Adaptations in exporting for vertical 9:16 videos

[Daniel30810352o94k]

Hi,

Confession: I edit on Avid while fully aware of the pros & cons between it and PP, particularly Avid's seeming unwillingness to be adaptable in the, say, web-sphere.  Still, I'm in that edit groove (while my colleague edits on PP), and regarding this particular forum post I do know that PP has a funky pre-set that enables what I am looking for; but I am asking the following to both this forum and the Avid forum, only that maybe Adobe's Media Encoder may have a solution.

Here goes. 

I am looking to adapt 'normal' 16:9 videos for a vertical mobile phone frame, and my main tutorial has been the following: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z47mlnlA6vI&t=97s 

In this tutorial @ 35:35 the speaker finally gets to optimal export settings, and having followed this in a test case and exported, indeed the video does play & look as desired.  I then loaded this onto my phone and the screen was blank; so I further altered the settings to the H.264 codec, exported this, loaded it onto my phone and played it, and it plays and looks lovely (see attached).  Great. 

However, if I load the final video into, say, FB messenger to view vertically (as I am testing this process), then the video's look is stretched across the width.  As the aim is to create vertical videos for TikTok, etc., then (and I haven't tested things there yet), I assume it will be the same look.

Here is the video test in question (the one that plays well on my desktop, on my phone, but not on a phone after it has been sent via FB Messenger):

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/mi3r71qarfpgrpopjmx57/C2C-VV-Test-1.Copy.01.mov?rlkey=zdd3zig7uxxfmaw...

In short, I can export out from Avid and have a video that does exactly what is asked of it once loaded onto a phone and played from there.  But, this same file seemingly cannot be transmitted across social media platforms and at the other end it plays correctly (so far I have only tested FB Messenger, but not TikTok, Instagram, etc.). 

The Avid forum have not come back to me yet; so I'll wait on that.  In the meantime, does anyone here know either:

a) is there an export settings I should change in Avid?

b) can I run the final output file (as provided by the Dropbox link) and run this through, say, Media Encoder, and do something in ME that will correct the issue?

What to do?

DC 

[PaulMurphy · Accepted solution]

If you're looking to adapt a 16:9 video for vertical (9:16) platforms like Instagram Reels or TikTok, Premiere Pro makes this relatively straightforward—even if your original edit was done in Avid:

1. Export from Avid: Start by exporting your completed 16:9 timeline from Avid using a high-quality format like ProRes or DNxHD.
2. Import into Premiere Pro: Launch Premiere Pro and import the exported file. Then drag the clip onto the “New Item” icon in the Project panel to create a sequence that matches the clip’s settings.
3. Scene Edit Detection: Select the clip in the timeline, then go to Clip > Scene Edit Detection. Enable “Apply a cut at each detected cut point” and click Analyze. Premiere Pro will automatically detect and cut at each scene change.
4. Auto Reframe: With the sequence selected, go to Sequence > Auto Reframe Sequence. In the Auto Reframe dialog:
   • Set Target Aspect Ratio to “Vertical 9:16.”
   • Choose a Motion Tracking option, such as “Default” or “Slower Motion,” based on how dynamic your footage is.
   Click Create to generate a new vertical version of your sequence with motion-adaptive reframing applied.
   
   

For more details on using Auto Reframe, check out the official Adobe guide here: https://helpx.adobe.com/au/premiere-elements/using/auto-reframe.html

[Daniel30810352o94k]

Thank you.  I earlier found the tutorial on YouTube and it works a treat.  I have no idea why Avid are so snobby about not incorprating the funky bells & whistles to make life easier at the mid-range of the market.  Annoying.