Record horizontal. Crop vertical later.
Record horizontal at 1920×1080 and make the vertical version after. A wide recording works for Shorts, Reels, YouTube and your own VODs, and you can reframe every clip. Record vertical only if vertical is the only thing you'll ever publish.
Here's why it's tempting to go vertical. Shorts and Reels are tall, so a tall recording feels like it skips a step. Then you want a wide highlight for YouTube, or your camera is in the wrong spot for one clip, and you find out a vertical file can't give you the wide frame back. You can crop a wide recording into a tall one. You can't do it the other way round.
There's a cost to cropping later, though, and it's worth knowing the numbers before you decide.
Your three routes
- Record horizontal, crop later. Your OBS stays at 1920×1080 and nothing about your normal stream changes. The vertical version gets built after the session. The cost is a bit of softness from the crop (more on that below) and one extra step.
- Make the canvas vertical. Set Base (Canvas) and Output (Scaled) Resolution to 1080×1920 in Settings, then Video. It's the simplest way to get a vertical file, but one OBS guide points out you can't stream wide to Twitch and tall to TikTok at the same time this way. Your whole OBS goes vertical.
- Add a second canvas with a plugin. Aitum Vertical is a free OBS plugin that adds a separate 1080×1920 canvas, while your main canvas stays 1920×1080. You get two layouts and two files from one session. It comes with real costs, which are covered below.
What cropping later actually costs
A 1920×1080 recording is wide, so fitting it into a 1080×1920 frame means keeping a slice and scaling it up. Here are the numbers for the two common layouts.
- Full gameplay, no camera. The 9:16 slice is about 608 pixels wide, which is 31.6% of your screen's width. Scaled up to fill 1080 pixels, that's about 1.78 times larger.
- Facecam on top, gameplay below. With a 35% camera and 65% gameplay split, the gameplay area is 1080×1248. That keeps 48.7% of the width, and scales the picture up about 1.16 times.
So the split layout is far kinder than a full crop. A 1.16 times scale is a small stretch. A 1.78 times scale will look softer, and that's the one to watch. These are our own calculations from the layout sizes, so test with your own footage.
The bigger cost is what falls outside the slice. On League's default screen layout, the minimap sits in the bottom right and your abilities sit in the bottom middle. A slice under half the width can't hold both, so choose the part the clip is actually about.
What a second canvas costs
Aitum Vertical looks like the best of both worlds, and for some people it is. Know what you're signing up for first.
- More encoding work. One OBS guide says two outputs means two encoders, which roughly doubles the encoding work. It suggests hardware encoding for both, and a lower frame rate for the vertical output.
- Shared audio. A user on the plugin's forum thread found the vertical canvas uses the main canvas audio, because of an OBS limitation.
- Recording format limits. The same thread says the plugin doesn't save fragmented MP4 files. The plugin may have changed since, so check its current page before you rely on that.
- Two scenes to look after. Every layout change now happens twice, and you still have to find the moments worth posting.
Decide in five steps
- List where your clips will live. Shorts, Reels and TikTok are vertical. YouTube videos and your VODs are wide. If it's both, record wide.
- Check how you stream. If you stream landscape to Twitch or Kick, your OBS is already at 1920×1080. Leave it there.
- Check your PC before you add a second output. Open View, then Docks, then Stats while you record. If skipped frames are climbing now, a second encoder won't help.
- Only add a second canvas if you want a different layout for each format. If you just want your recording in a tall frame, cropping later gets you there without the extra load.
- Record 30 seconds and watch it on your phone. Check that you can follow the action without squinting, then decide.
Still not sure? Try these
- Streaming vertical live? Then record vertical, since that's what you're sending out. The canvas route is the simplest.
- Gameplay looks soft in the vertical clip? You're probably scaling a narrow slice up too far. Use the facecam split, which scales up far less.
- Cropped out the minimap? Slide the crop left or right until the clip's action is inside it.
- PC stuttering with two outputs? Drop the second canvas and crop later instead.
What's in it for your clips
Recording wide is the safe call. Then you've got hours of it, and the ten seconds worth posting are buried somewhere in the middle of a three hour session.
