Pick the format before you generate

Pick the format before you generate. Pick the right format for each platform is the matrix: 9:16, 4:5, 1:1, 16:9 — not a single vertical religion. One 16:9 hero is not TikTok, Reels, feed, and YouTube. Cropping after you burned captions is a recaption. Generating 9:16 and punching a square for the grid is a crop you should plan, not a surprise. This page is the multi-platform matrix. It is not pick 9:16 before you generate, which is the Reels-first rule.

Four windows, four compositions

Ratio	Typical canvas	Where it is the player	What the generate should protect
9:16	1080×1920	TikTok, Instagram Reels, Facebook Reels, YouTube Shorts	Face in the upper third, pack in the middle, safe area at the bottom and off the right rail
4:5	1080×1350	Instagram feed portrait	More height than square; still not a full 9:16. Pack and face can coexist more easily than in 1:1
1:1	1080×1080	Instagram feed square, some ads	Centre band. Tall 9:16 action dies at forehead and product
16:9	1920×1080	YouTube long-form, decks, sites	Hands, two-shots, horizons. A vertical punch later throws those away

Change video aspect ratio reframes after you have pixels. It cannot invent the top of a 9:16 that 16:9 never rendered, or the sides of a 16:9 that 9:16 never rendered. Generate in the window you will ship when that destination is the job. Reframe when a second destination can survive a punch of a planned centre.

I2V inherits twice. Crop the still to the ship ratio before you attach it. Writing “9:16” in the prompt does not recrop a 16:9 pack. T2V invents blocking for the aspect you selected. A 16:9 couch two-shot will lose a person in a vertical crop.

The AI video generator will not pick Reels because the caption mentioned Reels. Set the control.

YouTube Shorts overlay for photoreal AI (YouTube Blog, 27 May 2026) sits on the 9:16 video. Long-form labels sit below the player. A 16:9 YouTube upload and a Shorts upload are different canvases and different chrome. Caption each.

Insights are a tie-breaker, not a default

The editing task also runs get_content_insights on your posts: per platform, per format (image, video, carousel, text), counts, average and median views and engagement, top three, best hour/day when timestamps allow. It is not a generic “always 9:16” blog. A new account has nothing to summarize. Averages on five posts are noise; check the top three.

Use it when you were about to spend an afternoon turning a back catalog into the wrong shape. If your feed 4:5 already outperforms Reels for this SKU, do not blindly 9:16 the next generate. If Reels is the only place the product sells, generate 9:16 and treat 1:1 as a punch you preview.

analyze_content can sanity-check a generation id against a target_platform. It still does not reframe. edit_video does, with a free 480p preview.

This does not replace the matrix. Platforms still have players. Your numbers tell you which player to pay for first. They do not make 1:1 work on Shorts.

Carousels are a format in insights (image sets), not a video ratio. A slideshow of stills can export 9:16 and 1:1 from the same board. That is stills discipline, not a Veo master.

One week, several destinations

A practical slate:

1. Write the destination list. Reels + feed + YouTube is three canvases. Reels + Facebook Reels is one file (9:16). Pinterest stills want 2:3; Pinterest video is not “the Reel with bars.”
2. Pick the primary generate. Usually 9:16 if short-form paid the brief. Usually 16:9 if the brief is a YouTube pre-roll or a site hero.
3. Keep an uncaptioned master in that ratio.
4. Punch only where the composition survives. 9:16 → 1:1 if the action is already in a centre band. 16:9 → 9:16 only if the vertical strip still has face and pack — often it does not; then a second generate at 9:16 is cheaper than a dead crop.
5. Caption each child. Type is layout. Add captions to video per canvas. 21 BASIC at 1×; 9 DYNAMIC at 2×.

Do not generate four models “for four platforms.” Generate one primary, reframe what survives, regenerate what does not. Credits sit on the generate sticker (Veo 3.1 is 40 for 4/6/8s 4K; Grok Imagine Video is 7 at 720p) plus editor exports. Four full generates is four stickers.

4:5 is the ignored middle. If Instagram feed is the job and you only think in 9:16 versus 16:9, you will punch too much or letterbox. Say 4:5 when the brief is 4:5.

UGC video generator same rule: aspect is a control. UGC that only lives on Reels should not start as a 16:9 talking-head.

Matrix first, then the row

The test: can you name the ratio of the file you are about to pay for, and the player it is for? If the answer is “we’ll crop,” you have not picked. If the answer is “9:16 for Reels, 1:1 punch if the preview keeps the pack,” you have picked.

Gemini Omni Video lists 16:9 or 9:16 at 4–10s, 4K, 9 credits. It does not list 4:5 or 1:1 as generate chips on that card. If the primary is feed 4:5, either generate 9:16 with extra height you can punch, generate 16:9 only if a 4:5 window still holds the pack (often it does not), or reframe in edit_video from a still that was already 4:5 for I2V. The matrix is the decision. The row is the menu. Do not assume every model ships every ratio.

Seedance 2.5 lists 4–30s at a 720p ceiling, 47 credits, native audio. A long 9:16 is still 9:16. Duration is not format. Do not buy 30 seconds in 16:9 because you needed length, then punch Shorts from it and lose the pack.

If you need a seat to set 9:16, 4:5, 1:1, or 16:9 on the generate and reframe the rest, sign up. Set the window. Then press generate.

FAQ

Is this the same as “always generate 9:16”?

No. 9:16 is the short-form player. Feed still wants 4:5 or 1:1. YouTube long-form wants 16:9. Pick the primary from the destination list (and your insights if you have them). Do not pretend one master is four players.

Can I caption once and crop for each platform?

No. Burned type is pixels. Reframe, then caption each file. Keep an uncaptioned master.

What if I have no post history in Versely?

Then insights will not choose for you. Use the matrix. Generate for the primary player. Preview any punch at 480p before you pay for a second export.