Every platform crops or letterboxes videos that don’t match the shape it expects. Choose the shape before you generate, because a 16:9 clip cropped to vertical loses two-thirds of its picture.
Quick reference
| Where it’s going | Shape | Pick in VideoAii |
|---|---|---|
| Instagram Reels | 9:16 vertical | Vertical 9:16 |
| YouTube Shorts | 9:16 vertical | Vertical 9:16 |
| TikTok | 9:16 vertical | Vertical 9:16 |
| Instagram and Facebook feed | 1:1 or 4:5 | Square 1:1 |
| YouTube (regular videos) | 16:9 wide | Wide 16:9 |
| Websites, presentations, LinkedIn | 16:9 wide | Wide 16:9 |
| WhatsApp status | 9:16 vertical | Vertical 9:16 |
Vertical: leave room for the interface
On Reels, Shorts and TikTok, buttons and captions sit over the bottom fifth and the right edge of the video. Keep faces and important action in the upper-middle of the frame. In prompts, phrases like “subject centered” or “medium shot” help keep things away from the edges.
Wide: think about the thumbnail
For YouTube, the first frame is often the thumbnail too. Generate a strong still with the AI image generator in 16:9 and then animate it with image to video, so the clip opens on a frame you chose.
Square: the safe middle
If you’re not sure where a clip will end up, square is the safest choice. It shows fully in feeds, and on vertical platforms it simply sits in the middle with a border.
Resolution and upscaling
AI clips are rendered at a lower resolution than a phone camera, usually a little under HD. That looks fine on phones. If you need full 1080p for YouTube, run the downloaded file through any video upscaler or export it at 1080p from your editor; most editors scale smoothly.
Loop it
Short clips loop well on vertical platforms. Calm motion — waves, clouds, steam, slow orbits — loops most naturally. Duplicate the clip two or three times in your editor and add music for a 10–15 second post.