TCG Machine does the crop for you. It works from any MKV or MP4 recording, finds your highlights, and builds the vertical frame. With a camera, that's the 35% camera on top and 65% gameplay below, and you can slide the gameplay left and right to catch the best part of the highlight. No camera? There's a full gameplay layout on a blurred background, so nothing gets cropped out. You review, change what you want, and approve before anything goes out.
You focus on the creative part, we bring it to life. It's in free beta now, so see how it works, check what it costs, or join the beta to get a key and the download.
Next up: how to build the facecam split yourself in OBS, and the recording settings that go with it.
Frequently asked questions
Should I record vertical or horizontal for Shorts and Reels?
Horizontal, unless vertical is the only thing you'll ever publish. A wide 1920×1080 recording can be cropped into a vertical clip, but a vertical recording can't give you the wide frame back.
Can I crop a horizontal recording to vertical?
Yes. Keep a 9:16 slice of the wide frame and scale it up to 1080×1920. The narrower the slice, the more it's scaled up, so the picture gets softer.
Does cropping a horizontal video to vertical lower the quality?
A little. The crop gets scaled up to fill the tall frame, which softens it. A full 9:16 slice of a 1920×1080 recording is scaled up about 1.78 times. A facecam split with 65% gameplay is scaled up about 1.16 times, which is much gentler.
How much of a 1920×1080 recording fits in a 9:16 frame?
About 31.6% of the width, or roughly 608 pixels, if the gameplay fills the whole tall frame. With a 35% camera on top, the gameplay area keeps about 48.7% of the width.
Can OBS record vertical video?
Yes. Set both Base (Canvas) Resolution and Output (Scaled) Resolution to 1080×1920 in Settings, then Video. The catch is that your whole OBS goes vertical.
Can OBS record horizontal and vertical at the same time?
Not on its own. Changing the canvas gives you one orientation. A plugin like Aitum Vertical adds a second canvas so you can output both from one session.
What is Aitum Vertical?
It's a free OBS plugin that adds a separate vertical canvas, while your main canvas stays wide. You can link your normal and vertical scenes so they stay in sync.
Does recording vertical and horizontal at once slow my PC?
It can. One OBS guide says two outputs means two encoders, which roughly doubles the encoding work. It suggests hardware encoding for both and a lower frame rate on the vertical output.
Does Aitum Vertical record separate audio?
Not on its own. A user on the plugin's forum thread reported that the vertical canvas uses the main canvas audio, because of an OBS limitation.
What size should a vertical recording be?
1080×1920, which is 9:16. Set the output to exactly that size, because one OBS guide warns TikTok may add black bars if it isn't.
How long can a YouTube Short be?
Up to 3 minutes, according to YouTube's help page. YouTube also lets you upload vertical videos from your computer.
Do I need a vertical canvas to make Shorts?
No. You can record wide and crop to vertical afterwards, either in an editor or with a tool that builds the vertical frame for you.
Should I stream vertical or horizontal to Twitch and Kick?
Horizontal. Twitch and Kick streams are wide, so your normal 1920×1080 setup is already right. Vertical output only makes sense if you're sending a vertical stream somewhere on purpose.
What should I record at if I only post clips?
1920×1080, 16:9. It's the size TCG Machine works best with, and you keep the wide frame for anything else you want to make later.
What if I need my camera in a different spot for the vertical version?
Use a facecam split. The camera sits on top and the gameplay sits below, so the camera position in your wide recording matters less. TCG Machine reads where your webcam sits and builds that frame for you.
Will I lose the minimap in a vertical crop?
You can, since a slice under half the width can't hold both the minimap and your abilities on League's default layout. Slide the crop to the part the clip is about.
Does TCG Machine crop my recording to vertical?
Yes. It builds the 9:16 frame for you, with a facecam split (35% camera, 65% gameplay) or a full gameplay layout on a blurred background. You can slide the gameplay left and right in the split.
Does TCG Machine work with horizontal OBS recordings?
Yes. It works from any raw MKV or MP4 recording, and 1920×1080, 16:9 works best. Other 16:9 sizes are supported.
Is TCG Machine out yet?
Yes, as a free beta, and it's open now: join the beta, confirm your email, and you'll get a key and the download link while places last.