Every full-screen vertical placement on this sheet accepts a 9:16 video at 1080 × 1920 pixels, encoded as H.264 in an MP4 container with AAC audio, so one master file under 500 MB clears TikTok, Reels, Shorts, Snapchat, Pinterest and LinkedIn uploaders. The TikTok ad specs get the deepest treatment, with in-feed, TopView and Spark Ads broken out separately.
Every figure in this Playcut spec library entry is quoted from the platform's own help center or ads guide as read on 2026-09-05, with ads and organic limits in separate rows because they often differ. For the pixel math behind any ratio, use the free aspect ratio calculator.
The social video spec sheet: every platform in one table
The table lists each placement's ratio, recommended pixels, duration, file cap and container as published by the platform. Where only a minimum is published, the pixel column says "in practice".
| Placement | Ratio | Recommended pixels | Duration | Max file | Container / codec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TikTok in-feed ad | 9:16 (16:9, 1:1 accepted) | 1080 × 1920 in practice (min 540 × 960) | Up to 10 min | 500 MB, ≥516 kbps | .mp4 .mov .mpeg .3gp .avi |
| TikTok TopView ad | 9:16 | 1080 × 1920 in practice (min 540 × 960) | 5–60 s (9–15 s recommended) | 500 MB, ≥2,500 kbps | .mp4 .mov .mpeg .3gp |
| TikTok Spark Ad | Follows the organic post | As posted | No restriction | Not stated | .mp4 .mov |
| Instagram Reels ad | 9:16 | 1440 × 2560 | 0 s–15 min | 4 GB | MP4/MOV, H.264 + AAC 128 kbps+ |
| Instagram Stories ad | 9:16 | 1440 × 2560 | 1 s–60 min (cards after 16 s) | 4 GB | MP4/MOV/GIF, H.264 + AAC |
| Instagram Feed video ad | 9:16 recommended (organic feed display crops tighter; check Instagram Help) | 1080 × 1920 | 1 s–60 min | 4 GB | MP4/MOV/GIF, H.264 + AAC |
| Facebook Reels ad | 9:16 | 1440 × 2560 | No maximum listed | 4 GB | MP4/MOV/GIF, H.264 + AAC |
| Facebook Feed video ad | 4:5 | 1440 × 1800 (min 120 px each side) | 1 s–241 min | 4 GB | MP4/MOV/GIF, H.264 + AAC |
| YouTube Shorts (organic) | Vertical | 1080p maximum upload | Up to 3 min | 256 GB / 12 h (channel-wide) | MP4, H.264 + AAC-LC recommended |
| YouTube Shorts ad | 9:16 recommended | 1080 × 1920 in practice | Up to 3 min asset, first 60 s play | As above | As above |
| LinkedIn video ad | 16:9, 1:1, 4:5, 9:16 | 1080 × 1920 max for 9:16 | 3 s–30 min | 75 KB–500 MB | MP4, H.264 or VP8, under 30 fps |
| LinkedIn Page video (organic) | 1:2.4 to 2.4:1 | 256 × 144 to 4096 × 2304 | 3 s–10 min | 75 KB–5 GB | MP4 (MOV no longer accepted) |
| X video ad | 1:1 recommended (9:16 accepted) | 1200 × 1200 (min 600 × 600) | ≤15 s recommended, max 2 min 20 s | 1 GB | MP4/MOV |
| Pinterest video ad | 1:1, 2:3, 4:5, 9:16 (range 1.91:1 to 1:2) | 1080 × 1920 for 9:16 | 4 s–15 min (6–15 s recommended) | 2 GB | MP4/MOV/M4V, H.264 or H.265 |
| Pinterest Idea ad | 9:16 | 1080 × 1920 | Up to 5 min | 2 GB app / 100 MB web | MP4/MOV/M4V |
| Snapchat video ad | 9:16 | 720 × 1280 listed; 1080 × 1920 is a clean 1.5× multiple | 3–180 s | Not listed on ad-specs page | .mp4 .mov |
How to read the table: ads versus organic
Ad specs and organic upload limits are published on different pages and often disagree, so each row names the placement precisely. Instagram Feed is the clearest case: ads recommend 9:16, while organic feed display crops tighter than 9:16, so check Instagram Help before relying on a feed ratio. LinkedIn splits 500 MB for ads against 5 GB for Page posts. GIF uploads have separate caps, listed in GIF size limits by platform.
