Join videos: settings and best results

What does Join videos do?

Join videos puts several clips together into one video, on your own computer, with a transition between each pair. Combine an opener, an interview and a phone clip into one reel, or stitch the parts of a recording back together. In the app the tool is called Join Videos.

Clips of different sizes and shapes are fitted to one frame, so a vertical phone clip and a widescreen clip can sit in the same video. The result is one MP4 file.

01Step 1: Add your clips in order

Click Tools in the sidebar, open the Video tab and click Join Videos in the Cut & join section. You can also type "join" in the search box at the top.

Drop at least two videos on the queue, or click it to pick files. They are joined from top to bottom. Drag a row by its handle to change the order. Each row shows the clip’s size and length, such as "1080 × 1920 · 0:12" for a vertical phone clip.

123456

1. 1Output canvas
2. 2Fit mismatched clips
3. 3Output quality
4. 4Default transition
5. 5Arrange in the Join Studio
6. 6Run join

04Step 4: Arrange clips in the Join studio

Click Arrange in the Join Studio, or Adjust on a clip in the queue. The Join studio shows your clips as a numbered strip, with a junction between each pair.

• Click a clip to see how it fits the canvas. Change the canvas shape and frame rate with the buttons under the preview.
• Drag a clip along the strip to change the order.
• Click a junction to give it its own transition and Length. Reset to default puts it back on the Default transition. Apply to all junctions makes this transition the default for every junction.

Changing the order clears the transitions you set for single junctions, so set the order first. Close the Studio when you are done; your changes are kept until you close Hangar.

123456

1. 1Join studio
2. 2Landscape 16:9
3. 3Clip 3
4. 4Transition · clip 2 → 3
5. 5Apply to all junctions
6. 6Length

05Step 5: Run, then watch the result

Check where the file will go: Default output folder saves it in your workspace’s output folder, in a join folder with a subfolder for today’s date, such as 10-15. Click Change to pick another folder for this run. Then click Run join.

When the run ends, the clips show Merged. In the Run complete panel, a card shows the new video’s name, its size and how many clips it joined, such as "joined from 3 files". Click View to watch it, and Open folder to go to it. See See and compare your results and Where your files are saved.

12345

1. 1Merged
2. 2juniper-new-shop-reel.mp4
3. 3View
4. 4Saved to
5. 5Open folder

Every setting, and when to change it

These settings apply to the whole join. The Join studio adds a transition and length for each junction.

Output canvas

The size and shape of the joined video. Match a clip uses the size of the clip whose number you type.

• RangeLandscape 16:9, Portrait 9:16, Square 1:1, Match a clip
• DefaultLandscape 16:9

Frame rate

Frames per second of the joined video. Every clip is converted to it.

• Range30 fps, 60 fps
• Default30 fps

Fit mismatched clips

How a clip of another shape fills the canvas: whole with a blurred copy behind, whole with black bars, or cropped to fill.

• RangeFit + blur, Letterbox, Crop
• DefaultFit + blur

Output quality

The balance between file size and detail.

• RangeSmallest, Balanced, Best
• DefaultBalanced

Default transition

The transition used at every junction you have not changed in the Join studio.

• RangeCut, Dissolve, Fade · black, Fade · white, 4 slides, Circle open, Circle close
• DefaultDissolve

Transition length

How long each transition lasts. It can be no longer than half of the shorter clip next to it.

• Range0.1 to 2 seconds
• Default0.5 seconds

Output name

The name of the joined video. It is always saved as an MP4.

• RangeAny name
• Defaultjoined

How do I get the best results?

• Pick the canvas for where the video goes. Portrait 9:16 for Reels, Shorts and stories, Landscape 16:9 for YouTube and the web.
• Avoid enlarging small clips. If all your clips are smaller than 1080p, choose Match a clip and pick one of them, so nothing is blown up.
• Trim first. Cut the slate and dead air from each clip with Trim Video, then join the trimmed copies.
• Keep transitions short. 0.3 to 0.7 seconds feels natural. Use Cut between clips that already flow.
• Set the order before the junctions. Reordering in the Join studio resets the transitions you set for single junctions.

Why does a result look wrong?

• The run failed saying it needs at least 2 videos. Add another clip. Join Videos needs two or more.
• Some clips look soft. They were smaller than the canvas and were enlarged. Choose Match a clip, or use larger originals.
• Heads or edges are cut off. You chose Crop. Use Fit + blur or Letterbox to keep the whole picture.
• The clips are in the wrong order. The join follows the queue from top to bottom. Drag the rows into place and run again.
• A transition is shorter than I set. A transition can last at most half of the shorter clip next to it, so very short clips get short transitions.
• The video is shorter than expected. Each transition overlaps two clips. Use Cut, or shorter transitions, to keep more of each clip.

For other errors, see A file failed: what to check.

Limits

• Join Videos takes MP4, MOV, MKV, WebM, AVI, M4V, MPG, MPEG, TS, MTS, M2TS, 3GP and WMV files.
• It needs at least two clips, and makes one MP4 file from the whole queue.
• The frame is 1920 × 1080, 1080 × 1920, 1080 × 1080 or the size of one of your clips, at 30 or 60 fps.
• The Join studio preview is a still frame of each clip, not playback. Watch the result with View.
• Transitions you set in the Join studio last until you close Hangar.
• Add video files, not folders.
• Everything runs on your computer. Nothing is uploaded.