Change Video Aspect Ratio for TikTok, Reels and YouTube
Fit or Fill — the only two honest ways to change a video's shape. Which ratio each platform wants, and how to render one cut in three shapes.
Change Video Aspect Ratio for TikTok, Reels and YouTube
The same film needs three shapes now: 9:16 for TikTok and Reels, 16:9 for YouTube, sometimes 1:1 or 4:5 for a feed. Re-shooting is not an option, and stretching looks terrible. Here is how to change the shape of a video properly — and what the two honest ways of doing it actually cost you.
Fit or Fill: there is no third option
When a clip is a different shape from the frame you are exporting to, exactly one of two things has to happen.
Fit scales the clip down until all of it is inside the frame, and fills what's left with a background colour. Nothing is lost — you get bars.
Fill scales the clip up until the frame is full, and cuts away whatever hangs outside. Nothing is added — you lose the edges.
Anything that claims to do neither is stretching the picture, and everyone can see it.
In Video Studio this is a per-clip choice. Select a clip and it tells you what shape it is and what shape the frame is — "This clip is 16:9 (1920×1072), frame is 9:16" — then offers Fit or Fill. With Fill, two sliders move the visible area horizontally and vertically, so you can keep the face instead of whatever happened to be in the middle.
Pick the frame first
Settings → Size sets the shape of the export:
| Name | Ratio | Where it goes |
|---|---|---|
| Tall Portrait | 9:16 | TikTok, Reels, Shorts, Stories |
| Portrait | 4:5 | Instagram feed |
| Square | 1:1 | Feeds, thumbnails |
| Boxy Landscape | 4:3 | Older screens, retro look |
| Landscape | 5:4 | Print-ish, gallery |
| Wide Landscape | 16:9 | YouTube, presentations |
| Cinematic | 21:9 | Widescreen, trailers |
Export quality sets the pixels: 480p, 720p or 1080p on the short side. A 9:16 film at 720p renders at 720×1280; the same film at 16:9 renders at 1280×720.
The preview is the export
The player above the timeline is the frame you are exporting to, not the clip's own shape. Bars and crops are visible before you render, which is the only way to catch a Fill that cut someone's head off.
Background colour
Fitted clips need something behind them. The default is black; Settings lets you pick any colour, which is worth doing when the footage is bright or the brand isn't black.
Making one film in three shapes
Because the frame is a project setting and fitting is per clip, the fastest route is: build the cut once, export it, change Size, adjust Fill positions on the shots that matter, export again. The clips are never re-uploaded and nothing is regenerated — each export is just another render of the same cut list.
FAQ
How do I turn a landscape video into 9:16 without black bars? Choose Fill on the clip, then move the position sliders to keep the subject. Bars only appear with Fit.
Does changing the aspect ratio re-encode my clips? The export is re-encoded, once. Your source files are never modified.
Which ratio should I use for TikTok? 9:16 (Tall Portrait). Instagram feed posts are usually 4:5, YouTube is 16:9.
Can different clips have different crops? Yes — Fit/Fill and the position of the crop are set per clip.