🎬 Media · Updated November 4, 2026 · 7 min read

Combine Vertical and Horizontal Videos Into One Clip

To combine vertical and horizontal videos into one clip, choose a single canvas for the result, then decide how each clip that does not match it should fill the frame. GrabCast's Merge Videos lets you pick a 9:16, 1:1, 4:5 or 16:9 canvas and fit odd-shaped clips with a blurred background, black bars or a crop that fills the frame. In the example, a 640 × 360 wide clip and a 360 × 640 vertical clip become one 720 × 1280 video for Reels or TikTok, six seconds long. The sections below cover how to choose the canvas, what each fill option does and what to expect from the re-encode.

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Merged vertical video playing the wide aurora clip centered over a blurred copy of itself in a 720 x 1280 frame — The wide clip keeps its full picture inside the vertical frame, filled with a soft blur.

💡 Why mixed-orientation footage is hard to edit

Holiday footage, event coverage and family videos rarely come from one camera held one way. A friend shoots vertical on a phone, you shoot horizontal on a camera, and a third clip comes from a screen recording. Most quick joiners either refuse different sizes or stretch every clip to the first one's shape, which squashes faces and bends horizons. Doing it properly means scaling each clip into a shared frame without distorting it, then filling the leftover space in a way that looks deliberate. The frame rate has to be unified too, or the motion stutters at every joint, and clips without sound need silent audio so the soundtrack does not slip out of sync. Handling all of that by hand in a desktop editor is slow for a one-minute recap. A merge tool that treats shape, size, frame rate and audio together turns it into a few clicks, and doing it in the browser keeps personal footage on your own device.

Choosing the canvas for mixed clips

The canvas is the shape of the finished video. Pick it for where the video will be watched, not for whichever clip happens to be first.

9:16 Vertical suits TikTok, Reels, Shorts and Stories; wide clips become bands across the middle.
16:9 Wide suits YouTube, TVs and presentations; vertical clips become narrow columns in the center.
1:1 Square and 4:5 Portrait are compromises for feeds, where both shapes lose less space.
Same as first clip copies the first clip's shape, which is only a good choice if most clips share it.
The summary above the Merge button always states the final size and length, for example 720 × 1280 MP4, 0:06.

When most of the footage is vertical, 9:16 keeps those clips full screen and only the wide ones get a fill; when most is horizontal, 16:9 does the same in reverse.

Blurred fill, black bars or crop edges

The option row labeled Clips with a different shape appears whenever the clips do not all match the canvas.

Fit · blurred background keeps each whole picture and fills the gaps with a blurred, enlarged copy of the same clip.
Fit · black bars keeps each whole picture with plain black bands, the classic letterbox or pillarbox look.
Fill · crop edges enlarges the clip until it covers the frame and trims whatever sticks out, so there are no bands but the sides or top are lost.
The choice applies to every mismatched clip, while clips that already match the canvas simply scale to fit.
For a wide landscape inside 9:16, the blurred fill usually looks the most natural; for a talking head filmed horizontally, crop edges may be better.

Fill · crop edges works best when every mismatched clip has its subject near the center. If subjects sit off to the side, crop those clips individually first so you control what is kept.

Output size, frame rate and audio for mixed merges

Mixed shapes always require a re-encode, so the output settings matter more here than in a simple join.

Output size sets the short side: 720p on a 9:16 canvas gives 720 × 1280, 1080p gives 1080 × 1920.
If the first clip is larger than 1080p and the clips differ, the tool switches to 1080p automatically, because re-encoding 4K in a browser is very heavy.
All clips are converted to the first clip's frame rate, so put a 30 fps clip first if you want a 30 fps result.
Clips without audio get silence of the right length, so the others stay in sync; Remove audio exports a silent file.
The result is H.264 at CRF 23 with AAC audio at 128 kbps, 48 kHz.

Encoding time grows with both the output size and the total length, so a 30-second recap at 720p finishes far sooner than a 5-minute one at 1080p.

