> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://cotovan.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # How to Use AutoCrop and Reframe Video in Riverside - URL: https://cotovan.com/post/how-to-use-autocrop-and-reframe-video-in-riverside/ - Published: 2026-08-26T17:39:37.000Z - Updated: 2026-08-26T18:00:32.000Z - Description: Riverside's new editor detects faces and centres them in one click. Here's how to use AutoCrop, control the zoom, and push the same crop across every matching scene with Similar scenes. - Author: Cristi Cotovan - Tags: Riverside.FM Articles If a guest drifts to the edge of their camera frame, every scene you build on top of that recording inherits the problem. I used to fix it by dragging each box around by hand, one scene at a time. The new Riverside editor now has an **AutoCrop** button that detects the face in a video stream and centres it in the box for you, and it can push that same crop to every matching scene in the edit. Here is the whole workflow, from checking your original framing to spot-checking the result. ## Start by looking at the untouched framing Riverside does have a framing helper at the recording stage (article and video on this coming soon). But you never get perfect recordings from clients. Someone sits too far left, someone leans out of shot, and you only find out once the files land in the editor. So the first thing I do is open the edit and look at the raw recording before I touch anything. ![Riverside editor showing two speakers side by side, both off-centre in their boxes](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5b/aa/5baa4306-14e9-442c-8242-49463a36912f/content/images/2026/08/riverside-auto-crop-original-framing.jpg) Straight out of the recording, neither of us is centred in our own half of the frame. It gets more obvious when you expand one person to fill the screen. Click their box, switch the layout so they fill the frame, and the empty space on one side gives the crop away. ![A single speaker filling the Riverside preview, sitting left of centre with empty space on the right](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5b/aa/5baa4306-14e9-442c-8242-49463a36912f/content/images/2026/08/riverside-auto-crop-fill-layout-off-center.jpg) Filling the frame with one speaker makes the off-centre framing impossible to miss. You can still fix this the manual way — enter crop mode and drag the box left or right, exactly as I covered in my guide to [cropping, repositioning and reframing in Riverside](https://cotovan.com/post/crop-reposition-reframe-video-editing-riverside/). You just don't have to any more. ## Centre a face with Auto-crop Riverside now detects faces in every video stream in the project, so the centering is ready with one click the moment you open the edit. Click the box holding the person you want to centre. The clip toolbar appears above the preview with the speaker's name on the left. ![Riverside clip toolbar above a selected speaker box, with the crop icon in the tool row](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5b/aa/5baa4306-14e9-442c-8242-49463a36912f/content/images/2026/08/riverside-auto-crop-clip-toolbar-crop-icon-1.jpg) Select the speaker's box and the clip toolbar appears. The crop icon is the second one along. Click the crop icon. The toolbar swaps for the crop bar: an **Auto-crop** button, a zoom slider with a percentage field, and **Cancel** and **Done** buttons. A rule-of-thirds grid drops over the box so you can see how far off-centre the subject is. ![Riverside crop bar open at 100 percent with a rule-of-thirds grid over an off-centre speaker](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5b/aa/5baa4306-14e9-442c-8242-49463a36912f/content/images/2026/08/riverside-auto-crop-panel-100-percent-1.jpg) The crop bar with the Auto-crop button, zoom slider and percentage field. The grid shows how far off-centre the shot still is. Now click **Auto-crop**. The face snaps to the middle of the box, nicely proportioned against the grid, and the zoom nudges up slightly to make the framing work — 116% in this case. ![Riverside preview after Auto-crop, with the speaker's face centred on the grid at 116 percent zoom](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5b/aa/5baa4306-14e9-442c-8242-49463a36912f/content/images/2026/08/riverside-auto-crop-face-centered-1.jpg) One click on Auto-crop and the face lands dead centre, with the zoom adjusted to suit. Repeat it for your guest: click their box, open the crop tool, click Auto-crop. Two clicks per person. Do this *before* you cut your scenes and every scene you create afterwards inherits centred framing, which saves you the cleanup pass later. ## Adjust the zoom without losing the centre Auto-crop picks a zoom level, but you stay in control of it. Drag the slider, or type a value into the percentage field. Pull it too far out and the crop shrinks inside the box, leaving black around the video. ![Riverside crop bar at 50 percent zoom, showing the speaker's video shrunk inside the box with black space around it](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5b/aa/5baa4306-14e9-442c-8242-49463a36912f/content/images/2026/08/riverside-auto-crop-zoom-out-50-percent-1.jpg) Drop