Cropping a video involves cutting off parts of the video frame to change its size or composition. It can be used to remove distracting elements, change the video’s aspect ratio, or focus more closely on a particular subject within the frame.

Different social media platforms have different optimal video formats and aspect ratios. TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram reels are optimised for vertical 9:16 video, whereas Facebook prefers 4:5 semi vertical, additionally Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn prefer 1:1 square, and

YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter and Twitch are good with 16:9 horizontal. Sometimes a platform will allow you to upload different aspect ratios, and when deciding which is most suitable you have to consider what category your video falls under for example Feed or Reels in the case of Instagram. At other times, you have to consider what device your viewers are consuming the content, for example laptop or mobile in the case of LinkedIn. A horizontal 16: 9 aspect ratio for laptops will deliver a better user experience, whereas a square 1:1 aspect ratio will deliver a better user experience for mobile viewers.

In the Cerebriam Studio online editor, choose which platform you want to post to, and our video editor will show you which aspect ratios are optimal – that’s it! No charts, no drop down menus, no limits. Be free to create as you please.

We have the latest data about optimal aspect ratios for each social platform in the backend of our video app – along with all the other social video technical specifications such as frame rate, bitrate, video length, and resolution – so you don’t have to worry about any of these details.

Trimming audio is easy. All you have to do is upload a video a file, adjust the slider (between Smaller File and Higher Quality) to suit your needs, and click ‘Compress Video: Cerebriam Studio’s Audio Trimmer will show you the file size (in MB) so you can easily adjust the video quality to get the exact file size you need (eg. if you need to meet an email attachment limit)

If you start with a low-resolution video and then crop it, you could end up with poor quality because you’re zooming in on a small part of the original frame. To maintain quality, start with a high-resolution video for example 4k which is 3840 x 2160 pixels, or 2k which is 2560×1440 pixels. When you crop these videos for social media always aim to output 1920×1080 pixels, as this is Full High Definition at a lower file size. This gives you good quality video that loads fast. Cerebriam Studio will make these resolution conversions for you automatically. 

Yes, there are mobile apps that can help you edit and crop videos for social media. Apps like Adobe Premiere Rush, InShot, allow you to edit your videos, and adjust aspect ratios for different social media platforms.