A brand may need both a horizontal website film and vertical social clips. It is tempting to double the duration and therefore double the generation estimate. That is sometimes too pessimistic—and sometimes too optimistic. The correct unit is the number of shots that survive reframing while meeting the brief.
Sort each shot into three paths
Crop-only: a wide shot contains enough safe area that a vertical editor can crop without losing the subject. No new generation may be required, though reframing and caption adjustment still take time.
Re-edit: the footage is usable but needs a different sequence, tighter cut, or alternate graphic placement. This is mainly an editing cost.
Regenerate: critical action, dialogue framing, or product text will not fit the second aspect ratio. A new source shot must be generated and reviewed.
A concrete planning example
Suppose the horizontal version contains twenty accepted shots, each six seconds long. After inspecting safe areas, a producer estimates 12 crop-only shots, five re-edits, and three shots requiring fresh generation. With two attempts per regenerated shot and an illustrative rate of five credits per generated second:
3 shots × 2 attempts × 6 seconds × 5 credits = 180 extra credits.
The 180-credit figure covers only the three regeneration groups. It does not price editor labor, subtitles, voice changes, platform QC, or brand review. It is not reasonable to claim that both formats cost exactly 180 credits more unless those other costs are zero.
Test the safe area early
Before generating an entire campaign, select a representative shot with the tightest composition and verify it in 16:9 and 9:16. Look for clipped faces, cut-off hands, disappearing on-screen text, and distracting empty space. Add safe-area notes to your storyboard rather than hoping an automatic crop will fix everything later.
Avoid generating duplicate footage just to prove that multiple platform versions exist. Review rights for every reused asset and check whether the generation service's outputs are permitted for the intended commercial use. Contract terms and music licensing can differ from the video generation license.
Practical decision sheet
| Question | If yes | If no |
|---|---|---|
| Subject remains inside both crops? | Try crop-only | Test alternate framing |
| Same story works in both formats? | Re-edit | Rewrite the shot sequence |
| On-screen text stays readable? | Keep asset | Recompose or regenerate |
| Client permits reuse? | Log same source ID | Obtain rights or replace |
Keep separate counts for approved source shots and published format variants. One source can yield multiple deliverables, but a new deliverable still needs its own final quality check. For the base production estimate, use the project calculator; add only the shots you actually expect to regenerate.
Check the source and keep your inputs
Our examples show a decision-making method, not a live price quotation. Before purchasing credits, verify the provider’s billing method and current plan rules in its official credit documentation or the equivalent official page for the tool you use. Keep your calculations reproducible with our total cost CSV worksheet. See the methods and sources page for limitations and a full cost ledger.