Everything resolves to one canvas
Clips from different sources rarely share a resolution, aspect ratio or orientation, and the output has to be one consistent video. Set the canvas first — widescreen for a standard upload, vertical for a feed — and then decide per clip whether it fills the frame, which crops it, or fits inside it, which leaves bars. A vertical phone clip dropped into a widescreen sequence is the case that always needs a decision: cropped to fill it loses the top and bottom of the subject, and fitted it sits between two black columns.