Good news... it is easy.
Making a double height image is probably easiest if you plan to scroll up and down the image.
Though, if you already have an image - you can just zoom in.
Using your existing image... this works...
Python:
scene intro1 with dissolve:
xalign 0.5 yalign 1.0 zoom 2.0
linear 4.0 yalign 0.0
pause 4.0
Zooming in to double size does mean your image quality will suffer a bit... hence the suggestion to render a double sized image. Though it only has to be double height (1920x2160 for example).
Talking through the code...
scene intro1 with dissolve: you should already be familiar with. A new scene with
dissolve transition using an image called
intro1 (you don't need to include the file extention).
xalign and
yalign are how RenPy aligns the image on the screen. 0.0 is left or top. 1.0 is right or bottom. 0.5 is the middle. You can use absolute pixels, but I tend to think align makes it simpler when thinking about different devices or different screen sizes.
Normally, 0.0, 0.5, 1.0 don't actually matter... since images tend to be the same size as the screen. But if the image is smaller or bigger... then align matters.
I think the default is to center the image. Edit: The default is xalign 0.5 yalign 1.0 (centered horizontally, but anchored at the bottom of the screen).
The first line tells RenPy where the image will start.
So
xalign 0.5 yalign 1.0 zoom 2.0 says "center the image left/right, zoom in to double size and start with the bottom edge of the image against the bottom edge of the screen".
The next line tells RenPy how to transition to the next stage of the image.
So
linear 4.0 yalign 0.0 says "use the
linear transition to progress, take 4.0 seconds to move from the start to the finish and the final state should leave the top edge of the image against the top edge of the screen". Meanwhile, leave all other attributes alone (so zoom 2.0 and xalign 0.5 remain unchanged).
Finally, the
pause 4.0 tells RenPy to wait 4 seconds before continuing... which will means the animation will complete before the game continues (assuming the player doesn't just click through it).
Which is fine... and answers your question.
However, I have a few tweaks to offer.
Firstly, your image isn't centered. But it can be... since you're zoomed in to double size.
xalign 0.54 instead of
xalign 0.5 sorts that out nicely in my eyes.
Next... your animation doesn't have to be quite that simple.
Perhaps swap
linear for
easein which starts slow and speeds up as it moves forward. I think this looks best when panning up a character like you have planned.
Also... you can vary the zoom amount too. Perhaps start slightly further back and zoom into her face a little more during the transition. Though again... zooming in a lot highlights any imperfections in the render.
One tweak I like to make is to have the game continue slightly ahead of the animation finishing. So if your
easein 4.0 is going to take 4 seconds... have your next line of dialogue appear after 2 seconds using
pause 2.0 instead. (Personal preference of course).
Finally... You don't have to just use a single transition.
After you've tried the code above... try this too. You might prefer the results... or at least know enough to pick and choose the bits you like and the bits you don't.
Python:
label start:
scene black with fade
"Start:.... "
scene intro1 with dissolve:
xalign 0.54 yalign 1.0 zoom 1.5
easein 4.0 yalign 0.0 zoom 3.0
easeout 1.0 xalign 0.53 yalign 0.16 zoom 4.0
pause 0.5
linear 1.0 xalign 0.54 yalign 0.0 zoom 3.0
pause 0.5
linear 0.25 xalign 0.5 yalign 0.5 zoom 1.0
pause 4.0
"What are you looking at?"
"*** THE END ***"
return
The section of the RenPy documentation you are looking for is
You must be registered to see the links
.
xalign,
yalign and
zoom are only the tip of the iceberg. You can go nuts and create really complex animation by mixing in
You must be registered to see the links
. The
easein and
linear transforms are called warpers... they are detailed
You must be registered to see the links
(although they are more about controlling the timing as much as anything else).
Personally, as I say, I'd create a double height render... even if you end up using
zoom 4.0.
That said... you're talking about 4 seconds out of a game that will take hours to play. Most players won't care if you don't re-render to create a "better" image when zoomed in. A large number won't even notice.
