Add black bars to video
Letterbox or pillarbox a video into 16:9, 9:16, 1:1, or 4:5 without cutting anything off. Processing stays on your device.
Drop a video to add black bars
Choose 16:9, 9:16, 1:1, or 4:5. The whole picture is kept, centered on black.
Any media file this browser’s engine can read.
How to add black bars to a video
Choose the shape the video has to fit and the whole picture is centered on black: bars on the sides for a vertical video in 16:9, above and below for a landscape one in 9:16. Nothing is cropped or stretched, and the video never leaves your device.
Step 1
Choose a videoPick the video that needs bars.Step 2
Choose the shapePick 16:9, 9:16, 1:1, or 4:5.Step 3
Download the videoExport it with the whole picture on black.
What to expect
- Supported inputs
- Any media file this browser’s engine can read.
- What happens
- The video is re-encoded in its source format with black bars filling the new shape. The frame keeps the source’s short side, so a 1080 × 1920 phone video becomes 1920 × 1080 in 16:9.
- Limits
- A video track is required, and subtitle tracks are left out. Frames are kept within 3840 × 2160, which browser encoders handle.
Private by design
Your video stays on your device
Mastershot processes your file locally in this browser. It does not need to be uploaded to a server, and you do not need an account to use the tool.
- No upload
- No signup
- No watermark
Questions
Bars keep the whole picture, so nothing at the edges is lost. Cropping fills the screen but cuts part of the frame away.
Yes. Change aspect ratio fills them with a blurred copy of the video, the look most phone apps use.