How do you turn a horizontal video into a vertical one?
Make a copy of the cut on a 9:16 timeline, at 1080 by 1920 pixels. Then reframe every shot so the important part stays in the tall frame, and move any titles and captions inside the safe area. Some editors do the reframing for you. Check every shot before you post, especially wide shots with two people in them.
Most videos are shot wide and most short-form platforms are tall. Turning one into the other is mostly a question of where to put the frame in each shot. The size settings are the easy part.
Step by step
- Finish the wide cut first. Reframing a cut that is still changing means doing it twice.
- Make a copy at 9:16. 1080 by 1920 pixels is the standard size for TikTok, Reels and Shorts.
- Reframe every shot. Keep the person speaking, or whatever is moving, inside the tall frame. A wide shot of two people often only works on one of them.
- Do not pan across a cut. Each shot should have its own framing. A frame that slides from one shot into the next looks like a mistake.
- Leave a still shot still. When the subject is not moving, a frame that wanders is distracting.
- Move titles and captions. Keep them inside the safe area, clear of the platform’s buttons and captions at the bottom and the right.
- Trim it for the format. A vertical version is usually shorter. Cut anything that only works wide.
Common problems
- Two people talking in a wide shot. You can only frame one at a time. Cut between them, or use a closer angle.
- Graphics made for wide. A lower third designed for 16:9 will hang off the edge. Lay it out again for the tall frame.
- Low resolution. Cropping a 1080p wide shot to vertical leaves a small picture. Shoot in 4K if you know a vertical version is coming.
How B/side handles it
In B/side, choose Deliver ▸ Make a Vertical Version… and you get a 9:16 cut of its own, made from the one you are in. It keeps what is moving in frame and never pans across a cut. A still shot stays still. Any shot it cannot place is centred and counted, so you know exactly which ones to check.
Titles made in B/side are laid out again for the tall frame, and so are captions on Creator and up. Your wide cut is untouched, and the vertical one exports as a 1080 by 1920 file. It is on every plan, including Free.
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