Formats & specs
Vertical video: definition and examples
What is Vertical video?
Vertical video is footage shot and displayed in portrait orientation, where the frame is taller than it is wide, typically at a 9:16 aspect ratio. This format matches how people naturally hold their phones and is the default on platforms such as TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts.
When you'd use it
- 1When publishing to any platform where content plays in a mobile feed by default.
- 2When repurposing a landscape video for Reels, TikTok, or Stories.
- 3When shooting original content for social and want to fill the phone screen natively.
- 4When a landscape cut is losing viewers early and the account's audience is primarily on mobile.
- 5When a brand template is being built for short-form and a format decision needs to be made first.
Example
A brand films a 60-second product walkthrough on a phone held vertically, framing the product at chest height with the presenter's face filling the top third. Captions are placed between the presenter and the product to stay clear of the TikTok progress bar. The clip runs natively on Reels and Shorts with no reframing needed, and safe zones are respected on all three platforms without a single crop adjustment.
Use cases
- 1Reframing a 16:9 product demo into 9:16 so it fills the screen in a TikTok or Reels feed.
- 2Shooting a founder talking-head in portrait orientation so no reframing is needed at edit time.
- 3Cropping a horizontal brand film to vertical to run as a paid placement on a mobile-first platform.
FAQ
Does vertical video work on platforms that also support landscape, like YouTube?
Yes, but with trade-offs. YouTube Shorts plays 9:16 in a dedicated feed and displays it full-screen on mobile. If the same vertical clip is uploaded to a standard YouTube channel, it plays in a tall centered box with black bars on either side on desktop, which can look unfinished. For a long-form YouTube audience, a landscape version usually performs better; for the Shorts feed, vertical is the correct format.
Make on-brand short-form video from the footage you already have.