Crop 16:9 → 9:16
Crop a horizontal video to vertical
Cropping a horizontal video to vertical means keeping a 9:16 strip of the frame: a 1920×1080 clip keeps 608×1080 pixels. VerCut does it in the browser —drag the crop onto the subject and export 1080×1920— without uploading the file to any server.
The rest of the frame is discarded. No blurred fill and no bars: the clip fills the phone screen.
How many pixels survive
A 16:9 video is 1.78 times wider than it is tall; a 9:16 video is the other way around. Cropping keeps the full height and the strip of width the ratio demands: height × 9 ÷ 16.
| Source | 9:16 strip | Output |
|---|---|---|
| 1920 × 1080 | 608 × 1080 | 1080 × 1920 |
| 3840 × 2160 (4K) | 1215 × 2160 | 1080 × 1920 |
| 2560 × 1440 | 810 × 1440 | 1080 × 1920 |
| 1280 × 720 | 405 × 720 | 1080 × 1920 |
| 1440 × 1080 (4:3) | 608 × 1080 | 1080 × 1920 |
How to crop it in VerCut
Open the video
Drop it into the window or pick it with the selector. It is decoded locally and never uploaded anywhere.
Place the crop
The 9:16 box starts centred on the subject. Drag it to move it and pull a corner to zoom in. Each adjustment becomes a keyframe at the playhead.
Export the MP4
Output is 1080×1920 H.264, with AAC audio when the source has it. It encodes on your machine, with no render queue.
You decide the framing
VerCut does not guess where the subject is: you move the box and the motion interpolates between keyframes. On a two-person shot that is an advantage, because the crop does not jump from one face to the other mid-sentence. The trade-off is that a long clip needs a few seconds of manual framing, not zero.
Formats and browsers
- Input: MP4, MOV and WebM your browser can decode (H.264 and HEVC almost everywhere; VP8, VP9 and AV1 on Chrome and Edge).
- Output: MP4 with H.264 and AAC, the combination TikTok, Reels, Shorts and LinkedIn accept without re-encoding.
- Recommended: Chrome or Edge 94+, or Safari 16.4+. On Firefox export may fail even when the preview works.
- On a phone the interface collapses to one column: frame on the source first, then check the 9:16 output.
What this editor does not do
- It does not detect or follow the subject automatically.
- It does not add captions, music, text or transitions.
- It has no multiple video tracks or layer compositing.
- It does not fill with a blurred background: crop, or nothing.
Frequently asked questions
Does cropping lose quality?
Cropping discards pixels, it does not distort them: what remains keeps its original size and is encoded once. What does happen is that the 1080×1920 output is upscaled from a 608-pixel-wide strip, so it gains no detail: it looks as sharp as the source at phone size, not sharper.
Can I crop 4K footage?
Yes. The browser decodes 4K and the export is 1080×1920, which is what platforms recommend. On a modest machine it takes longer because decoding 4K costs more than 1080p.
Does it work on iPhone?
Yes, with Safari 16.4 or later, and on Android with Chrome 94 or later. The interface adapts to a single column and switches between source and 9:16 output.
Is my video uploaded to a server?
No. Decoding, cropping and encoding all happen inside the tab. Only the page, the fonts and —if you sign in— your account data travel over the network.
What if I only want part of the clip?
The timeline lets you split, trim and change speed between 0.25× and 2×. The export includes only what remains in the sequence, so you can cut the moment and the format in one pass.
How is this different from filling the sides with a blurred background?
Filling keeps the whole frame but adds two visible bars and shrinks the subject. Cropping fills the screen and loses the edges. For a close-up of one person, cropping usually looks better; for a wide shot, filling keeps the context.