Video & Image Spec Sheets

What a spec sheet is

A spec sheet is a one-page reference that states the exact technical requirements a piece of media must meet: aspect ratio, pixel resolution, frame rate, file size and safe zones. It answers a factual question with a number, not an opinion. You look it up, copy the figure, and get back to work.

These video and image spec sheets are written the way an engineer would want them. Every figure is dated, every platform requirement points at the platform's own help page, and every ratio is shown with the pixel sizes that actually appear in exports and upload dialogs.

We publish them because the same questions come up before every generation in the Playcut studio: what 4:5 is in pixels, whether 1920x1080 is the same as 16:9, and which vertical size TikTok wants. Having the answer on one page beats re-deriving it from a calculator each time.

Why aspect ratio and resolution matter for AI video generation

Aspect ratio and resolution matter because AI video models commit to a frame shape at generation time. The composition, camera move and subject placement are all solved for the ratio you request. Generate wide and crop to vertical afterwards and you lose a third of the picture, often the part the model put the subject in.

Ratio is set at generation time, not in the edit

A still from a camera can be cropped with little penalty because the sensor over-captures. A generated clip has nothing outside the frame. Whatever the model did not render does not exist, so the only lossless way to change shape is to render again at the new ratio.

That is why the Playcut picker only lists ratios the selected model renders natively, and why every spec sheet here names the model that outputs a given ratio. Picking the shape before you spend credits is the cheapest decision in the whole workflow.

What each Playcut model outputs

The native ratio set is model-specific. Veo 3.1 renders 16:9 and 9:16 only, as documented in Google's Veo API reference, but it reaches 4K. Seedance 2.0 adds 21:9, 4:3, 1:1 and 3:4 and also reaches 4K. Grok Imagine adds 3:2 and 2:3 on both its image and video models.

Ratio support as offered in the Playcut studio at the time of writing. Image generation covers the widest set, including 4:5 and 5:4; video is narrower and varies by model. The AI video generator and AI image generator pages carry the current picker for each.

The ratios at a glance

The four shapes below cover most social, web and broadcast delivery. Each box is drawn at its true proportion so you can see how much taller 9:16 is than 4:5, and how close 3:2 sits to 16:9.

The browser draws these with the CSS aspect-ratio property, the same rule described in the MDN aspect-ratio reference. It fixes width-to-height as a single number, which is exactly what a ratio is: 4:5 is 0.8, 16:9 is about 1.78, and 9:16 is its reciprocal at 0.5625.

How the spec sheets pair with the free tools

The sheets give you the number; the free tools let you act on it without leaving the browser. When a sheet says a platform wants 1080x1350, the aspect ratio calculator scales that to any width you need while keeping the 4:5 proportion exact.

The safe zone checker handles the second half of the vertical problem. A 9:16 frame is the right shape for TikTok, Reels and Shorts, but each app draws captions, buttons and a progress bar over the picture. The checker overlays those regions so faces and text stay clear of them.

When you already have a file in the wrong size, the image resizer crops or scales it to the target pixels locally, with nothing uploaded. All three tools live in the free creator tools library, and every spec sheet links to the tool that answers its own question.

A useful habit is to read the sheet first, then generate. Platform requirements such as YouTube's video resolution and aspect ratio guidance change rarely, but when they do, the sheet's updated date tells you whether the figure you are about to use is current.

Spec sheet FAQ

What is the difference between aspect ratio and resolution?

Aspect ratio is the shape of the frame, written as width to height, such as 16:9 or 4:5. Resolution is the pixel count inside that shape, such as 1920x1080. One ratio has many resolutions: 1280x720, 1920x1080 and 3840x2160 are all 16:9.

Which aspect ratio should I generate AI video in?

Generate in the ratio the destination plays at. Use 9:16 for TikTok, Reels and Shorts, 16:9 for YouTube and most web embeds, 1:1 or 4:5 for feed posts, and 21:9 for a cinematic look. Playcut's model picker only offers ratios the selected model renders natively.

Can I change the aspect ratio after generating a video?

Only by cropping, which throws away pixels and often cuts off the subject, or by padding, which adds bars. Neither adds picture. The reliable fix is to regenerate at the target ratio, which is why every sheet here lists the native ratio each model supports.

How often are these spec sheets updated?

Each sheet shows an updated date at the top. We re-check platform help pages and model documentation when a platform changes its requirements or Playcut adds a model, and we bump the date only when a figure on the page actually changes.