the zoom too low and the video no longer fills the box. Click Auto-crop again and it snaps back to filling the frame. Click Auto-crop again and it pulls the shot back in so it fills the box properly. Push the other way and you get a tighter, closer crop. ![Riverside crop bar at 140 percent zoom with the guest framed tightly, face still centred](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5b/aa/5baa4306-14e9-442c-8242-49463a36912f/content/images/2026/08/riverside-auto-crop-zoom-in-140-percent-1.jpg) At 140% the crop is much tighter — and the face stays centred the whole way in. The old plus and minus buttons are gone, but you still have fine control: click the small stepper arrows next to the percentage to nudge the zoom up and down, or click inside the box and use the up and down arrow keys to shift the framing. The face holds its centre as you zoom, which is the part that used to take the most fiddling. If you build [dynamic zoom edits](https://cotovan.com/post/dynamic-zoom-edits-riverside-polished-podcasts/) on top of this, starting from a centred crop makes the whole sequence steadier. If you’re eager to learn more about Riverside and wish to have ****a one-on-one Riverside coaching session**, feel free to [book a call with me](https://cotovan.com/coaching). I’m here to help you with any questions you have and to guide you through the best workflows, tips, workarounds, or just answer any questions you may have! [Book a session ](https://cotovan.com/coaching) ## Fixing framing after Smart Layouts has already cut your scenes Centering before you cut is ideal, but that is not always how the edit goes. Here is the situation I run into more often: I open the AI tools panel and run **Smart layouts** on a project that still has no scenes on the timeline. ![Riverside AI tools panel with Smart layouts switched off and no scenes on the timeline below](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5b/aa/5baa4306-14e9-442c-8242-49463a36912f/content/images/2026/08/riverside-auto-crop-smart-layouts-ai-tools.jpg) The AI tools panel before Smart layouts runs — notice the timeline underneath has no scene breaks yet. Smart layouts cuts the scenes for you and drops each speaker into whatever layout fits. It does a good job of choosing shots, but it does not fix framing. Scroll through the project afterwards and you are still drifting left and right in every side-by-side scene. With scenes already cut, going back and centering each one by hand is a waste of an afternoon. That is what **Similar scenes** is for. ## Push one crop to every matching scene with Similar scenes Under the preview there is a row of buttons: **This scene**, **Similar scenes** and **All scenes**. They control how widely your change is applied. The order matters here. Click the speaker's box, then choose **Similar scenes** *before* you make any changes. Riverside selects every scene that shares the same layout and track — all your side-by-side shots, in this case. ![Riverside crop bar with Similar scenes highlighted and a tooltip reading Applies the crop to all scenes with the same track and layout](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5b/aa/5baa4306-14e9-442c-8242-49463a36912f/content/images/2026/08/riverside-auto-crop-similar-scenes-tooltip.jpg) Similar scenes applies the crop to every scene sharing the same track and layout. Check it is still selected before you click Auto-crop. One thing to watch: the selection sometimes switches itself off when you open the crop tool. Glance at the button row and re-select **Similar scenes** if it has dropped back to **This scene** — otherwise you will only fix the scene you are parked on. With Similar scenes selected, click **Auto-crop**, then **Done**. Every matching scene gets the same centred crop in one shot. Do the same for your guest — select their box, confirm Similar scenes is on, Auto-crop, Done. It behaves the same way as [saving and reusing scene layouts](https://cotovan.com/post/how-to-save-and-reuse-scene-layouts-in-riverside/): you make the decision once and Riverside repeats it everywhere the layout matches, instead of you clicking through the timeline. If a particular scene needs its own treatment, you can always [adjust the scene break](https://cotovan.com/post/how-to-adjust-scene-break-location-in-riverside/) and crop that one on its own with **This scene**. ## Spot-check before you move on Two clicks doing work across dozens of scenes is a big time save, and it is also a good reason to check the results. Jump back to the start of the edit and scrub through a handful of scenes. ![Riverside preview showing both speakers centred in their halves of the frame after Auto-crop](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5b/aa/5baa4306-14e9-442c-8242-49463a36912f/content/images/2026/08/riverside-auto-crop-both-speakers-centered.jpg) After Auto-crop with Similar scenes, both speakers hold the centre through the whole edit. Face detection is very good, but it is still detection. A scene where someone turns away from camera or leans right out of shot can land differently from the rest. A quick spot-check catches those in under a minute, and you can drop into any single scene and correct it without disturbing the others. ## Where this fits in your edit My order of work now looks like this: 1. Open the edit and check the raw framing on each speaker. 