Launch video specs for every platform (2026 reference)

Export a launch video in three shapes and you cover almost every placement: 16:9 at 1920 × 1080 for YouTube, your website and LinkedIn, 9:16 at 1080 × 1920 for Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts and TikTok, and 4:5 at 1080 × 1350 for the LinkedIn feed, where it’s LinkedIn’s recommended ratio for video ads. Then check length limits per platform: YouTube Shorts run up to 3 minutes, TikTok’s non-Spark in-feed ads up to 10 minutes, and LinkedIn recommends 15 to 30 seconds for video ads. Keep text and logos inside each platform’s safe zones and caption every cut.

All figures below come from each platform’s own documentation, checked on October 2, 2026. Platforms change these often, so check the linked page before a big export.

Specs by platform

Platform	Aspect ratios	Resolution	Length	File size	Notes
YouTube	16:9 standard on desktop	1920 × 1080 for 1080p	Not covered here	Not covered here	Upload at the frame rate you recorded. No baked-in black bars
YouTube Shorts	Vertical or square	Up to 1080p upload	Up to 3 minutes	Not stated	Views count every start or replay since March 31, 2025
Instagram Reels	1.91:1 to 9:16	At least 720 px	Not covered here	Not stated	At least 30 fps. Cover image 420 × 654 (1:1.55)
TikTok in-feed ads (non-Spark)	9:16 recommended, 16:9, 1:1	9:16 at least 540 × 960	Up to 10 minutes	Up to 500 MB	Bitrate at least 516 kbps. MP4, MOV, MPEG, 3GP, AVI
LinkedIn (organic)	1:2.4 to 2.4:1	256 × 144 to 4096 × 2304	3 seconds (2 on mobile) to 15 minutes	75 KB to 5 GB	10 to 60 fps. 192 kbps to 30 Mbps
LinkedIn video ads	16:9, 1:1, 4:5 (recommended), 9:16	Up to 1920 × 1080, 1920 × 1920, 1080 × 1350, 1080 × 1920	3 seconds to 30 minutes, 15–30 seconds recommended	75 KB to 500 MB	Captions as SRT. Under 30 seconds loops until 30 seconds of playback
X	Not specified in the media docs	Not specified for video	0.5 seconds to 20 minutes (125 minutes for Premium)	Up to 8 GB (16 GB for Premium)	One video per post, or up to four photos or one GIF

“Not covered here” means we didn’t find the figure in the page we cite. Don’t fill the gap with guesses from old blog posts.

The three masters to export

Master	Size	Use it for
16:9 landscape	1920 × 1080	Website hero, YouTube, LinkedIn, X, investor updates, press
9:16 vertical	1080 × 1920	Reels, Shorts, TikTok, Stories
4:5 vertical	1080 × 1350	LinkedIn feed and ads, other feed placements

Add a 1:1 version at 1080 × 1080 only if a specific placement needs it. LinkedIn accepts square up to 1920 × 1920, and TikTok in-feed ads accept square at 640 × 640 or larger.

Encoding settings that travel well

YouTube’s recommended upload settings are a good baseline for every platform, since most accept the same files:

• Container and codec: MP4 with H.264, High Profile, progressive scan.
• Frame rate: the same rate the video was made at. YouTube lists 24, 25, 30, 48, 50 and 60 fps as common.
• Chroma subsampling: 4:2:0.
• Bitrate for 1080p SDR: about 8 Mbps at 24 to 30 fps, 12 Mbps at 48 to 60 fps.
• Audio: AAC, stereo, 48 kHz.
• Fast start: moov atom at the front of the file.

Check the bitrate against each platform’s limits. LinkedIn’s organic upload accepts up to 30 Mbps, and TikTok’s in-feed ads need at least 516 kbps.

Safe zones and framing

Every platform lays its interface over the video: captions, buttons, profile names, the progress bar. LinkedIn’s help page says to keep the top, bottom and sides free of key elements, text and logos. TikTok publishes downloadable safe-zone templates for in-feed ads, and the zone changes with the caption length and any extra formats.

In practice:

• Keep headlines and logos in the middle 70 to 80 percent of the frame on vertical cuts.
• Design the 16:9 master with the vertical crop in mind. If the product UI sits on the left third, the 9:16 cut will lose it.
• Avoid adding padding or black bars yourself. YouTube says they interfere with how the player resizes the video.
• Use the platform’s own templates for a final check before export.

Captions and sound-off viewing

Plan for people watching without sound. Platforms handle captions differently:

• LinkedIn ads: caption files in SRT format, text only, no custom styling.
• TikTok ads: captions display in white in a uniform font you can’t customize, and don’t support clickable links, @ symbols or hashtags.
• Everywhere else: burned-in captions give you full control over type and placement, at the cost of editing later.

Put the core message in on-screen text that’s part of the design. Captions should support the story, and the story should still make sense without them.

Length by placement

The limits above are maximums. What works is shorter:

• Website hero film: 45 seconds to 2 minutes, for people who chose to watch.
• Feed posts: 30 to 60 seconds for the main cut. LinkedIn recommends 15 to 30 seconds for ads, and loops anything under 30 seconds until it reaches 30 seconds of playback.
• Teasers: 6 to 15 seconds, posted before launch.
• Shorts, Reels and TikTok: 15 to 45 seconds for a launch cut, even though Shorts allow up to 3 minutes.

How we deliver cutdowns

Every launch film we make ships with the cutdowns planned from the storyboard, so framing and text work in each shape. The OMNI Agency film was built so the explanation worked without sound in the feed, and it helped drive over 260,000 wallet connections. The OMNI case study and the iAgent launch video, which its CEO says generated over 1.9M views across their socials, show the results.

See our motion and 3D service, how we work with Web3 teams, or look up cutdown and launch film in our glossary. For budgets, read how much a launch video costs, and for the full asset list, the product launch checklist.

The short version

• Export three masters: 16:9 at 1920 × 1080, 9:16 at 1080 × 1920 and 4:5 at 1080 × 1350.
• Encode H.264 MP4 at the original frame rate, 4:2:0, about 8 Mbps for 1080p, with 48 kHz stereo audio.
• Respect length limits: Shorts up to 3 minutes, TikTok in-feed ads up to 10, LinkedIn ads ideally 15 to 30 seconds.
• Keep text and logos inside safe zones and design the master for the vertical crop.
• Caption every cut, and put the core message in on-screen text.

Need the film and every cut done for a launch date? Book a 30-minute call and we’ll plan it backwards from the day.

Sources

Checked October 2, 2026. Each row in the tables comes from one of these pages.

• YouTube Help, Recommended upload encoding settings and Video resolution and aspect ratios.
• YouTube Help, Get started creating YouTube Shorts.
• Instagram Help Center, Reel size and aspect ratios.
• TikTok Ads Manager, Auction In-Feed Ads (last updated June 2026).
• LinkedIn Help, Video sharing troubleshooting, and LinkedIn Marketing Solutions Help, Video ads advertising specifications.
• X Developer Platform, Media best practices.