DaVinci Resolve how-to
How to make a vertical 9:16 video in DaVinci Resolve
Short answer
Make the timeline vertical: right-click the timeline in the Media Pool, choose Timelines > Timeline Settings, turn off Use Project Settings and set 1080 × 1920; or in Project Settings > Master Settings tick Use vertical resolution, which swaps width and height. Resolve then switches the Cut, Edit and Color pages to a layout optimized for vertical viewing.
Checked against: DaVinci Resolve 21, free version and Studio (Studio-only features are marked), Edit page unless stated, per the Resolve 21 Reference Manual (July 2026).
Step by step: Vertical timeline
Open Timeline Settings
In the Media Pool, right-click the timeline and choose Timelines > Timeline Settings.
Set 1080 × 1920
Untick Use Project Settings and set the resolution to 1080 × 1920, or tick Use vertical resolution, which swaps the horizontal and vertical pixels.
Reframe the clips
Use Inspector > Transform (Zoom and Position) to frame each clip in the vertical frame.
Check the vertical layout
Resolve switches to an optimized vertical layout automatically; change this in Preferences > User > UI Settings > Use optimized UI layouts for vertical video.
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Frame sizes by platform
| Where | Ratio | Timeline resolution |
|---|---|---|
| TikTok, Reels, Shorts | 9:16 | 1080 × 1920 |
| Instagram feed portrait | 4:5 | 1080 × 1350 |
| Square | 1:1 | 1080 × 1080 |
| YouTube, landscape | 16:9 | 1920 × 1080 |
If it doesn't work
| What you see | Fix |
|---|---|
| Clips look small with black bars | Raise Zoom in the Inspector so the clip fills the vertical frame. |
| Frame rate option locked | The project frame rate can't change once media is in the Media Pool; set it before importing. |
| Exported video still horizontal | Export from the vertical timeline and set the render resolution to match it. |
Questions people ask
How do I change aspect ratio in DaVinci Resolve?
Change the timeline resolution in Timeline Settings, for example 1080 × 1920 for vertical.
What does Use vertical resolution do?
It swaps the timeline's horizontal and vertical pixels, for phones and portrait displays.
Can I have a horizontal and vertical version in one project?
Yes. Duplicate the timeline and give the copy its own vertical Timeline Settings.
More DaVinci Resolve guides
Sources and how we checked
- DaVinci Resolve 21 Reference Manual: Use vertical resolution; optimized UI for vertical editing (p. 113, 144) (checked 2026-10-05)
- DaVinci Resolve 21 Reference Manual: Transform and Cropping in the Video Inspector (p. 1246-1247) (checked 2026-10-05)
Reviewed October 5, 2026 by the Koldflux team. Each step is compared with DaVinci Resolve's own documentation (linked above) and with the top search results for this task; where they disagree, the maker's documentation wins. Steps without a source link follow the menu names that several current guides agree on.