The universal safe export: 1080 × 1920, H.264 MP4, AAC, under 500 MB
A 1080 × 1920 H.264 MP4 with stereo AAC audio is the export that no vertical placement here rejects. 500 MB is the tightest file cap on the sheet and 3 minutes (Shorts) the tightest vertical duration cap. Feed placements still want a 4:5 or 1:1 cut, covered on the 4:5 aspect ratio sheet. A GIF has no audio track, so to add sound to a GIF, loop it under the audio as an MP4.
TikTok ad specs: in-feed, TopView and Spark Ads
TikTok's auction in-feed ad spec accepts 9:16 video at 540 × 960 pixels or larger, 16:9 at 960 × 540 or larger, or 1:1 at 640 × 640 or larger, in .mp4, .mov, .mpeg, .3gp or .avi, up to 10 minutes long, 500 MB or smaller, at a bitrate of at least 516 kbps. Those figures come from the TikTok Auction In-Feed Ads specification. In practice, advertisers upload 1080 × 1920.
| TikTok ad format | Ratio and minimum size | Formats | Duration | File size | Bitrate floor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auction in-feed (non-Spark) | 9:16 ≥540 × 960 · 16:9 ≥960 × 540 · 1:1 ≥640 × 640 | .mp4 .mov .mpeg .3gp .avi | Up to 10 min | ≤500 MB | ≥516 kbps |
| TopView (reservation) | 9:16 ≥540 × 960 | .mp4 .mov .mpeg .3gp | 5–60 s, 9–15 s recommended | ≤500 MB | ≥2,500 kbps |
| Spark Ad | Follows the organic post | .mp4 .mov | No restrictions | Not stated | Not stated |
In-feed auction ads: 540 × 960 minimum, 500 MB, 516 kbps
The in-feed minimums are low because TikTok upscales inside its vertical player, but a 540 × 960 file looks soft on a 1080-pixel-wide phone. At 1080 × 1920 the 516 kbps floor is irrelevant, since any normal H.264 preset lands at several megabits per second. Ad captions render in a fixed white font and may not contain clickable links, @ symbols or hashtags.
TopView reservation ads: 5–60 seconds and a 2,500 kbps floor
TopView is stricter on three counts, per the TopView ad specification: only 9:16 is listed, the duration window is 5–60 seconds with 9–15 seconds recommended, and the bitrate floor rises to 2,500 kbps. The file cap stays at 500 MB.
Spark Ads: no duration limit, specs follow the organic post
Spark Ads promote an existing TikTok post from your account or a creator's, so the creative already lives on the platform and the spec lists .mp4 or .mov with "no restrictions" on duration. The caption comes from the post, up to four lines.
TikTok organic upload limits: 3 to 10 minutes
Organic TikTok uploads were capped at 3 minutes until February 2022, when TikTok raised the limit to 10 minutes (TechCrunch, 28 February 2022, unlinked). Longer uploads have been tested in some markets since 2024, so 10 minutes is the last widely reported general limit rather than a guaranteed ceiling.
Instagram and Facebook video ad specs
Meta's Ads Guide recommends 9:16 at 1440 × 2560 for Instagram Reels, Instagram Stories and Facebook Reels ads, 9:16 at 1080 × 1920 for Instagram Feed video ads, and 4:5 at 1440 × 1800 for Facebook Feed video ads, all as MP4 or MOV, H.264 with stereo AAC at 128 kbps or more, up to 4 GB.
Reels ads run 0 seconds to 15 minutes per the Instagram Reels video ad specs; Stories ads run 1 second to 60 minutes but may split into cards after 16 seconds. Other figures are from the sibling Ads Guide pages, retrieved 2026-09-05.
Feed video ads: Instagram recommends 9:16, Facebook recommends 4:5
The ads guide recommends 9:16 at 1080 × 1920 for Instagram Feed video ads with a 1% ratio tolerance, while organic Instagram feed display crops tighter than 9:16, so check Instagram Help before relying on a feed ratio. Facebook Feed video ads recommend 4:5 at 1440 × 1800 with a 120-pixel minimum per side, because the feed is a scrolling surface where 4:5 is the tallest frame shown in full.
YouTube Shorts video specs: organic upload and Shorts ads
YouTube Shorts accepts vertical video up to 3 minutes long at a maximum upload resolution of 1080p, and Shorts ads can be 3 minutes long but play only their first 60 seconds in the Shorts feed. The organic figures are from YouTube Help's "Get started with YouTube Shorts" page.
Uploads above 1080p are downscaled, so a 1440 × 2560 Reels master gains nothing here. General YouTube dimensions and the 256 GB / 12-hour cap live on the YouTube video size sheet.
