /v15 - but haven't had the inclination to post it on the Forum.

Isn't it about time Pan/Crop was much easier to use?

One suggestion i've made before (even submitted it) is that since Pan/Crop is really two tools bundled into one, it should be possible to use the tools separately. The problem is that when you zoom in you are mostly cropping and when you zoom out your are mostly panning, and if you try to do the other function it gets dicey trying to control it. There really are TWO frames in Pan/Crop: one for pan, one for crop, but the problem is that they are always congruent to each other, no way to manipulate them separately.

So what's the solution? There should be a toggle button that lets us separate them! Then we have a frame for choosing which part of the image we want (cropping, zooming) and another frame for positioning it in the output (panning). Normally they would stay together as they are now, but click the toggle and we could adjust them independently.

With independent operation, we could use the cropping tool to exactly specify the portion of the image we want, and then use the panning (positioning) tool to say put it HERE in the output frame. This would preserve all the current functionality while giving a whole new level of freedom and control. No more hit-or-miss guessing and tweaking trying to get it right, and usually failing.

Combine this with the bezier mask and it would let you reposition the masked output anywhere in the frame as well. Since the positioning tool can operate independently it can also shrink or enlarge the masked portion all in one step. Whatever size/shape you have selected with the pan/mask tool, the panning/positioning tool lets you say "put it here, in this size".

For lower thirds use, you crop any particular portion of an image that looks nice, then draw a frame in the output for where it is supposed to appear. No more complicated contortions or calculations. Just say "take this rectangle portion (crop) and place it here (position)". No need for these to be the same aspect ratio either, if you want to stretch out a squarish image to cover the bottom third, easy! Whatever is contained in the crop frame gets transformed to match the position frame ... if that's what you want.