--- title: "Auto reframe: vertical crops that follow the speaker" canonical: "https://blitzreels.com/changelog/reframing-that-moves-with-the-video" --- # Auto reframe: vertical crops that follow the speaker Milestone: 2026-03-11 Article published: 2026-09-26 Status: Product update Auto reframe turns landscape clips vertical with a crop that moves as people talk and move. It’s saved as crop keyframes you can adjust in the editor. ![A two-person podcast at 0:02 and 0:50 with the crop box on the speaker, next to the two vertical frames BlitzReels exported.](https://blitzreels.com/images/changelog/reframing-that-moves-with-the-video.jpg) ## One fixed crop misses the action Cut a 9:16 clip out of a 16:9 recording and you keep about a third of the width. A fixed crop down the middle works for one person sitting still. As soon as they lean, walk to a whiteboard, or the conversation passes to the person across the table, the crop is pointed at the wrong spot. Moving the crop by hand means scrubbing through the clip, nudging the frame, and doing it again every few seconds. Across ten clips from one episode, that adds up fast. ## What changed in March 2026 Over a few days in March 2026 we rebuilt how BlitzReels frames vertical clips: - March 7: a new reframe analysis that tracks where people are in the shot over time, and a planner that decides the framing segment by segment instead of from one average of the whole video. - March 10: podcast clip requests through the API started running that analysis on their own when a video didn’t have one yet. - March 11: the planner started writing its result as animated crop keyframes on the clip. The vertical frame pans with the person it follows, and the editor preview and the export read the same keyframes. When the analysis isn’t confident about a shot, the planner falls back to a safer framing instead of guessing a tight crop. ## How auto reframe works when you make clips Today auto reframe is a single switch in the clip flow, and it’s on by default: 1. Click “Clip a long video” and paste a link or upload a landscape recording. 2. Leave Auto reframe on. It crops wide video to vertical and follows the speaker. 3. Generate clips. BlitzReels analyzes the source, then plans each clip: who is in the shot, which layout fits, and where the crop should move. The switch appears when the source is landscape and the output is vertical or square. Turn it off and every shot keeps one fixed center crop, and the page warns you that two people sitting side by side will both get cut off. ## Adjust the crop keyframes in the editor Auto reframe writes ordinary keyframes on the clip instead of rendering a separate cropped file, so the framing stays editable. Today, open a clip in the [online video editor](https://blitzreels.com/editor), select the video and open Framing: - Crop zones lists each stretch of the clip that holds one framing. Pick a zone and the playhead jumps into it. - Adjust on canvas opens crop mode. Drag the bright area to choose what viewers see, then step to the previous or next zone. - Split zone starts a new framing at the playhead, and Merge with previous removes a cut you don’t want. Each change is stored as crop keyframes, the same kind auto reframe wrote, so the export renders exactly what you see in the editor. A clip with a single framing shows one frame you drag into place and save. ## Where it helps most - Talking-head videos where you move around the frame. - Interviews and [podcast clips](https://blitzreels.com/use-cases/clips), where the frame has to land on whoever is talking. - Vertical versions of landscape recordings for [TikTok](https://blitzreels.com/use-cases/tiktok-videos) and [Instagram Reels](https://blitzreels.com/tools/resize-video-for-instagram-reels). For conversations with three or four people, see [podcast clips that frame every speaker](https://blitzreels.com/changelog/podcast-clips-that-show-every-speaker). For screen recordings with a presenter, see the [vertical tutorial layout](https://blitzreels.com/changelog/tutorials-get-their-own-layout). ## Questions ### What is auto reframe? Auto reframe turns landscape footage into vertical or square clips by analyzing who is in the shot and moving the crop to follow them. In BlitzReels it runs during clip creation whenever the Auto reframe switch is on. ### Can I fix the crop when auto reframe frames the wrong spot? Yes. In the editor, open Framing on the video clip, pick the crop zone that’s off and drag the frame in crop mode. The change is saved as crop keyframes, so the export matches what you see. ### Does auto reframe work on vertical videos? It’s meant for landscape sources. The switch appears when the source is landscape and the output is vertical or square; a video that’s already vertical doesn’t need it. ### What happens if I turn auto reframe off? Every shot keeps one fixed center crop with no speaker tracking. That works for one person in the middle of the frame, but two people sitting side by side will both get cut off. ### Is auto reframe limited to a paid plan? No. Auto reframe isn’t locked to a plan; it runs as part of clip creation, which uses AI credits. ## Make vertical clips from a landscape video Upload a recording or paste a link, keep Auto reframe on, then check the crop zones in the editor. [Try auto reframe](https://blitzreels.com/clipping) We wrote this story later, looking back at our product history. The date at the top marks the work described here; features and access may have changed since then.