In the editor, you can choose from a number of layouts and background options. If you’re editing a Wistia Recording and you’ve captured both your screen and camera, you'll see the most number of layout options here. You'll be able to choose when and how you'd like to display your screen and camera.
For all other videos (including screen-only and camera-only recordings), you'll have options as well.
Select a layout
To change the layout throughout a video, select the "Layouts" icon from the side panel of the editor.
If you're editing a recording, and you’ve captured both your screen and camera, you'll see various layout options for your streams.
The options include:
Spotlight: Only display your screen or camera stream.
Grid fixed: Display your screen and camera stream side by side.
Picture-in-picture: Display your camera stream within the screen stream.
Framed picture in picture: Behaves like Picture-in-picture, but with a border around the video.
For all other videos and recordings with only camera or screen feeds, you'll see full or inset options.
Customize your layout
After selecting a layout, you can use the menu bar below the video preview to further tweak the video's appearance.
Layout customization options in this menu bar include:
Fit and Fill: Choose how you'd like the screenshare to fit in the recording.
Percentage: Choose how zoomed in you'd like the screenshare to be.
Reset: Change layout options back to the original settings.
Border: Add a border around the video, then set the color and width.
Shadow: Choose from no shadow, small, large, or hard shadow, and select the color.
Ellipsis menu
Copy styles: Copy styles from one video to paste on another video.
Paste style: Paste styles from another video.
Reset: Reset the layout options you've chosen.
Choose a background
After you've selected a layout or picked an aspect ratio different from the original file, you can add a custom background to your video. To get started, click "Background" from the Layouts panel in the editor.
We'll go over the background options below!
Solid background
Within the Layouts panel, click "Background." Then, from the Solid tab, choose a color from the color picker or your Asset library to set as a background color.
Gradient background
Using the "Background" option in the Layouts panel, select the "Gradient" tab.
You can select options from Linear, Radial, and Multicolored sections. Then, select a preset gradient or custom color(s) for your gradient.
In the Effects section, you have the option to add special effects to your gradient, including animation, noise, or a spiral effect.
Pattern background
In the Layouts panel, click "Background" then "Pattern." Here, you can use a preset pattern based on a custom or Asset library color to set as your video's background.
Image background
In the Background section of the Layouts panel, select the "Image" tab. You can upload and customize your own background image or select a Wistia background for your video here. Uploaded images support .jpg, .png, .tiff, .bmp, and .dcm files.
Note
Uploaded background images are specific to your user account. They appear under Uploaded images across your own edit sessions, but aren't shared team-wide and can't be set as a default for all videos. It isn't possible to apply a background automatically to every recording or upload; each video's background is set individually in the editor.
Under Image mode, use the dropdown to determine how the image appears. The Fill option will display the full image behind the video, filling the background. The Tile option will generate a resizable, repeating pattern with the chosen image.
Remove layout or background
In the Layout panel below the video preview, click "Reset" to change the fit, fill, and percentage back to their original settings.
For border and shadow customizations, open up the ellipsis menu and click "Reset."
To remove a background, in the Background section of the Layouts panel, select a different option.
You can also click the "Undo" arrow above the timeline at any time to undo your most recent changes.
