I do video editing as a hobby and prefer the 16:9 aspect ratio (1,920 × 1,080), as landscape videos display well across mobile devices, computer monitors and televisions.
On 3 February 2026, I generated videos of Luna Saengchan using the now-discontinued Sora in a 2:3 aspect ratio (720 × 1,080), and the results were decent. The 3:2 landscape versions, however, were horrible. Rather than waste the portrait versions with nothing to show for the effort, I decided to compile them into a 40-second video.
This post documents only some of my methods for handling portrait videos. Other aspects, such as trimming, selecting visuals from each clip, synchronising them with the music and organising the sequence, are not included because every video requires a different editing approach.
Time-stretch
Sora does not generate videos at equal speeds; some videos are slower than others despite having the same length. To resolve this, I select a clip, hold “Ctrl” while hovering over its left or right edge, then drag inward to speed it up or outward to slow it down once the zigzag icon appears.
Cropping
For 16:9 videos, I usually select the clip, click the “Crop” icon to open the “Event Pan/Crop” panel, then change “Maintain Aspect Ratio” from “Yes” to “No”. In every case so far, the result has shown no obvious distortion or stretching.
I could not use the same method for the portrait videos as I do for landscape videos. My standard portrait aspect ratio is 3:4 (1,080 × 1,440), and changing the videos to this format caused a large portion of the visuals to be cropped.
To salvage some of the missing visuals while also cropping out the unremovable Sora watermark, I first deselected “Lock Aspect Ratio” on the toolbar and set the width to 1,080 and the height to 1,440. I then reselected “Lock Aspect Ratio” and dragged a corner handle of the selection box until the video fitted the frame accordingly.
Once done, I copy-paste the keyframe onto the other clips. Since all the videos have the same dimensions, doing so duplicates all the settings within the “Event Pan/Crop” panel.
Right-clicking a clip, selecting “Copy”, then using “Paste Event Attributes” on the others would mess up the entire project because each clip has different time-stretch settings.
Render As
For 16:9 videos, I usually use Sony AVC, but for this portrait video, I selected MainConcept AVC instead. Although both use the H.264/AVC codec, the main difference I noticed is that MainConcept renders slow but can do portrait videos, while Sony AVC consistently returns an error, at least in Vegas Pro 10.
As an extra step, I clicked the “Custom” button to confirm that the frame size was correct and changed the bitrate to 50,000,000 for better video quality.
Conclusion
I published the video on the Legend of South Town (previously “Haikyo”) Facebook page on 3 February 2026, the same day it was completed. Today, while working on Luna’s images and videos, I decided to update it.
The original version opened with the caption “Meanwhile In South Town, In The Club”, while the updated version opens with a packed stadium at night, as it was originally intended to depict a DJ performance in a stadium. It also uses the Light Rays FX to better match the stadium ambience. I updated the post description as well because this is a “Concept Video”.