Tips for Designing Dual Mode Scenes
Designing for horizontal and vertical video at the same time works best when you treat each canvas as its own intentional layout, rather than trying to duplicate the same design in both formats.
Here are a few tips to help you get the most out of Dual Mode.
Design for Each Platform
Different platforms favor different shapes:
• Horizontal (16:9) — YouTube, webinars, presentations, live shows
• Vertical (9:16) — Instagram, TikTok, YouTube Shorts, LinkedIn vertical video
Dual Mode lets you create layouts optimized for each audience without needing to edit afterward.
For example, you might:
show a wide two-person interview horizontally
feature a tight single-camera crop vertically
Keep Important Content Centered
Vertical video has a narrower viewing area, so elements that sit near the edges of a horizontal layout may get cut off if reused.
To make scenes easier to adapt:
Keep your primary camera framing centered
Avoid placing important overlays too close to the edges
Test how your scenes look in both canvases
This ensures your content stays readable in both formats.
Pro tip: Record a quick video in Dual Mode and play it back to see how each format looks.
Customize Overlays for Each Canvas
Dual Mode allows you to place different overlays and graphics on each canvas.
You might choose to:
Horizontal layout:
include more graphics
display multiple guests
add lower thirds and branding
Vertical layout:
feature one primary speaker or stack camera overlays to show a guest stacked on top of the host
enlarge captions or text (or remove them)
simplify the design for mobile viewing
Use Scenes to Switch Layouts Quickly
Just like regular Ecamm scenes, you can create multiple scene layouts for Dual Mode.
For example:
Scene 1 — Intro
Scene 2 — Interview
Scene 3 — Screen share
Scene 4 — Closing
Each scene can have different horizontal and vertical designs, allowing you to move smoothly between segments while keeping both formats optimized.
Preview Both Canvases While Designing
Because Ecamm displays both canvases side-by-side in Dual Mode, you can immediately see how your layout works in each format.
As you add cameras, overlays, or screen shares, watch how they appear in both canvases and adjust as needed.
A few small adjustments can make a big difference in how polished each format looks.
Think of Dual Mode as Two Shows in One
The most successful Dual Mode creators think of it as producing two experiences at the same time:
• A widescreen show for traditional platforms
• A vertical experience optimized for mobile viewers
With a little planning, you can reach two audiences at once without doubling your workload.