01
How much width survives each shape?
Starting from a 16:9 recording and keeping full height: 16:9 keeps all of it, 1:1 keeps around 56 percent of the width, 4:5 keeps around 45 percent, and 9:16 keeps around 32 percent. The gap between 4:5 and 9:16 is larger than most people assume, which is why 4:5 rescues footage that 9:16 breaks.
02
Width retained from a 16:9 recording
The gap between 4:5 and 9:16 is wider than most people assume, which is why 4:5 rescues footage that 9:16 breaks.
| Output shape | Width kept | Screen filled on a phone |
|---|---|---|
| 16:9 | 100 percent | Least |
| 1:1 | About 56 percent | More |
| 4:5 | About 45 percent | Most, short of vertical |
| 9:16 | About 32 percent | All of it |
| Blur fill | 100 percent, at reduced size | All of it, subject smaller |
03
What the percentages mean in practice
Keeping about a third of the width in a 9:16 crop means anything outside the central third is lost. For a single speaker in the middle, that is fine. For two people sitting apart or a wide scene, much of the story may disappear. Knowing the percentage helps you predict what will survive.
Picture the crop as a narrow window moving across the frame.
04
When to choose a wider shape
If the important content spans more than the central third, a wider shape like 4:5 or 1:1 keeps more of it. The clip fills less of a phone screen but shows what matters.
Choose based on what viewers need to see.
05
Recording to make crops easier
Keeping subjects near the centre and leaving margin around them makes every shape work better. Tight framing at the edges limits your options later.
A little planning during recording saves difficult choices afterwards.
06
Producing several shapes
One recording can produce clips in different shapes for different platforms. Each version keeps a different amount of the original, so choose the shape per destination.
Label files by shape.
07
Resolution after cropping
Cropping reduces the number of pixels used. A 1080 recording cropped to vertical uses only a slice of its width. Higher resolution sources keep more detail in the crop.
Good light matters as much as resolution.
08
Using the numbers
Keep the percentages in mind when choosing shapes.
They turn a guess into a decision.
09
A quick way to visualise it
Pause your wide recording and hold two pieces of paper against the screen so that only the central third is visible. That is roughly what a tall crop keeps. Now slide them apart until just over half is showing, which approximates a square. Seeing it physically on your own footage makes the numbers concrete in a way no table can.
Try it on a group shot and a single speaker to see how differently the two behave.
10
Sources that are not 16:9
Older recordings in 4:3, phone videos filmed upright and screen recordings of unusual sizes all change the arithmetic. A 4:3 source keeps more of its width in a tall crop than a 16:9 one, while an upright phone video needs no crop at all.
Check the source dimensions first, then apply the same thinking.
11
Choose the shape with the numbers in hand
- Start from what must stay visible. The content decides the shape, not the other way round.
- Reach for 4:5 before giving up on vertical. It keeps roughly half again as much width as 9:16.
- Keep 16:9 for anything edge to edge. It is on every plan and it discards nothing.
Run the same recording in two shapes and compare. Nothing to pay for the first.
Questions people ask
- Which shape fills a phone best?
- 9:16, because it matches the screen. It also keeps the least of your recording, which is the trade being made.
- Is 4:5 a good default?
- For anything with two people, a screen or a slide, it often is. For a single speaker, 9:16 gives a larger face for no real loss.
- Are all four available on the free plan?
- Yes. All four shapes are on every plan.
- Does keeping more width cost more?
- No. Pricing does not vary by shape.
- Can one recording produce several shapes?
- Yes, by running it once per shape when the same material serves more than one destination.