01
What does a moving frame actually change?
Which half of a wide shot survives. Two people sitting apart cannot both fit in 9:16, so a fixed crop hands back shoulders and an empty chair. Following the active speaker is what makes interviews and panels usable vertically, and it is the standard behaviour rather than an upgrade.
02
Where tracking has nothing to follow
Tracking works from what the recording contains. Nothing in it can add information the camera never captured, which is why framing at record time matters more than any setting afterwards.
| Source | What it tracks | Result |
|---|---|---|
| One person on camera | Them | Follows through movement |
| Two people, one speaking | Whoever has the floor | Moves between them |
| Nobody on camera | Nothing | Frame holds still, which is correct |
| A screen recording | Nothing | Frame holds still |
| Speaker turned fully away | Still them | Turning is not leaving |
| Speaker walks out of the picture | Nothing left in frame | No crop recovers them |
03
Recording so every clip frames well
Seat speakers a little closer together than you would for a landscape video, and keep them roughly at the same distance from the camera. Faces that are well lit and clearly visible make any vertical crop look better, and a plain, uncluttered background keeps attention on the person talking.
Avoid placing guests at the very edges of the frame. Leave a small margin on both sides, so the vertical view has room to settle comfortably on each speaker.
Good light on every face matters as much as seating, since a clearly lit speaker always looks better in a tight frame.
04
Panels, interviews and solo recordings
In a one-to-one interview, a vertical clip that stays on whoever is talking feels close and personal, closer than the original wide shot. Viewers see faces and expressions clearly, which is what keeps them watching on a small screen.
Solo recordings are the simplest case: the speaker stays centred throughout, and the clip looks as if it were filmed vertically from the start.
05
Checking the result quickly
Watch the vertical clip once on a phone before posting. Make sure the speaker's face stays comfortably inside the frame and that nothing important, like a product being shown, is cut off at the sides. If something matters that sits away from the speaker, consider a shape with more width, such as 4:5 or 1:1.
The shape can be different for each clip from the same recording. Pick the one that shows the moment best.
06
When to keep the wide shot
Some moments rely on seeing everyone at once: a group reaction, a demonstration involving two people, a laugh shared across the table. For those, a wider shape often tells the story better than a tight vertical view.
Mixing shapes across a series is fine. Viewers care about seeing the moment clearly more than about every clip having identical dimensions.
07
Stop cropping the empty chair
- Upload wide footage. Interviews, panels, stage recordings, anything shot 16:9.
- The frame tracks the speaker. Instead of locking to the centre of the original.
- Or choose a different template. Auto, focus and blur are on every plan. Split and gaming come with the paid ones.
Put one interview through and compare it with a centre crop. Free to try once.
Questions people ask
- Two people talking at once?
- Split on paid plans keeps both in frame rather than choosing between them.
- Is tracking a paid feature?
- No. The templates open to everyone are auto, focus and blur.
- More than two people on stage?
- It still follows the speaker, though a wider shape often keeps more of the scene.
- What about footage with no face at all?
- It follows the part of the frame that carries the action, which is what screen recordings need.
- Can I still export 16:9?
- Yes, all four shapes are available on every plan.