How to Turn Gameplay and Facecam into Vertical Shorts

Understand what reframing changes

When you make gameplay into shorts, the vertical crop has to keep the event readable as well as the facecam visible. Review the selected passage first, then check each scene’s crop and caption position in the rendered short.

A landscape gameplay recording often needs a different composition for a vertical short. Reframing lets you position and resize gameplay and a detected facecam by scene, while previewing how the source fits the selected export format. It changes the crop and layout; it does not create a facecam where the source has none or guarantee that automatic facecam detection is correct.

The Reframing tab is available for any source and both export formats, but manual scene editing requires multiple existing scenes in the short. If scenes have not been detected, the editor can offer Detect scenes. That action is explicit; opening the editor alone does not run it. Review the source preview and scene boundaries before changing a crop.

Choose a starting layout

Select a layout for the active scene. Full centers a vertical frame on the source. Blur keeps the full source image visible over a blurred background, which can preserve a wide gameplay view in a 9:16 export. Gaming places the facecam above gameplay, using 40% of the canvas for facecam and 60% for gameplay. Gaming 2 reverses the order: gameplay takes the upper 60%, with facecam in the lower 40%.

Gaming layouts remain available when no facecam is detected, but that does not mean the app has found one. Review the preview and set a useful facecam frame yourself when needed. Layout choice and crop can vary by scene; an opening screen, gameplay action, and webcam reaction may each need a different composition.

1. Open the short in the editor and choose Reframing.
2. Select a detected scene and choose Full, Blur, Gaming, or Gaming 2.
3. Check that the important gameplay area and any facecam fit inside the preview.

Adjust gameplay and facecam by scene

The source preview shows the real frame at the playhead. A rectangle marks the gameplay crop; a second rectangle appears for a stable facecam detected in the relevant segment. Move or resize the rectangles in the source preview. Gameplay can be resized freely, while the facecam keeps its original aspect ratio. Keep both rectangles inside the source image and avoid cropping out the game HUD, action, or the person’s face.

A manual facecam rectangle is only a crop setting; it is not a new detection result. If the streamer’s overlay moves, disappears, or changes size between scenes, adjust each affected scene separately. A single crop should not be assumed to track a moving webcam throughout the clip.

Check the composition and captions

The central preview reflects the current draft immediately. Scrub through the scene and inspect both its beginning and later frames. Confirm that the crop still contains the key gameplay and facecam as the source changes. Full and Blur center captions at 85% of the scene height; Gaming places them around the 40% split, and Gaming 2 around the 60% split. You can adjust caption position manually when the automatic placement covers something important.

If several scenes should share a layout, Apply layout to all scenes copies the active layout and its crop positions to the retained scenes. Review the result scene by scene before saving; a layout that works for one camera position may hide the action in another.

Save the framing and wait for a new render

Framing changes stay in the draft until you save. Choose Save for this short to persist the per-scene rectangles and start the existing asynchronous render. The already-downloaded export does not change when you only preview edits. Once rendering completes, play the new version and confirm that the saved composition matches the editor preview before downloading it.

1. Review each changed scene and any caption positions affected by the layout.
2. Select Save for this short and follow the render status.
3. Play the newly rendered short from start to finish, then download the approved version.

Avoid common framing problems

If the Reframing controls cannot be edited, check that the short has multiple detected scenes. If a facecam rectangle is missing, there may be no sufficiently stable detection; choose a layout and set a crop manually only when the source supports it. If gameplay becomes hard to follow, try Blur to preserve the complete wide image or reposition the gameplay crop. If the facecam shifts between scenes, create or use separate scene boundaries and review each crop independently.

The preview is a draft of the selected composition, and saved changes require a rerender to appear in the export. Scene-by-scene framing does not guarantee automatic tracking of movement inside a scene. Keep the original source and review the finished file; do not assume a layout has preserved every important detail without checking it.