StreamLive ProShorts with two people in the frame
How Shorts handle two people in one wide shot: why one vertical crop cannot hold both, what the speaker tracking does, and how to film interviews for Shorts.
A vertical 9:16 crop taken from a 16:9 picture keeps only about a third of its width. Two people sitting side by side are usually further apart than that, so no single crop holds both faces. StreamLive Pro's Shorts deal with it shot by shot: the crop follows the person who is talking and cuts between the two, or it stacks both people, one above the other, each in half of the vertical frame. You can also switch speaker tracking off, choose a wider aspect ratio, or film so the problem does not come up.
The arithmetic
For a 1920 x 1080 picture, a full-height 9:16 crop is 1080 x 9 / 16 = about 608 pixels wide: 31.6% of the width.
| Where the two faces are | One vertical crop holds both? | What you usually get |
|---|---|---|
| Within about a quarter of the frame width, close together | Yes | One continuous picture of both |
| Across the middle third, at a table | No | The speaker with cuts between them, or a stacked two-shot |
| At opposite edges, a wide shot of a stage | No | The speaker at a time; the other is out of shot |
| Each on their own camera | Not needed | The program already shows the right person |
A stacked two-shot puts each person in a tile of 9:8, half of 9:16, so the two tiles fill the vertical frame with no stretching and both faces stay large.
Settings that change the result
All on the automatic Shorts card in Settings, applying to Shorts made after the change:
- Smart reframe. "ON, track speaker" is the default: it finds the faces and movement in each shot and frames the crop around them. "Center crop only" keeps the middle of the picture and never moves. Use it when the person who matters always sits in the centre.
- Aspect ratio. 4:5 keeps 864 of 1920 pixels (45% of the width) and 1:1 keeps 1080 (56%), so two people sitting close fit more easily. 16:9 keeps the whole picture. These suit feed posts; for YouTube Shorts, Reels and TikTok keep 9:16.
- Edit style. Automatic chooses the look from the content, including the number of speakers.
Filming a conversation for Shorts
The most reliable fix happens before the recording:
- Sit closer. Two chairs angled toward each other, close enough that both faces fall inside the middle part of the frame. In a wide shot of a table, that means closer than feels natural.
- Give each person a camera. In the Podcast studio every camera has its own input, and automatic camera switching cuts to the person speaking (on the trial, Pro and Studio; not on Creator). The program then already shows one person at a time, and the vertical crop has only one face to follow. See Automatic camera switching for podcasts: the camera follows whoever speaks.
- Give each person a microphone. Automatic camera switching links each microphone to a camera, so a microphone per speaker is what lets it know who is talking.
- Keep a wide shot for the moments with both. A laugh or a quick back-and-forth reads well as a two-shot; switch to it on purpose rather than leaving it on for the whole recording.
- Film in 4K if the plan allows. A crop from a 4K picture stays sharp; from 1080p it is enlarged about 1.8 times. 4K recording is on Pro and Studio.
What can go wrong
- The crop follows the wrong person. Speaker tracking follows faces and movement; a guest who nods a lot can draw it. Switch to "Center crop only" for that video, or trim the Short in the editor.
- One person is cut in half at the edge. The two sat too far apart for one crop and the moment came between cuts. Use a wider aspect ratio, or remake Shorts from a recording made with one camera per person.
- Both faces are small. The shot was very wide. Film closer, or with a camera per person.
- Captions cover a face in the stacked layout. Check the frame before you publish and trim or edit that Short: Edit a Short before you publish it.
Related: Turn a horizontal video into a vertical 9:16 video, Record a podcast with remote guests, How the moments for your Shorts are chosen.
Frequently asked questions
Can a vertical Short show two people side by side?
Only when they sit close together. Otherwise a 9:16 crop is too narrow, and the Short either follows the speaker or stacks the two people one above the other.
Can I choose between following the speaker and stacking?
Not per Short. The choice is made shot by shot. You can switch speaker tracking off with Center crop only, or choose another aspect ratio, in Settings.
Does a podcast with remote guests have the same problem?
Less. In the podcast studio each guest is a separate picture, and the program shows the layout you chose, so the crop works on what was recorded, not on a wide room shot.
Which aspect ratio keeps more of both people?
16:9 keeps the whole picture and 1:1 keeps about 56% of the width. For YouTube Shorts, Reels and TikTok, keep 9:16 and film for it.
Why does my two-camera recording give cleaner Shorts?
Because the program already cuts to the person speaking. The vertical crop then frames one face instead of guessing between two.
Keep reading
A podcast recording app for video: record in the browser with remote guests and phone cameras, go live at the same time, publish by RSS and cut Shorts.
Echo cancellation and noise suppression explainedEcho cancellation removes your speakers from your microphone; noise suppression removes background sound. What each does, its limits, and the StreamLive Pro settings.
What is LUFS? Loudness for video and podcastsWhat LUFS means: a unit for how loud audio sounds to people, not its peaks. Common targets, true peak, and the levels StreamLive Pro sets for Shorts and podcasts.
What is B-roll? Cutaway footage explainedWhat is B-roll: cutaway footage laid over a speaker to show what they talk about. A-roll vs B-roll, when it helps a Short, and how StreamLive Pro adds it.
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