Short answer
Vertical video uses a 9:16 frame, usually 1080 pixels wide and 1920 tall. Film with the phone upright, keep your subject in the middle third of the frame, and keep text and faces away from the top and bottom edges and the right-hand side, where the app places its buttons, profile name and post caption. That middle area is called the safe zone.
What 9:16 means in practice
The numbers describe width to height. A 9:16 video is tall and narrow, filling a phone screen held upright. Reels, YouTube Shorts and stories all use this shape. The common size is 1080 by 1920 pixels.
Square (1:1) and wide (16:9) still have uses. Square sits neatly in feeds on both phones and computers. Wide suits YouTube videos and website embeds. The reel editor in AI Marketing Master can export all three shapes, so choose the shape before you start trimming.
Filming tips for upright video
- Hold the phone upright from the start. Turning a wide clip into a tall one crops away most of the picture.
- Use the rear camera when you can; it is usually sharper than the selfie camera.
- Leave a little space above people's heads, but not a lot. Too much empty space at the top looks unplanned.
- Film products closer than you think. On a small screen, details disappear quickly.
- Clean the lens. A smudge softens every shot.
- Face a window or light source. Light behind the subject turns faces dark.
The safe zone: where not to put important things
Apps draw their own layer on top of your video. The profile name and post caption sit along the bottom. Like, comment and share buttons sit down the right side. Sometimes a header or close button sits along the top.
As a rough guide on a 1080 by 1920 frame, keep text and key details out of roughly the top 250 pixels, the bottom 400 pixels and a strip down the right edge. Each app is slightly different and layouts change, so preview on the real app before you post.
Checklist for on-screen text placement
- Put headlines in the upper-middle area, below the top strip.
- Avoid placing text where a person's face is.
- Keep text short enough to sit inside the middle of the frame with space on both sides.
- Use strong contrast: light text on a dark area or dark text on a light area.
- Check Hindi and Punjabi lines on a real phone, because their marks above and below the letters need extra room.
Using photos and wide clips in a vertical reel
You can still use wide clips and landscape photos in a vertical reel, but they will be fitted or cropped to the tall frame. Before you upload, look at each wide clip and ask whether the important part is in the centre. If it sits at the side, it may be lost. A short clip filmed again upright often works better than a crop.
How the reel editor helps
Choose 9:16 for Reels and Shorts, 1:1 for square feed posts, or 16:9 for wide video. You order and trim your clips, type your on-screen text in English, Hindi or Punjabi, and the server renders the MP4 in the shape you chose, then checks the file. The editor does not reframe or track subjects for you, so framing at filming time matters.
What it does not do
- No automatic reframing or subject tracking; frame your shot when you film.
- The app does not show each platform's button overlay, so preview the finished reel on the platform itself.
Questions people ask
What size should a vertical reel be?
1080 pixels wide by 1920 pixels tall is the common size for a 9:16 reel.
Will my text be hidden by Instagram buttons?
It can be if it sits near the bottom, top or right edge. Keep it in the middle area and preview before posting.
Can the editor turn a wide video into a vertical one automatically?
It fits clips to the shape you chose, but it does not track or follow the subject, so wide clips may lose their edges.
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