Need a soundtrack under the combined video? The Add Music to Video tool adds one.

Checking a combined vertical and horizontal video

A mixed merge is worth watching once all the way through, because each clip is transformed differently.

Scrub to each joint in the result player and confirm the fill style looks consistent from one clip to the next.
Check that faces in horizontal clips are still large enough to read on a phone when fitted into 9:16.
Listen at the joints for jumps in loudness between clips from different devices.
If one clip needs a different treatment, crop it separately first in Crop & Resize Video and merge the prepared file.
The downloaded MP4 is named after the first clip with -merged added.

A final check on the device where the video will be watched is the most reliable test, since phone screens show fill bands and small faces very differently from a laptop.

Step-by-step

1Open Merge Videos and drop in the vertical and horizontal clips; each card shows its size, such as 640×360 or 360×640.

Two clips of different shapes loaded: a 640 x 360 wide aurora clip and a 360 x 640 vertical lavender clip — Add clips shot in different orientations; the cards show each clip's size.

2Choose the canvas for the finished video, for example 9:16 Vertical, and pick Fit · blurred background, black bars or Fill · crop edges.

Canvas set to 9:16 Vertical with Fit, blurred background selected for clips that have a different shape — Pick the canvas for the finished video, then how odd-shaped clips fill it.

3Select an output size such as 720p and check the summary line for the final dimensions and length.

Output size 720p selected and the summary showing a 720 x 1280 MP4, 0:06 long, re-encoded to H.264 and AAC — Choose 720p for a faster export; the summary confirms size, length and encoding.

4Click Merge videos, scrub through the joints in the result and press Download MP4.

Second half of the merged 9:16 video: the vertical lavender clip filling the frame, with the Download MP4 button — Vertical clips fill the frame edge to edge; download the finished MP4.

Common mistakes to avoid

⚠️Leaving the canvas on Same as first clip when the first clip is the odd one out, forcing every other clip into the wrong shape.

⚠️Using Fill · crop edges for wide group shots and cutting people off at both sides.

⚠️Putting a 60 fps clip first by accident and making the whole merge heavier to encode than necessary.

⚠️Choosing 1080p for a long mixed merge on a phone and waiting many minutes when 720p would have looked the same on screen.

Pro tips

✓Start the sequence with the clip that best represents the final shape; it also sets the frame rate.

✓Try the blurred fill first; it works for most landscape shots placed in a vertical frame.

✓Use 4:5 if the video is mainly for the Instagram feed; both vertical and horizontal clips lose less of the screen.

✓Trim long clips before merging so the re-encode only processes what you will actually keep.

✓Save a 16:9 version as well if the same footage is going to YouTube; it takes one more export with a different canvas.

Frequently asked questions

Can I merge portrait and landscape videos together?

Yes. Pick one canvas for the result, such as 9:16 or 16:9, and every clip is scaled into it. Clips with a different shape are fitted with a blurred background or black bars, or cropped to fill the frame.

Will my vertical clips be stretched?

No. Clips are scaled with their proportions kept; the leftover space is filled, or the edges are cropped, depending on the option you choose.

What size should a mixed 9:16 video be?

720 × 1280 at 720p or 1080 × 1920 at 1080p. Both are accepted by TikTok, Reels and Shorts; 720p encodes much faster.

Why can't mixed clips be joined losslessly?

Clips of different sizes have to be scaled and placed on a shared canvas, which means drawing new frames. A lossless join is only possible when every clip already matches.

Is the footage uploaded anywhere?

No. The clips are processed in your browser on your own device; nothing is sent to a server.

📌 Bottom line

Mixed vertical and horizontal footage combines cleanly once you choose the canvas for the destination and a fill style for the odd clips. A blurred fill at 720 × 1280 suits most social recaps, and a quick scrub through each joint confirms the edit before you post it.

Open Merge Videos →