Create variants of a composition in other formats, without leaving the editor and without starting from scratch. Variants are also the only way to get a 4:5 or 1:1 composition.
When to use a variant
Publish the same edit in another format: turn a composition into 9:16, 16:9, 4:5 or 1:1, without searching for and selecting your content again.
Cut short clips from a long composition: pick the moments you want to keep from a 16:9 composition and create a 9:16 variant for each one.
Start from a suggestion: pick one of the suggested short variants to create a vertical variant from a sequence found in the composition you're working on. Suggestions are only available if the dedicated Custom Moment is enabled for your workspace.
Find every format in one place: the Variants panel lists each variant under its source composition. If you link them to a project, you can also find them together in its Compositions tab.
Create a variant
Open your composition in Studio.
Open the right-hand panel and select Variant. The Variants panel opens.
Click Create a new variant.
If your composition isn't in a project yet, Studio asks whether to link the variants to one. This is optional: select Yes, link them to a project, then choose a project or click Create a project, or select No, don't link them to a project. Click Next.
Linking is optional. When you link them, the source composition and all its variants appear together in the project's Compositions tab, so you can find them all in one place.Choose the format: 9:16, 4:5, 1:1 or 16:9. You can also choose the same format as your composition.
Select the part of the composition to keep. A yellow selection appears on the timeline, starting at the playhead and lasting one minute by default. Drag its edges to trim it, or drag the selection to move it. To keep the whole composition, click Entire composition.
Use the preview in the Variants panel to play your selection and check it. Edit the Composition name if needed. By default, the name is the composition name followed by the format, for example
{composition name} · 9:16.Click Create.
Studio creates the variant and lists it under its source in the Variants panel. You can choose to open it right away or stay in your current composition. Each variant is a composition of its own, so you export and publish it separately.
Create a 4:5 or 1:1 composition
4:5 and 1:1 aren't available when you choose a format for a new composition. To get one:
Create your composition in 9:16 or 16:9.
Create a variant in 4:5 or 1:1, following the steps above.
Export or publish the variant like any other composition.
Start from a suggested short variant
The Variants panel also suggests short variants: short publishable sequences found in the clips of your timeline.
In the Variants panel, find Suggested short variants. Each suggestion shows a thumbnail with its duration, a title, a short description and a star rating. Pick one to start a vertical variant.
Suggested short variants are powered by a dedicated Custom Moment. If you don't see them, this Custom Moment may not be enabled for your workspace yet. Reach out to our Support team to find out the conditions to activate it.
What a variant keeps
Clips: trimmed to the range you selected.
Subtitles: they follow the clips.
Reframe, overlays, logo, intro and outro, Hook, subtitle style and Brand style are set separately for each variant, so you can tailor each format. For 9:16 variants, Studio detects the shots automatically when you open the variant, so you can start reframing right away.
Navigate between variants
Once you've created a variant, the Variants panel lists your Source composition and each variant below it, with its format, duration and number of clips.
While the panel is open, a Variant row appears above Clips on the timeline. Each extract appears as a bar. Click a bar to jump to its variant.
Find your variants in a project
When you link a composition and its variants to a project, you can find them together there. Open the project and select the Compositions tab to see each source composition with its variants underneath:
The source shows its format, duration, number of clips, and the share of the composition covered by variants.
Each variant shows the part of the source it comes from (timecode range), its format, duration and number of clips.
Need more help? Reach out to our Support team — we're happy to help.
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