To send a 9:16 portrait video to YouTube Live as a 16:9 landscape stream without distorting it, create a 1920×1080 canvas, scale the portrait image to fit, and fill the remaining side areas with black bars or a background. FFmpeg’s scale, pad, and overlay filters can build those layouts. The choice is whether to preserve the whole image, crop it, or accept stretched proportions.
Choose how the portrait video should sit in the landscape frame
A 16:9 YouTube output is much wider than a 9:16 phone video. Decide what viewers should see in the side areas before choosing a filtergraph.
| Layout | What viewers see | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Fit with padding | The full portrait image centered, with space on the left and right. | Preserves the entire image; the side areas remain empty unless you choose a background. |
| Enlarged, blurred background | The full portrait image centered over an enlarged, blurred copy that fills the landscape canvas. | Fills the sides, but requires a more involved filtergraph. |
| Crop to fill | A close crop fills the frame width. | Some content at the top and bottom is cut off; use it only when that crop is acceptable. |
| Stretch | The portrait image is widened to fill the landscape frame. | Changes the image’s proportions, making people and objects look unnaturally wide. |
FFmpeg documents the scale and overlay filters in its filter documentation. The blurred-background design is a composition made from those operations, not a YouTube requirement.
Fit the full portrait image with simple black side bars
For the simplest composition, scale the input down until it fits within 1920Ă—1080 while preserving its aspect ratio, then pad the result to the full landscape size:
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[0:v]scale=1920:1080:force_original_aspect_ratio=decrease,pad=1920:1080:(ow-iw)/2:(oh-ih)/2,setsar=1[outv]This filter segment creates a 1920Ă—1080 output and centers the scaled image. With portrait input, the unused width becomes padding. It is a filtergraph segment rather than a universal, ready-to-run command: adapt it to your file, FFmpeg build, audio, and output settings.
Fill the side areas with a blurred copy
To avoid plain side bars, use one copy of the video as a background and a second, smaller copy as the sharp foreground. The background is scaled until it covers the canvas, cropped to the canvas dimensions, and blurred. The foreground is scaled to fit and placed in the center.
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[0:v]split=2[bgsrc][fgsrc];
[bgsrc]scale=1920:1080:force_original_aspect_ratio=increase,crop=1920:1080,boxblur=20:10[bg];
[fgsrc]scale=608:1080:force_original_aspect_ratio=decrease[fg];
[bg][fg]overlay=(W-w)/2:(H-h)/2,setsar=1[outv]The 608-pixel foreground width is an example design choice, not a required value; adjust it to suit the source and composition. This illustrates filtergraph structure and is not a tested full command. Filter availability and accepted options can vary with the installed FFmpeg build. If you use -filter_complex, map the output video label [outv] and explicitly map audio from the input if it has an audio stream.
Send a compatible live feed to YouTube
- Get the stream details. In YouTube Live Control Room, create or select the live stream and use its server URL and stream key in your encoder’s output settings. Keep the key private; do not publish it or share it with viewers.
- Choose output settings as a set. YouTube’s current live encoder guidance lists RTMP/RTMPS ingest; H.264, H.265/HEVC, and AV1 video; up to 60 fps; CBR; AAC or MP3 audio; and a recommended 2-second keyframe interval, not exceeding 4 seconds. Check the current YouTube encoder settings and bitrate guidance for the complete recommendations for your chosen codec, resolution, and frame rate.
- Check bitrate and upload capacity. For H.264 at 1080p30, YouTube lists 5 Mbps as the minimum and 14 Mbps as the recommended bitrate. These are platform recommendations, not a guarantee that your internet connection can sustain the feed. Choose settings that fit reliable upload capacity and confirm the channel’s current settings before broadcasting.
- Test privately or unlisted first. Use representative movement and audio, then check the preview and stream health in Live Control Room before making the broadcast public. YouTube recommends testing before going live.
YouTube says it transcodes a live stream into multiple output formats for viewers on different devices and networks; that does not remove the need to send a stable, correctly configured input feed. See YouTube’s recommended upload encoding settings as well, especially when preparing the source video.
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One landscape output is not a separate vertical stream
This FFmpeg layout creates one landscape composition. YouTube also documents workflows for horizontal and vertical live streams together, with vertical layout choices that include center crop, fit to phone width, and stacked. For third-party dual streaming, its setup directions call for RTMP(S) and a separate stream key for the vertical output. A single landscape FFmpeg output does not create that second, separately composed vertical feed. Check YouTube’s current live streaming setup guidance and Live Control Room for available options.
Troubleshoot the layout and live feed
- The portrait image is distorted: Check that the filter uses aspect-ratio-preserving scaling, such as
force_original_aspect_ratio=decrease, rather than scaling directly to a landscape width and height. - The image is cut off: The background branch intentionally uses a cover-and-crop approach, but the foreground should fit inside its designated area. Check that you are not applying a crop to the foreground unless you want to remove content.
- The foreground does not appear: In a complex filtergraph, verify the split, labels, and overlay connections, and map
[outv]as the output video. Filter options may differ by FFmpeg build. - There is no sound: A video filtergraph does not automatically guarantee that audio is mapped. If the source has audio, map its audio stream explicitly and select an audio codec supported by your output configuration.
- YouTube reports unstable or unhealthy ingest: Check the selected bitrate against reliable upload capacity, confirm CBR and the keyframe interval, and test again with motion and audio before going public.
- The wrong aspect ratio appears on YouTube: Confirm the encoder is sending the intended 16:9 canvas and that you are using the correct stream key and output workflow. A separate vertical feed requires its own setup rather than relying on this one landscape composition.
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