These tools change where the image sits in the frame and what part of it you see - resizing, repositioning, cropping, and reframing for different delivery shapes. They're the basis of picture-in-picture, split screen, punch-ins, and aspect-ratio changes.
Position, scale, and rotation
The transform controls move, resize, and rotate the image within the frame:
- Position moves the image left, right, up, or down.
- Scale makes it larger or smaller (a larger-than-frame scale is a punch-in; a smaller one creates an inset).
- Rotation turns the image around its centre.
All three can be keyframed to animate a move, such as a slow push-in or a sliding inset (see Keyframes and animation).
Cropping
Cropping trims the edges of the image, hiding what you don't want to show. Combine crop with scale and position to blow up and reframe a shot, hide an unwanted element at the edge, or shape an image for a split screen.
Picture-in-picture
A picture-in-picture (PiP) places one shot as an inset over another:
- Put the inset clip on a higher video track than the background.
- Scale it down and position it where you want it.
- Optionally crop it, add an edge or shadow, and keyframe its position to animate it in.
Because higher tracks sit over lower ones, the inset appears on top of the background clip.
Split screen
A split screen shows two or more shots at once. Build it by cropping and positioning each clip on its own track so they tile together - for example, two half-width images side by side, or a grid of quarters. Crop each source to the region you want, then position the pieces to fit.
The Reframe effect
The Reframe effect is a comprehensive tool for adapting your picture to modern delivery shapes - the practical answer to turning a landscape edit into a square or vertical deliverable. It provides:
- Frame Preset - a wide range of standard aspect ratios with intelligent blanking.
- Custom blanking - set each edge yourself, with Gang Left/Right and Gang Top/Bottom to keep opposite edges matched.
- Transform controls - position, rotate, and scale content within the reframed area.
- Background options - fill blanked areas with the Same Clip (zoomed), an External Clip, or solid black.
This makes Reframe ideal for social media, broadcast, and multi-format deliverables from a single edit.
Working with aspect ratios
Clips can be a different shape from your sequence. Use transform, crop, and Reframe to fit them - blow up to fill, letterbox to preserve the whole frame, or reframe to recompose for a new shape. Mixed aspect ratios are normal; decide per shot whether to fill, fit, or reframe.
Guides versus baked-in framing
There's an important difference between checking framing and changing it:
- Viewer guides (safe areas and aspect overlays) are display aids only - they help you compose, but they do not alter the image (see Viewers and playback).
- Reframe and transform actually change the picture, so the new framing is baked into the output on export.
Tip: Use guides to decide your framing on screen, then use Reframe or transform to make it real for delivery. Guides alone never change the exported picture.