Reframe the keeper, not every candidate in the bin

edit_video can reframe a clip to 9:16, 1:1, 16:9 — an agent-driven EDL with an aspect_ratio parameter. It cannot invent picture that was never there. A 16:9 generate cropped to 9:16 loses the sides. Do that to a take you will regen and you have paid an export to study a crop of a ghost. Preview at 480p (preview:true, per-user cooldown) is how you check a keeper. It is not a reason to preview every sample.

Change a video's aspect ratio is the general job. Vertical, TikTok, square, and horizontal each have their own pages when you already know the destination. Clips must be HTTPS URLs.

Crop is a decision about a signed frame

The first step is still: is this the take? Identity, motion, line. Then: which platform. Then: reframe. Teams invert it because a vertical file "looks more like content." Letterboxed landscape in a phone UI looks unfinished. Unfinished is honest while you are sampling. A crop hides whether the original framing was any good.

preview:true is free 480p. The final (preview:false) is the editor_export price. Iterate previews on the file you will ship. A stack of previews on a stack of misses is how a cooldown becomes a bottleneck and you start paying finals "just to see it sharp."

If you needed several destinations, derive them from one locked master. Do not generate native 9:16, native 1:1, and native 16:9 as three taste passes. Generate one, lock it, reframe.

Specific destinations are later still

Make vertical, resize for TikTok, crop to square are the same tool with a known target. They still wait. Overlays and captions wait until after the crop, because top/center/bottom sit in a different safe zone.

estimate_cost before a charged export. Check check_credits if the EDL is big. Local file paths fail.

The AI video generator is where the master comes from. Aspect is a delivery wrap.

FAQ

Will reframing add blurred sides automatically?

Only if you ask for padding instead of a crop. Be explicit. Default assumptions are how you lose a face to a center crop you did not intend — still, only do that to a keeper.

Can I reframe and caption in one edit_video call?

Yes, and you should after the take is locked. Captioning plus crop on a miss is two finishes in one receipt.

Why not generate already in 9:16?

If the shot is a vertical shot, do. If you are tasting composition, a wider generate you might later crop is a reasonable master — then crop the keeper. Generating every ratio up front is the leak.

Do free previews replace lock?

No. A 480p preview of a maybe is still a maybe. Use the preview to inspect a crop of a file you have already chosen.