<p>If you are playing a portrait oriented game, as Jim Mack said, <em>something</em> has to be in the empty space, that's where the black pixels come from. Unless...</p>

<p>You can use <strong>After Effects</strong> here. Duplicate the video clip, take the video behind the front one, which you won't touch, then scale it up so that the sides meet the sides of the composition, and add a gausian blur, or any blur, really, to the back layer. Here is what I'm talking about:</p>

<p><strong>Duplicate the first layer</strong> (press <kbd>Ctrl</kbd>+<kbd>D</kbd> or go to <em>Layer > Duplicate</em>):</p>

<p><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/ziDfT.png" alt="enter image description here"></p>

<p><strong>Scale up the second layer</strong> (open up the layer properties by clicking on the arrow <kbd>></kbd> left beside the layers name or select the layer and hit <kbd>S</kbd> to open up scale property only):</p>

<p><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/8VsHR.png" alt="enter image description here"></p>

<p><strong>Add a Blur Effect to the second layer</strong> (<em>Select the Layer</em> and go to <em>Effects > Blur and Sharpen > Gaussian Blur</em>)</p>

<p><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/FJ4Ui.png" alt="enter image description here"></p>

<p>Note: In order to render faster, use a <strong>Fast Blur</strong> and enable <strong>repeat edge pixels</strong> to blur the entire image.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-05-22T06:42:51.407Z
You might want to check the "repeat edge pixels" box in the blur filter to get rid of the dark lines around the outside.
stib
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-05-19T03:01:45.373Z
2015-05-25T21:21:59.820Z
2015-05-25T21:21:59.820Z
Shane Smiskol
<p>When you view a portrait-oriented video on a landscape-oriented display, <em>something</em> has to occupy the otherwise unused raster. In this case it's black.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-05-18T19:28:45.267Z
2015-05-18T19:28:45.267Z
Jim Mack
<p>Run the video through the ffmpeg <a href="https://ffmpeg.org/ffmpeg-filters.html#crop" rel="nofollow">crop</a> filter, the link I gave has the full description with examples.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-06-05T20:22:58.923Z
ffmpeg has a `cropdetect` filter to detect the size of the black bands automatically.  By default rounding to keep the video size a multiple of 8x8, I think.
Peter Cordes
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-06-06T20:07:55.963Z
The context of this question is a case where the crop area is already known, so there's no need for crop detection.
avnr
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-05-28T11:15:25.050Z
2015-05-28T11:15:25.050Z
avnr
<p>I record mobile games and have my phone screen, but around the edge of the video it adds a black border which I don't want. Does anyone know how to remove it?
<img src="https://i.gyazo.com/bc102c83873882df7f6b0834a9df676e.png" alt="a busy cat"></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-05-18T19:30:21.073Z
What are you viewing the videos on? What do you imagine would be there on a standard display instead of black surround?
Jim Mack
<video-editor>
How do I cut out black space on a video?
Dan
# How do I cut out black space on a video?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-05-18)

I record mobile games and have my phone screen, but around the edge of the video it adds a black border which I don't want. Does anyone know how to remove it?
![a busy cat](https://i.gyazo.com/bc102c83873882df7f6b0834a9df676e.png)

**Tags:** video-editor

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: What are you viewing the videos on? What do you imagine would be there on a standard display instead of black surround?  

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## 3 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2015-05-19. Score: 3

If you are playing a portrait oriented game, as username_1 said, *something* has to be in the empty space, that's where the black pixels come from. Unless...

You can use **After Effects** here. Duplicate the video clip, take the video behind the front one, which you won't touch, then scale it up so that the sides meet the sides of the composition, and add a gausian blur, or any blur, really, to the back layer. Here is what I'm talking about:

**Duplicate the first layer** (press `Ctrl`+`D` or go to *Layer > Duplicate*):

![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/ziDfT.png)

**Scale up the second layer** (open up the layer properties by clicking on the arrow `>` left beside the layers name or select the layer and hit `S` to open up scale property only):

![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/8VsHR.png)

**Add a Blur Effect to the second layer** (*Select the Layer* and go to *Effects > Blur and Sharpen > Gaussian Blur*)

![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/FJ4Ui.png)

Note: In order to render faster, use a **Fast Blur** and enable **repeat edge pixels** to blur the entire image.

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: You might want to check the "repeat edge pixels" box in the blur filter to get rid of the dark lines around the outside.  

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### Answer by username_1 on 2015-05-18. Score: 2

When you view a portrait-oriented video on a landscape-oriented display, *something* has to occupy the otherwise unused raster. In this case it's black.


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### Answer by username_4 on 2015-05-28. Score: 1

Run the video through the ffmpeg [crop](https://ffmpeg.org/ffmpeg-filters.html#crop) filter, the link I gave has the full description with examples.

> **Comments:**
> **username_5**: ffmpeg has a `cropdetect` filter to detect the size of the black bands automatically.  By default rounding to keep the video size a multiple of 8x8, I think.  
> **username_4**: The context of this question is a case where the crop area is already known, so there's no need for crop detection.  

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