Aspect Ratio and Orientation
How to think about portrait vs landscape, why orientation and aspect ratio are different, and how to shoot once and share everywhere without black bars.
Two ideas often get conflated: how you hold the camera while shooting and how the finished video gets displayed when you share it. NanoFlick separates them, which is why you can shoot once and share to YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram without compromise.
Orientation
Orientation is based on how you hold the camera while shooting: upright (portrait) or sideways (landscape). Every shot in a single flick should use the same orientation. We recommend landscape for most flicks — it's more flexible and tells stories better. Single-person, direct-to-camera videos are the exception.
You can change shooting orientation while you're shooting, or change the flick's orientation in its settings.
Aspect ratio
Aspect ratio is how your finished video gets displayed when shared: portrait, landscape, or square. Different services prefer different ratios — YouTube wants landscape, TikTok wants portrait, Instagram is happy with either or square.
NanoFlick lets you share any flick at any aspect ratio regardless of the orientation you shot in — full frame, no stretching, no black borders. You can even share the same flick in portrait on TikTok, landscape on YouTube, and square on Instagram. Aspect ratio is set during the sharing process.
If you plan to share to multiple aspect ratios, shoot in landscape orientation. It gives you the most flexibility and the best results.
Aspect ratio masks
Sometimes you want to shoot landscape for YouTube but also share to Instagram or TikTok in portrait without black bars. The Shot Mask makes this easy: for each shot, you select which part of the frame to use for each aspect ratio.
For example, if you shot landscape but want to share square, switch the aspect ratio while editing a shot and drag the mask to the part of the frame you want. You can do this independently for each shot and for each aspect ratio.
The mask is fixed for a given shot, so if your subject moves across the full width of the frame, masking can cut them off. Either reframe the shot or accept a wider aspect ratio for that one.
If you always shoot and share in the same orientation and aspect ratio, you can ignore masks entirely.
Versions
Versions let you maintain multiple variations of the same flick from a single project. Create a 5-minute Long version for yourself, a 30-second Medium version for friends, and a 15-second Short version for social. Each version can have its own shot arrangement, trims, filters, transitions, titles, music, and settings.
When you add new shots, they're added to all versions (hidden in the ones you're not currently editing). When you delete or reshoot a shot, it affects all versions.
Best practice: complete your Long version first, then create the shorter cuts. You won't have to repeat common edits across multiple versions.
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