A vertical video maker that keeps the whole shot
Phones are held upright, but cameras, screen recordings and old footage are wide. Upload a 16:9 clip to a vertical feed and it shows as a thin strip with empty space above and below. This vertical video maker converts a landscape video into a true 9:16 portrait file — 1080 × 1920 by default — and lets you decide what fills the extra space: a blurred, zoomed copy of the video itself, a solid colour or gradient, or nothing at all because the picture is cropped to fill the frame.
Cropping a wide shot usually cuts someone out, so the crop can move: pause on a moment, drag the preview to frame the subject, repeat a few times, and the frame glides between those keyframes. The video is decoded, recomposed and encoded as an H.264 MP4 with AAC sound inside your browser, using the open-source Mediabunny library (MPL-2.0) and your browser’s built-in WebCodecs encoder. The file never leaves your device.
How to turn a horizontal video into a vertical one
- Drop your landscape video on the upload area. Its length, resolution, codecs and file size appear straight away.
- Keep “9:16 Full HD · 1080 × 1920” or pick 720 × 1280 for a smaller file, 1440 × 2560 for ads, or a 4:5 or 3:4 shape.
- Under “Fill the empty space with”, choose Blurred video, Colour, or Nothing — crop. Adjust blur, darkening, colours or Zoom while watching the preview.
- To follow a subject, tick “Move the framing during the video”, pause the original at each moment that matters and drag the preview there.
- Press “Make vertical video”, watch the progress bar (Cancel stops it), then play the result and press “Download MP4”.
Vertical Video Maker features
Blurred background fill
The popular look: the same video, enlarged and softly blurred, fills the space above and below the sharp original. Blur and darkness are adjustable.
Crop with moving keyframes
Crop to fill the whole 9:16 frame and pan it during the clip. Movement between keyframes is eased, so it looks like a deliberate camera move rather than a jump.
Colour or gradient bars
Fill the space with a brand colour or a two-colour gradient — a clean place for a title or captions.
Safe-zone overlay
A preview-only guide shows the top, bottom and side areas Meta advises keeping free of text on Reels and Stories.
Honest result checks
The new MP4 is read back and its real size, length, codecs and file size are shown next to the original’s.
Blur, colour or crop: which fill to use
A 16:9 picture fitted into a 9:16 frame fills only about a third of the screen height, so the fill choice matters. Raise Zoom to make the picture bigger: from about 178% the wide shot already covers the full height, and dragging chooses which part is shown.
| Fill | What viewers see | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Blurred video | The full wide shot in the middle, a soft moving copy around it | Talks, sport, gaming and anything where every edge matters |
| Colour or gradient | The full wide shot on a flat or graded background | Clips with a title above or captions below, brand colours |
| Crop (with keyframes) | A full-screen 9:16 slice that can pan | One person or one subject, interviews, walking shots |
Following the action with keyframes
A crop that stays in the centre misses anyone standing at the side. Tick the keyframe option, pause the original where the subject is on the left and drag the preview so they are framed, then do the same where they move. Each drag stores a keyframe with its time; the list lets you jump to or delete any of them. Before the first keyframe and after the last one the framing holds still.
Two or three keyframes are usually enough. For a clip with hard cuts, add a pair of keyframes a fraction of a second apart on each side of the cut so the pan doesn’t drift across the edit.
Vertical video sizes and safe zones
- 1080 × 1920 is the everyday 9:16 size for YouTube Shorts, Instagram and Facebook Reels, Stories and TikTok.
- 720 × 1280 encodes faster and makes smaller files. Instagram’s help centre lists 720 px as the minimum resolution for Reels.
- 1440 × 2560 is the resolution Meta’s Ads Guide recommends for Instagram Reels and Stories ads (checked October 2026).
- Meta advises keeping roughly the top 14%, bottom 35% and 6% on each side free of text and logos on Reels and Stories ads; the overlay draws exactly that. Other apps place their buttons similarly, so it is a sensible guide everywhere.
Before you post
Trim first if the clip is long — the video cutter keeps only the part you need, which also speeds this tool up. For platform presets with their own length limits and guides, use the Shorts resizer, Reels resizer or TikTok resizer. Going the other way, from phone video to a wide 16:9 frame, is the job of the horizontal video maker.
Vertical Video Maker FAQ
How do I convert a horizontal video to vertical without cutting anything off?
Choose “Blurred video” or “Colour” as the fill. The whole landscape picture stays visible in the middle of the 9:16 frame, and the space above and below is filled. Only “Nothing — crop” removes the sides.
What size is a vertical video?
9:16, most often 1080 × 1920 pixels. 720 × 1280 is the smaller HD version and 1440 × 2560 is used for some ads. This vertical video maker offers all three plus 4:5 and 3:4 portrait shapes.
Is my video uploaded to a server?
No. Decoding, compositing and encoding all happen in your browser with WebCodecs. Large files take longer on slower devices, but nothing is sent anywhere.
Why is the result bigger or smaller than my original file?
The video is re-encoded at a fixed bitrate for its new size — about 8 Mbps for 1080 × 1920 on “Standard”. Choose “Smaller file” to halve it or “High” for fast motion. The estimate appears before you start.
Which browsers can make vertical videos here?
Any current browser with WebCodecs video encoding, such as recent Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari. If H.264 encoding isn’t available at the chosen size, the tool tells you and suggests a smaller size.
Does it keep the sound?
Yes. The audio is kept as AAC in the MP4 unless you untick “Keep the sound”. If your browser can’t decode the original sound format, you are warned before converting.