# Aspect ratios and film gates

Each shot has its own aspect ratio. The dropdown holds a flat working set: vertical and square for social, 4:3 and 16:9 for broadcast / streaming, plus European Widescreen, Cinemascope, and Ultra Panavision 70 for film. Pick per-shot to author for the destination.

![Aspect Ratio dropdown open in Compose mode showing the flat list - Vertical 9:16, Square 1:1, 4:3, European Widescreen 1.66:1, 16:9 Aspect (selected), Cinemascope 2.39:1, Ultra Panavision 70 (2.76:1)](/files/ghwPz2FKLZ6NxPjFYv7b)

## What it does

A shot framed for 2.39:1 cinema doesn't reframe gracefully to 9:16 vertical and vice-versa. Authoring at the destination gate from the start saves a reframe pass downstream. The Compose-mode aspect ratio setting also feeds the visualizer's auto-prompt, so the rendered image is delivered at the gate you specified.

## Available gates

The dropdown is a flat list. Top to bottom:

* **Vertical 9:16** – vertical. Stories, Reels, TikTok, YouTube Shorts.
* **Square 1:1** – Instagram feed, LinkedIn organic.
* **4:3** – legacy broadcast. Use for period framing or stylistic intent.
* **European Widescreen 1.66:1** – classic European-cinema flat exhibition.
* **16:9** – broadcast HD, streaming default. The most common default.
* **Cinemascope 2.39:1** – wide cinema, theatrical release, anamorphic lookalikes.
* **Ultra Panavision 70 (2.76:1)** – ultra-wide cinema. Use for theatrical work that needs the widest possible frame.

## How to use it

In Compose mode, with a shot active, the **Aspect Ratio** picker is in the viewport. Pick the destination format. The viewport reframes to the new gate immediately. Camera position doesn't move; the framing is a crop within the same camera setup, so a 2.39 framing of a wider 16:9 isn't going to reveal off-frame elements you didn't see before.

{% hint style="info" %}
Set the aspect ratio before you fine-tune the camera. Reframing after the fact often pushes the subject off-center in ways you didn't intend. The order is: pick the gate, then frame.
{% endhint %}

## How aspect ratio reaches the render

The auto-prompt mentions the gate explicitly in the \[Scene Context] block: *"a 2.39:1 cinematic widescreen shot"* or *"a 9:16 vertical format"*. Diffusion models honor the framing tightly when it's in the prompt; some models also accept aspect ratio as an out-of-band parameter, in which case the visualizer passes it both ways.

The rendered image arrives at the chosen gate. Downloads keep that aspect; no reframe needed if you authored correctly.

## Choosing the right gate

A few common signals:

* The deliverable is broadcast or streaming – 16:9.
* The deliverable is theatrical or premium streaming – 2.39:1 or 1.85:1.
* The deliverable is social-feed first – 1:1 or 4:5 for Instagram, 9:16 for vertical platforms.
* The deliverable is multi-platform – author at the most-constrained gate (usually 9:16), then crop wider for other platforms.

For multi-platform campaigns, build separate shots at each gate rather than relying on a single shot reframed in post. The composition that works at 16:9 rarely works unchanged at 9:16, and authoring per-gate lets the visualizer optimize each render for its destination.

## Limits and known issues

* **Custom aspect ratios aren't supported.** The dropdown is a fixed working set.
* **Aspect ratio change doesn't invalidate animation keyframes.** A camera animation set up at 16:9 will play back at 2.39, but the framing will recompose. Re-confirm key beats after a gate change.
* **Some video models are aspect-ratio constrained.** A few of the video models cap out at certain gates. The visualizer warns at generate time if the active gate isn't supported by the chosen model.

## Related

* [Shots](/compose/shots.md)
* [Lenses](/compose/lenses.md)
* [Camera controls](/compose/camera-controls.md)
* [Shot details](/compose/shot-details.md)


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