FAQ: How to crop video and change width and height – visual tips and tricks

[caroline_edits]

This post will show you how to change the video width and height (AKA "resolution" or "aspect ratio") as well as how to crop your image! When it comes to post-production, the possibilities are endless. Own your visuals with these quick tips! 

How to change video width and height

With the accessibility of cameras today, it's common for editors to use footage from more than one source, which can result in a video that looks like it changes between different sizes. Changing your video's width and height (aka "resolution") is super simple in Premiere's sequence settings. See the video below for steps.

1. Use the Project panel to check your footage resolution. This is how we choose what the width and height should be!

2. Use the toolbar at the top of your screen to go to Sequence > Sequence Settings...

3. In the video section, there is an option to change Frame Size. Edit it to match your video's resolution.

• There is also a section for video previews which only affects your rendered playback, not your actual video. Ignore this section for now.

4. If some of your clips are too large for your new settings, select the clip in the timeline, and use the Effects Control panel to change the scale of the clip.

How to crop video

Crop your video to create split-screen or multi-screen effects! You can also use it to remove images on the edge of the frame. With the Crop effect in Premiere Pro, you can slice it any way you like. See the video below for steps.

1. Use the Effects panel to find the Crop effect

2. Click and drag the effect to a clip in your timeline

3. Use the Effects Control panel to change the direction and severity of the crop. 

• Click and drag the blue numbers in the control panel to see the crop
• Click the blue number to type in an exact percentage (50% crop will give you a half & half visual)

Hope this helps!

Caroline

[cjriojas]

In Adobe Premiere Pro CS 5 I cannot seem to produce (output) a video larger than frame width: 720 and frame height: 480. The video is recorded in full HD 1920 x 1080p but after editing and adding effects in Premiere Pro CS5, the video changes to only 720 x 480.

1) Where are the settings in Premiere Pro changed to produce a video size of frame width: 1280 and frame height: 720 or even frame width: 1920 and height: 1080?

2) Is it possible to produce a video at 1920 x 1080 or is 720 x 480 the max?

Your time is appreciated.

[mitchell_james2]

when you go to open a new sequence you can pick what ever frame size you want. Just go to new sequence

and make the choice.

[Colin_Brougham]

File > New > Sequence, and then:

1. Choose a preset that matches or at least is similar to your footage, or,
   
2. Click on the General tab, change Editing Mode to "Desktop," and set the parameters as you need for your footage

Alternatively, drag a footage item to the New Item button at the bottom of the Project Panel (looks like the dog-earred sheet of paper) and a sequence will be created matching your footage.

[John T Smith]

Here is a picture of using the New Item process

http://forums.adobe.com/thread/872666?tstart=0

[cjriojas]

My Premiere Pro CS 5 does not have "Sequence in Timeline" anywhere; neither when I click File > New or when I right click on the clip.  However when I drag the clip onto New Item (as shown in video), it creates a sequence with the same settings (1920 x 1080).  Since both the clip and the sequence have the exact same settings, I would think when I go to Export > Media and create the final video that it would create the video in 1920 x 1080, however it keeps outputing it at 720 x 480 (even has it listed in the summary) before clicking 'Export.'?

Any other ideas of where my issue could be?

[cjriojas]

My Premiere Pro CS 5 does not have "Sequence in Timeline" anywhere; neither when I click File > New or when I right click on the clip. However when I drag the clip onto New Item (as shown in video), it creates a sequence with the same settings (1920 x 1080). Since both the clip and the sequence have the exact same settings, I would think when I go to Export > Media and create the final video that it would create the video in 1920 x 1080, however it keeps outputing it at 720 x 480 (even has it listed in the summary) before clicking 'Export.'?

Any other ideas of where my issue could be?

[joe_bloe_premiere]

You have to specify your export settings in Media Encoder.

Adobe Media Encoder CS5 & CS5

[John T Smith]

Are you directing your output to DVD or BluRay or ???

