Knob

Aspect ratio

You might say: vertical or horizontal, frame shape, 9:16

The frame’s width to height. 16:9 for YouTube long-form and TV; 9:16 for Shorts, Reels and TikTok; 4:5 and 1:1 fill more of a scrolling feed.

What it does

Decides how much of the phone screen the video fills.

Ask

Which screen will most viewers see this on?

Trouble

Black bars, or a face cut off when a 16:9 shot is cropped to vertical.

What to look for

1. A vertical or horizontal frame filling the screen
2. Black bars after a crop
3. A face cut off when 16:9 becomes vertical

Catalogue: Ratio

• 9:16 (1080×1920): Vertical. Fills a phone held upright: Shorts, Reels, TikTok.
• 16:9 (1920×1080): Horizontal widescreen: YouTube long-form, desktop and TV.
• 4:5 (1080×1350): Slightly tall. Takes more of a scrolling feed than 16:9: Instagram and LinkedIn feeds.
• 1:1 (1080×1080): Square. A safe middle for feeds that crop.

Sources

1. YouTube Help, Recommended upload encoding settings, Video and aspect-ratio recommendationsThe standard aspect ratio for YouTube on a computer is 16:9.
2. TikTok Ads Manager, TikTok Auction In-Feed Ads, Non-Spark Ads dimensionsVertical (recommended) : 9:16, more than or equal to 540*960px.
3. LinkedIn Help, Video ads advertising specifications, Video specifications by aspect ratioVideos must meet height and width specifications, as well as aspect ratio specifications. You can calculate an aspect ratio by dividing the video width by height.

Use it on your project

teardown-apply: hold "Aspect ratio" (aspect-ratio) from the teardown at https://teardownatlas.com/content-creation/ against my project

Paste it into a coding agent that has the teardown skills.

An AI agent wrote this map with the teardown skill. It can contain errors: check the sources before you rely on a part. About and legal