Guide
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Cristian Vicașiu, Velrun Studios, Bucharest
9:16, 1:1 and 16:9: which cutdowns a paid-social campaign needs
The short answer
Most paid-social campaigns need two ratios, not three: 9:16 for Reels, Stories and TikTok, and 1:1 or 4:5 for feeds. 16:9 is for YouTube, TV and your website. Decide the ratios before the boards are drawn, because a frame composed for 16:9 rarely survives a crop to 9:16; the film is boarded for each ratio it ships in.
What each ratio is for
16:9 is the cinema and TV frame: YouTube, connected TV, trade-show screens, your website. 9:16 is the phone held upright: Instagram Reels and Stories, TikTok, YouTube Shorts. 1:1 and 4:5 are the feed: Facebook and Instagram in-feed posts, LinkedIn. A campaign that runs on Meta paid usually needs 9:16 and 4:5; one that runs on YouTube needs 16:9 and 9:16.
Why you cannot just crop
A wide shot composed for 16:9 loses two thirds of its width in 9:16. The product leaves the frame, the text collides with the platform’s own interface, and the story beat that lived on the left edge disappears. Cutdowns are re-framed shots, sometimes regenerated, not a crop.
Decide before the boards
Tell us the ratios with the brief. The boards are then drawn with safe areas for each one, and the production generates what each ratio needs. Adding a ratio after delivery is a new edit; adding it before the boards is part of the same job.
How many cutdowns
Length matters as much as ratio: a 30 second master usually ships with a 15 and a 6 for the same channels. A typical delivery is one master, two ratios and two lengths, six files. Ask for what your media plan can actually run.
Questions
Do you deliver with captions?
Yes, burned in or as a file, per platform. Most paid-social views are silent, so captions are part of the edit, not an extra.
Which ratio should the master be?
The one your biggest budget runs in. For most DTC brands that is 9:16.
Have a product or a story? Send the brief and get a scoped quote back, no call needed.