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How-to

How to convert landscape clips to vertical

ReelWorkshop's exports are always vertical 9:16, so this covers what happens when your source clips are shot landscape and how to work with that.

Last reviewed September 18, 2026

Every export from ReelWorkshop is a vertical 9:16 MP4 at either 1080x1920 or 720x1280. If your source clips were shot landscape, they get fit into that vertical frame as part of rendering — there's no separate manual crop or reframe tool to hand-place a subject inside the frame beat by beat.

Import your landscape clips as usual

Landscape footage imports the same way as any other clip: drag and drop or use the file picker, up to 100 clips per project. It gets fingerprinted and quality-scored like vertical footage.

Preview to check the framing

Because landscape source doesn't naturally fill a vertical frame, use the live preview before rendering to check how each scene looks once placed in 9:16. This is the point to catch a subject getting cropped awkwardly or important action landing outside the visible area.

Choose your resolution

ResolutionWhen it fits
1080x1920Sharper output, larger file size, better for platforms that display at full HD
720x1280Smaller file size, faster render and export, fine when sharpness matters less

Trim to the strongest part of the frame

If a landscape clip has your subject centered for only part of its duration, trim the range down to that part rather than keeping a longer range where framing drifts. Since there's no manual crop control, trimming to the best-framed section is your main tool for controlling what ends up visible.

No manual reframe tool

ReelWorkshop doesn't offer keyframed pan-and-scan or a manual crop box to reposition a subject frame by frame. If a specific shot absolutely needs a hand-placed crop to keep the subject centered, reframe that clip in a general editor first, then import the reframed file.

Mistakes to avoid

  • Skipping preview and only noticing bad framing after rendering, which costs you export minutes.
  • Assuming vertical output means your landscape footage will be automatically cropped exactly how you'd choose by hand.
  • Mixing heavily off-center landscape clips with well-framed vertical ones without previewing the combined pacing and framing together.

When this isn't enough

If most of your footage is landscape and needs deliberate, shot-by-shot reframing to look intentional in a vertical frame, do that reframing pass in a general editor first. Bring the reframed clips into ReelWorkshop afterward for the compilation build.