2. Auto-crop each person before cutting scenes, so every scene starts centred. 3. If scenes are already cut, use Similar scenes plus Auto-crop to fix them in bulk. 4. Adjust the zoom on anything that wants a tighter or wider shot. 5. Spot-check, then carry on with the rest of the edit. It is a small feature, but framing is one of those things viewers notice without being able to say why. Getting it right used to cost real editing time. Now it is two clicks per speaker. If you are still finding your way around the redesigned workspace, my [walkthrough of Riverside's new editor](https://cotovan.com/post/riversides-new-editor-a-complete-walkthrough-of-the-redesigned-workspace/) covers where everything else moved to. If you want to try any of this yourself, you can [get started with Riverside here](https://cotovan.com/riverside). ## Related guides [Crop, Reposition, Reframe: Video Editing in Riverside.fmAdjust the framing and cropping of individual videos during editing in Riverside.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5b/aa/5baa4306-14e9-442c-8242-49463a36912f/content/images/icon/Cristi-2-31.jpeg)Cristi CotovanCristi Cotovan![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5b/aa/5baa4306-14e9-442c-8242-49463a36912f/content/images/2025/09/151_crop-reposition-reframe-video-editing-riverside-1.jpg)](https://cotovan.com/post/crop-reposition-reframe-video-editing-riverside/) [Riverside's New Editor: A Complete Walkthrough of the Redesigned WorkspaceA full tour of Riverside's rebuilt editor: the new project sidebar, resizable panels, AI workflow toggles, version history, free-form layouts, the frame-accurate timeline, transcript corrections, moti![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5b/aa/5baa4306-14e9-442c-8242-49463a36912f/content/images/icon/Cristi-2-31.jpeg)Cristi CotovanCristi Cotovan![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5b/aa/5baa4306-14e9-442c-8242-49463a36912f/content/images/2026/08/riverside-new-editor-walkthrough-thumb.jpg)](https://cotovan.com/post/riversides-new-editor-a-complete-walkthrough-of-the-redesigned-workspace/) [How to Save and Reuse Scene Layouts in RiversideWhen you're editing a podcast or video interview in Riverside, the layout determines how speakers are arranged on screen. But you don't have to stick with the same layout for the entire episode. You c![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5b/aa/5baa4306-14e9-442c-8242-49463a36912f/content/images/icon/Cristi-2-31.jpeg)Cristi CotovanCristi Cotovan![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5b/aa/5baa4306-14e9-442c-8242-49463a36912f/content/images/2026/02/riverside-scene-layouts-thumbnail.jpg)](https://cotovan.com/post/how-to-save-and-reuse-scene-layouts-in-riverside/) [How to Use Riverside Scene Templates to Speed Up Podcast EditingEvery time you start a new episode edit in Riverside, do you find yourself rebuilding the same scene layouts from scratch? Speaker name overlays, side-by-side arrangements, solo speaker close-ups — it![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5b/aa/5baa4306-14e9-442c-8242-49463a36912f/content/images/icon/Cristi-2-31.jpeg)Cristi CotovanCristi Cotovan![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5b/aa/5baa4306-14e9-442c-8242-49463a36912f/content/images/2026/02/riverside-scene-templates-thumbnail.jpg)](https://cotovan.com/post/how-to-use-riverside-scene-templates-to-speed-up-podcast-editing/) [Master Precision Editing in Riverside: The Complete GuideRiverside has become one of the most powerful browser-based editors for podcasters and video creators. But recording is just the beginning — the real magic happens in the edit. In this comprehensive g![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5b/aa/5baa4306-14e9-442c-8242-49463a36912f/content/images/icon/Cristi-2-31.jpeg)Cristi CotovanCristi Cotovan![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5b/aa/5baa4306-14e9-442c-8242-49463a36912f/content/images/2026/02/riverside-precision-editing-tutorial-thumbnail.jpg)](https://cotovan.com/post/master-precision-editing-in-riverside-the-complete-guide/) If you're eager to learn more about Riverside and wish to have a one-on-one Riverside coaching session, feel free to book a call with me. I'm here to help you with any questions you have and to guide you through the best workflows, tips, workarounds, or just answer any questions you may have! [Book a session ](https://cotovan.com/coaching) ## Free Riverside Tips, Tricks, and Training in Your Inbox I create regular training content on [Riverside.fm](https://cotovan.com/riverside) \- if you're trying to learn the platform, I intend to teach all the ins and outs. Subscribe here and when a new article or video goes live, you'll be the first to know! Subscribe for free Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.