To begin how to crop video in Premiere Pro CC, add the video clip to the timeline by dragging it from the left’s project panel. Then start by right-clicking on the sequence in the Project panel and going to Sequence Settings. There you can change the frame size as you wish. In the video tutorial below, the resolution resizes to 1080 x 1080. The square aspect ratio is suitable for social media.
The frame size has changed, and the resolution you set will be applied to the video when you export it. But if you want to crop video to only certain parts from your video editing project, follow the following methods.
Note: You can only practice the number 1 and 2 methods in Premiere Pro CC 2020 and newest versions.
Recommended to read: How to reduce a video file size without losing quality.
1. How to Tidy up a Cropped Video Clip with Auto Reframe Effect
To tidy up a cropped video for an entire clip, go to the Effects tab and type Auto Reframe into the search box. After you find the Auto Reframe effect, drag it to the video clip you want to crop. The subject in the cropped clip will appear in the centre of the frame. It’s done with the help of a keyframe made by Premiere Pro CC’s AI.
2. How to Crop the Entire Sequence Automatically
Perhaps you have several video clips in the timeline and want to frame the entire sequence automatically. To do so, right-click on a sequence in the Project panel and click the Auto Reframe Sequence option. Change the aspect ratio to your liking. Now, this method will automatically create a new sequence complete with the entire clips.
3. How to Crop Video in Premiere Pro CC Manually
To perform how to crop video in Premiere Pro manually:
- Go back to the Effects tab and type crop in the search box.
- Use the Move tool (V) to click the video clip you want to crop.
- Double-click the “crop” effect in the Effects tab to activate the crop settings function in the Effect Controls tab.
Then, go to the Effects Control tab, click on “crop” text, then on the preview screen, using the Move tool (V), drag the crop handle to define the borders you want to crop.
Or you can also adjust its Position in the “Position” settings section at the Effects Controls tab. To fit the cropped part to frame size, thick the Zoom option at the crop settings section in the Effects Controls.
4. Crop All Video Clips via Export Settings
There’s also a more comfortable and faster way to crop all video clips in Premiere Pro CC through the Export settings pop-up window. To do this, click on the timeline panel’s tab and use the shortcut Ctrl + M on your keyboard to open the Export Settings window. In the upper left corner of the Export Settings window, click the Source tab and select the Crop Tool just below it. Then in the preview screen, drag the handle to crop the video.
Now, to adjust the video resolution, check the video resolution settings in the right Export Settings window, then disable or click the link icon that binds to the aspect ratio scale. After that, you can change the width and height with the resolution you want. When finished, you can immediately export the video. This method is suitable for you to use if all video editing in your project has been completed.
5. Crop a Clip to Display It on the Other Clip
The last way to crop video in Premiere Pro is to show a smaller resolution clip onto another clip in the timeline. As usual, go to the Effects tab in the left-hand side column, then type crop into the search box. Drag the Crop effect onto the top clip. Then make sure the topmost video clip is selected using the Move tool (V) and then open the Effects Controls tab. You can adjust the size of the cropped clip the same way as described in the previous methods. And again, adjust its position by setting the Position’s value on the Effects Controls tab.
That’s how to crop video in Premiere Pro. Thank you for reading this article, and stay tuned with our next Premiere Pro CC tutorials.
