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To show a portrait video in a standard horizontal YouTube stream without stretching it, fit the full image proportionally inside a 16:9 landscape scene. Use the empty space on the sides for a background or other restrained design elements. If you want a portrait viewing experience instead, use YouTube’s vertical layout or configure a separate vertical encoder feed.
Choose the layout that matches your stream
A portrait source and a landscape canvas have different aspect ratios. You cannot fill the horizontal canvas with the entire portrait image without either distorting it or leaving space around it. Choose deliberately: fit preserves the full picture, while crop fills more of the canvas by cutting off part of the picture.
| Option | Best when | Tradeoff |
|---|---|---|
| Fit the full portrait frame inside 16:9 | You need the complete portrait image visible in a horizontal stream. | The side areas need a considered design. |
| Crop or zoom the portrait footage | Filling more of the landscape composition matters more than retaining the entire frame. | Parts of the image, including edges or top and bottom content, may be lost. |
| Use a vertical layout or separate vertical feed | Viewers should receive a portrait-oriented stream. | You need to check YouTube’s vertical layout or configure and verify an additional encoder feed and matching stream key. |
Fit the complete portrait video into a horizontal stream
- Build a landscape scene. Set up the horizontal composition in your streaming software, such as OBS. Keep the scene in the landscape format you intend to send to YouTube.
- Add the portrait video as a source. Scale it proportionally until the entire frame fits inside the scene. Do not resize its width and height independently; unequal scaling changes the shape of the image.
- Design the side areas. Use a blurred or still background, a plain color, branding, context text, or a second visual. OBS recommends filling unused “black space” with other content when a source does not match the canvas. Keep any additions readable and subordinate to the main footage. OBS Aspect Ratio Guide
- Check the composition at the output size. Confirm that faces, subtitles, and important action stay visible inside the portrait frame and that overlays do not cover them.
- Preview and test before going live. Test with audio and movement representative of the planned stream, then monitor YouTube’s stream health and messages. YouTube’s guidance recommends constant bitrate encoding and a two-second keyframe frequency, with a maximum interval of four seconds. Check its current resolution, frame-rate, codec, and bitrate recommendations and choose settings your encoder and stable upload connection can sustain. YouTube encoder settings, bitrates, and resolutions
Use a vertical YouTube viewing layout
If the intended result is portrait-oriented, use YouTube’s vertical layout options in Live Control Room or send a separate vertical encoder feed. YouTube documents vertical layout choices that include center crop, fit to phone width, and stacked layouts; zoom and position can also be adjusted. Check the vertical preview itself, because a horizontal preview does not show how the vertical result will look. YouTube: Get started with live streaming
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For a separate vertical encoder feed
YouTube’s third-party encoder instructions describe dual streaming with RTMP(S). Select Encoder for the vertical preview, send the matching content to the corresponding vertical or horizontal stream key, and verify the previews and keys in Live Control Room before going live. Do not assume that the horizontal key or preview represents the vertical feed.
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A good layout solves the framing problem; it does not guarantee uninterrupted operation. YouTube’s encoder guidance calls for preflight testing and monitoring, but does not establish a universal reliability requirement or promise continuous uptime. Test the selected computer and encoder, or hosted service, under the conditions in which you plan to run them before relying on the stream to stay live. Follow YouTube’s copyright and other live-stream rules for the footage and audio you use.
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