Prepare horizontal compositions in After Effects for export to vertical Instagram Stories

Learn after effects

What you learned: Create vertical video from horizontal video sources  

Create a new composition using settings for vertical video

Choose Composition - New Composition.
Set the Preset drop-down menu to HDTV 1080 29.97.
Make sure that the Lock Aspect Ratio option is deselected.
Change the Width setting to 607 and click OK.
Add the original 16 x 9 composition to the new vertical composition

Open the new vertical video composition.
Drag the 16 x 9 composition from the Project panel into the timeline of the vertical composition.
Animate the position of the 16 x 9 composition to follow the action in the scene

Move the current-time indicator in the Timeline panel, and set position keyframes as needed to keep the action in the middle of the vertical composition.
Change the keyframe interpolation of the set keyframes to better match the motion of the project.
Save the composition settings as a preset for future use

Choose Composition - Composition Settings.
Click the icon beside the Preset dropdown menu.
Name the preset and click OK.

---------------  Sample files to practice with (ZIP, 2.3 MB) ------------