ShortForm Studio

Workflow · Stage 2 of 5

Shoot — production visualizers

Five tools you run in front of the camera. They translate "I want it to feel X" into camera placement, lighting setup and a colour palette you can actually build.

Tool 6 · Aspect Ratio Safe-Zone Visualizer

Where is your content actually safe?

Most creators frame for 9:16. Then TikTok crops, Reels zooms, and YouTube Shorts adds UI bars. This tool overlays every platform's cropping at once so you can frame for the worst case.

Safe-zone overlay (schematic)

Why the overlays differ

TikTok keeps the full 9:16. Reels zooms slightly and shows the platform UI at the bottom (creator name, audio). YouTube Shorts shows a 16:9 letterbox on the play page when embedded and crops tighter on mobile. Without seeing all three at once, you frame for one and lose content on the others.

Limitations

  • This is a schematic; real crops vary by phone, app version and update.
  • If you shoot in 16:9 and crop to 9:16, you lose ~70% of horizontal frame — the tool assumes you shoot vertical natively.
  • Some platforms allow safe-area toggles in the app; check the latest docs.
FAQs

Where do captions go safely? Bottom 18% of the frame on TikTok, bottom 22% on Reels, bottom 20% on Shorts. Stay inside the middle 60% for maximum compatibility.

What about the creator's name overlay on Reels? It sits in the bottom-left corner; do not put your call-to-action there.

Tool 7 · 3-Point Lighting Layout

A lighting diagram you can build in 15 minutes.

Pick a mood and a room. We give you the key/fill/back positions, colour temperature targets and one cheap improvement you can make today.

Your lighting diagram appears here.

How to read the diagram

Top-down view: subject is the circle. Key light is the brightest source, usually 30–45° off-axis. Fill is opposite the key at half intensity, softening the shadow side. Back / rim light separates the subject from the background. For dramatic mood, push key intensity and lower fill. For bright beauty, raise fill so shadows are nearly gone.

Limitations

  • It cannot measure your room's bounce; test with a stand-in.
  • Mixed colour temperatures (e.g. daylight window + tungsten lamp) create colour casts we cannot detect remotely.
  • Reflections from glasses / jewellery break the rules; reposition subject if those are in shot.
FAQs

What is the cheapest visible improvement? Add a white foam board opposite your key light. Reflected light is free.

Do I need a back light? Only if your background is similar to your hair/clothing colour. Otherwise skip it and put the budget into the key.

Tool 8 · Camera Angle Recommender

Which angle fits the emotion you want?

Pick the emotion you are trying to convey. We return the framing, the height of the camera, the depth of field, and the kind of lens to reach for.

Your recommendation appears here.

How to interpret

Camera height sets power dynamic — eye level is neutral, slightly above is authoritative, slightly below is heroic. Focal length sets intimacy — 50mm feels honest, 24mm feels dynamic, 85mm feels editorial. Depth of field separates subject from background. The tool combines all three.

Limitations

  • If you shoot on a phone, you cannot change focal length — use digital zoom sparingly.
  • Rules of thumb; tested directors break them with intent.
  • Two subjects in frame changes the math; the tool assumes one subject.
FAQs

What about eye contact? Looking slightly off-lens reads as "thinking"; looking into lens reads as "talking to you". Match to your emotion.

What if I want both authority and intimate? Authority from camera height, intimacy from focal length. Eye-level + 50mm = the most common creator compromise.

Tool 9 · Green Screen Difficulty Estimator

How hard will this key actually be?

Not every green-screen shot is the same. Hair, glasses, motion and lighting all change the difficulty. Get a 1–10 score and the specific failures to expect.

Your difficulty score appears here.

Why difficulty matters

A "1/10" green screen keys cleanly in any editor. A "9/10" key will eat hours in post and still look like a Photoshop cutout. Knowing the score before you shoot lets you make trade-offs — change the lighting, ditch the glasses, choose a different shot.

Limitations

  • It assumes chroma key in post; some AI tools handle tough keys but at slower render cost.
  • Clothing colour matching the screen background raises difficulty beyond what the score captures.
  • Reflective surfaces (jewellery, phones, watches) add hidden difficulty.
FAQs

Why is uneven lighting so bad? Bright spots push into your key colour; dark spots refuse to key. The result is patchy edges.

Can I fix a hard key with AI tools? Often yes, but the AI leaves a slightly painterly edge that screams "stock footage". Sometimes the honest answer is reshoot.

Tool 10 · Mood → Color Palette

A 5-colour palette for your next video.

Pick 1–3 mood words. Get a 5-colour palette (background, mid, accent, pop, neutral) with hex codes and one suggested use per colour.

Pick moods and click generate.

How palettes are built

Each mood maps to a HSL anchor (hue, saturation, lightness). Combinations blend anchors. The 5 colours always serve distinct roles: dominant background, mid for body, accent for the eye, pop for highlights, neutral for safety. You can paste the hex codes into Premiere, CapCut, DaVinci or your set design notes.

Limitations

  • Combinations of contradictory moods (e.g. "playful" + "corporate") produce muddy palettes.
  • On-camera colours shift under different light temperatures — re-shoot a colour chart if you need exact brand colours.
  • The tool does not check brand colour conflicts.
FAQs

Should the pop colour match my call-to-action? Usually yes. If your CTA is a button overlay, paint it in the pop colour so it reads instantly.

What about accessibility? Contrast between text and background should hit at least 4.5:1. Use the Caption Contrast Checker on the Edit page.

Next stage: Edit →

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