If you are selecting a DVD output option, you are limited to the DVD specification

[cjriojas]

John,

For now I will be using the videos for youtube promos and viewing on desktops but if I were, I would more likely output to DVD.  From what I understand it doesnt matter if I output 720 x 480 or 1920 x 1080 if it's going on youtube, however I would like the best quality video possible given that these videos wont be very long. (Elaborate on this if you can clear some stuff up for me).

Also, I may have mislead readers with my thread title "Changing video frame width and height."  I guess a more accurate title would be "How to Change frame width and height of Video Output."  Don't get me wrong 720 x 480 looks great on my desktop, but I would also like to output one at 1280 x 720?

[John T Smith]

I only output my AVCHD to DVD so can't directly comment on how you get HD output... but as far as I know, you will select something OTHER than BluRay to go to Youtube (which I also do not do) 

CS5 User Guides - online and PDF (see link in upper right corner at individual pages)
http://blogs.adobe.com/premiereprotraining/2010/08/help-documents-for-creative-suite-5-pdf-and-html....

[Ann Bens]

For Youtube use one of the presets under H264 in the export settings.

They work just fine. You only have to adjust the framerate to make it the same as the source.

[hannaq14184347]

You helped me so much, thank you!

[caroline_edits]

Hey community!

We've visualized this process in the following tutorial – this video will show you how to change width and height of your video in under a minute!

Hope this helps! 

Caroline

[jordanc67287376]

In cs5 i think you could just open a new project and go into advanced settings and change the frame size but in adobe premiere pro cc you can't?

[John T Smith]

Have you tried the NEW ITEM process? Link below has a link about the new item process

CS5-thru-CC PPro/Encore tutorial list http://forums.adobe.com/thread/1448923

[Ann Bens]

Select the sequence in the Project Window, go to Sequenc/Sequence Settings  and change the editing mode to Custom

Now you can change the frame size.

[Joey Nobody]

Hey Ann, this was super helpful with the exception of the locked aspect ratio. Do you know of a way to unlock? Need video that is 1500x500 for a web site. Appreciate...

[Ann Bens]

aspect ratio would be 1.0.

[toriamac]

Aspect ratio would NOT be 1.0. It would be 3.0.  1500 divided by 500 is 3.0.

[Ann Bens]

Nope.

The setting is pixel aspect ratio not display aspect ratio.

[MartynMoore]

I think the question was about display aspect ratio, Ann. That's the setting I can't adjust. Width and height are locked together, so when I change one, the other changes too. I'm trying to output a very short (as in display height) but wide video file. The kind of letterbox format that would normally have black borders top and bottom, but without the black borders.

[Ann Bens]

If you dont want the black borders which are present in the timeline you set the hight and width in the export settings and also crop the image in the source tab (left side)

[MartynMoore]

Haha! Thanks, Ann. I must have been writing my much more long-winded version when you posted this. Appreciate the help here. Happy Christmas.

[MartynMoore]

The aspect ratio is only locked in the preview section of sequence settings for me. In CC 2017, if I adjust the sequence settings and select 'Custom', I can set any size I want under the 'Video' section.

With a new sequence set up in this way I can pull down my clips as normal, but I do need to scale them or accept the cropping that results.

My challenge was to find a way of outputting a video that had been created in a 16:9 frame, using cropping to mask the top and bottom portions of the frame. By outputting to 16:9 I got black bars top and bottom. The client asked for these to be removed and I did this at the output stage.

With my 16:9 timeline selected, with its black bars, I went to 'Export/Media'. In the Export Settings box I went to 'source' and clicked on the cropping tool. I dragged the top and bottom edges to the edges of the black bars, effectively selecting only video content. The cropping tool told me the new dimensions of the frame and I used this information to set the output dimensions on the right.

I hope this helps people. I landed on this page in the quest to solve this problem and managed it thanks to the previous posts on here. Perhaps this addition will make it more useful for people with the same challenge as me.