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Set your stream canvas to landscape (commonly 16:9), then scale and reposition the portrait video until the important content fits. Do not stretch the portrait footage to fill the frame: that distorts it. If cropping would cut off something essential, keep the full portrait frame and design the unused space around it instead.
Choose how the portrait video should fit
A portrait source and a landscape canvas have different shapes, so there is no way to fill the whole landscape frame while preserving the entire portrait image at its original proportions. Choose between cropping and preserving the full frame before you adjust the scene.
| Approach | What it does | Best when |
|---|---|---|
| Crop to fill | Enlarge the portrait clip until it fills the landscape canvas; parts of the image fall outside the frame. | The subject and important details fit within the visible crop. |
| Preserve the full frame | Keep the whole portrait clip visible and use the remaining canvas for a background, graphics, or other scene content. | Cropping would remove important content, or you want viewers to see the full portrait composition. |
A centered crop is a useful starting point when the subject is centered. If the person, action, captions, or other essential details sit off-center, adjust the clip’s zoom and position. OBS’s aspect-ratio guide recommends a 16:9 output such as 1920×1080 or 1280×720, and cautions that stretching a source to fill the canvas distorts it. Those are format examples, not mandatory settings for every setup. OBS Project: Aspect Ratio Guide
Crop and frame the clip for a landscape loop
- Set the output canvas. In your editing or scene software, choose the landscape dimensions you intend to stream. For a common 16:9 layout, examples include 1920×1080 and 1280×720; select a resolution and frame rate appropriate to your actual streaming setup.
- Add the portrait clip. Place it in the landscape scene without changing its proportions. Avoid any control that stretches its width or height independently.
- Choose crop-to-fill or full-frame treatment. For crop-to-fill, enlarge the clip until the canvas is covered. For the full-frame treatment, keep the portrait image intact and fill the remaining canvas with scene content. A designed or blurred duplicate background is one possible composition choice, not a required feature of any particular editor.
- Position the subject. Move the enlarged clip within the canvas so faces, action, captions, and other critical details remain visible. A center crop may work for a centered subject; off-center content may need a manual adjustment.
- Review the entire loop. Watch the complete clip, including movement and cuts. A fixed crop that works in one shot may cut off a subject later. Adjust the position, choose a different crop, or preserve the full frame if one composition cannot keep the important content visible.
- Preview the actual output. Check the landscape scene at the intended output size before starting the stream. Confirm that no essential information is clipped and that the clip loops as intended.
Do not confuse a prerecorded landscape loop with YouTube’s vertical live layout
YouTube documents horizontal live streams as 16:9 and vertical live streams as 9:16. Its Live Control Room layout editor configures a vertical live layout: available options include Center crop, Fit to phone width, and Stacked, with zoom and position adjustments. YouTube describes the default vertical stream as a center crop of the horizontal stream. These are controls for configuring a live layout, not universal editing instructions for every prerecorded clip. YouTube Help: Get started with live streaming
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If you are making a single prerecorded loop for a landscape stream, prepare and preview the landscape composition in your editor or scene software. If you need simultaneous horizontal and vertical broadcasts through a third-party encoder, that is a different workflow: YouTube documents RTMP(S), selecting an encoder in the vertical preview, and using a second stream key for the vertical stream. Each key must receive the matching format, and YouTube says the vertical format cannot be added after the stream has started. Set up both formats before going live if you need dual delivery.
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