Square-crop the shot you will ship, not the one you will regen
edit_video at 1:1 takes the most off a 16:9 master. Squaring a miss, or squaring before picture lock, studies a center punch of a take you will replace.
1:1 still owns Instagram feed and some ad placements. edit_video's aspect_ratio punches a centered square out of a wider or taller file. Of the common ratios, square removes the most from a 16:9 source. That is a lot of paid pixels to discard — fine on a keeper aimed at feed, waste on a candidate.
Crop a video to square is the job. Free 480p preview, then editor_export. Tell the agent what to keep in the center. "The product," "the face," "the pack." That instruction cannot save a take whose problem is not framing.
Center is a promise about a signed subject
If identity is still in play, a square crop of a maybe teaches you the wrong lesson ("we lost the elbow") about a file you will not post. Watch the source. Lock the take. Then square it, because feed will not show the elbows anyway.
Do not generate three native 1:1 samples and three native 9:16 samples of the same prompt as a first step. Generate one master, lock it, derive the square. The slideshow maker wants stills; this wrap is for motion you already believe.
Overlays after the crop. A top-line hook on 16:9 sits differently in a square safe zone.
Padding will not invent a pack shot
This reframes existing footage. It does not add picture. If the square needs a design around the subject, that is a composite, later, on a keyed keeper — not a crop of a miss plus hope.
estimate_cost before the charged export. Keep the source master. Square is a child.
FAQ
Is 4:5 a better feed crop?
Sometimes. This task is 1:1. If you needed 4:5, say 4:5 to edit_video on the keeper. Do not square "as a preview of feed." It is a different rectangle.
Should I square before I upscale?
Upscale the master you will actually deliver. A square child of a 720p miss, then a regen, then an upscale of the new take is the leak plus a detour. Upscale after lock is the resolution rule.
Can I un-square?
Keep the source. The 1:1 export is not a time machine.
Why does subject framing matter more here than in 9:16?
Because more of the original is gone. A slightly off-center face that survived 9:16 becomes a cropped ear in 1:1. Inspect that on the keeper's preview, not on take two of six.