Shorts ads: a 3-minute asset, but only the first 60 seconds play
Google Ads Help on Shorts ad assets recommends 9:16 vertical files. A video ad may be up to 3 minutes, but the Shorts feed plays the first 60 seconds and shows an overlay at 50 seconds, so the message must land inside a minute.
LinkedIn, X, Pinterest and Snapchat video specs
LinkedIn video ads accept 16:9, 1:1, 4:5 and 9:16 from 75 KB to 500 MB and 3 seconds to 30 minutes; X caps video ads at 1 GB and 2 minutes 20 seconds; Pinterest allows 2 GB and 4 seconds to 15 minutes; Snapchat wants 9:16 at 720 × 1280 or larger for 3 to 180 seconds.
Sources, each retrieved 2026-09-05 and unlinked: the Snapchat for Business ad-specs page, the X Business creative ad specifications page, the Pinterest Help product-specs page and LinkedIn Help's "Video specifications for your LinkedIn Pages". Snapchat's ad-specs page lists no file-size cap, so treat the 1 GB figure circulating elsewhere as unconfirmed by that page.
LinkedIn: four ad ratios and a much looser organic Page limit
The LinkedIn video ad specifications list 16:9 up to 1920 × 1080, 1:1 up to 1920 × 1920, 4:5 up to 1080 × 1350 and 9:16 up to 1080 × 1920, as MP4 with H.264 or VP8 video, under 30 fps. Organic Page video (LinkedIn Help, "Video specifications for your LinkedIn Pages") allows 5 GB and 10 minutes at any ratio from 1:2.4 to 2.4:1, but MOV is no longer supported.
Safe zones compared across platforms
Only Meta and Pinterest print numeric safe-zone margins on the page. TikTok supplies its in-feed and TopView safe zones as downloadable .zip overlay templates on the spec pages linked above, with separate files for standard, anchor and right-to-left layouts, and the zone varies by ratio, caption length and anchor format.
Meta asks for roughly 14% of the top, 35% of the bottom and 6% on each side (12% of the width in total) to stay free of text and logos on Reels ads; Pinterest specifies 270 px top, 440 px bottom, 65 px left and 195 px right on a 1080 × 1920 Idea ad.
On a 1080 × 1920 frame Meta's figures are about 269 px top, 672 px bottom and 65 px per side. Check any frame in the safe zone checker before exporting.
TikTok publishes in-feed and TopView safe zones as downloadable templates, not on-page pixel margins
TikTok's in-feed and TopView spec pages ship safe-zone overlays as .zip template files, with standard, anchor and right-to-left variants, rather than printed margins. TikTok's own note says the covered zone depends on video dimension, caption length and ad format, which is why no single number is printed.
Third-party TikTok safe-zone guides quoting 350 to 378 px at the bottom, 64 to 120 px on the right and 120 to 200 px at the top are estimates of those templates, so treat each figure as approximate. Download the template that matches your format, or keep key text central, which survives every case.
Export settings that pass every uploader
Export H.264 video in an MP4 container with stereo AAC audio at a fixed frame rate, because that combination is named by TikTok, Meta, YouTube, LinkedIn, Pinterest and X, and MDN's web video codec guide records H.264-in-MP4 as playable in every major browser. YouTube's encoding page adds the specifics: moov atom at the front, no edit lists, source frame rate kept.
| Setting | Value that passes everywhere | Platform statements behind it |
|---|---|---|
| Video codec | H.264 (AVC), High Profile | Meta "H.264 compression"; YouTube "H.264 High Profile"; LinkedIn ads "H.264 or VP8"; Pinterest "H.264 or H.265" |
| Container | MP4, moov atom at front, no edit lists | YouTube encoding guide; Meta warns against files with edit lists or special boxes |
| Audio | Stereo AAC-LC, 48 kHz, 128 kbps or more | Meta "stereo AAC at 128 kbps+"; YouTube "AAC-LC or Opus, 48 kHz"; LinkedIn "AAC or MPEG4" |
| Frame rate | Fixed, matching the source (24, 25 or 30 fps) | Meta "fixed frame rate"; YouTube 24/25/30/48/50/60; LinkedIn ads "less than 30 fps"; LinkedIn Pages 10–60 fps |
| Video bitrate | 8–12 Mbps at 1080p | YouTube 8 Mbps SDR 1080p recommendation; TikTok floors 516 kbps (in-feed) and 2,500 kbps (TopView); LinkedIn Pages 192 kbps–30 Mbps |
| File size | Under 500 MB | TikTok and LinkedIn ads 500 MB; X 1 GB; Pinterest 2 GB; Meta 4 GB |
| Scan and pixels | Progressive, square pixels, 4:2:0 | Meta "square pixels, progressive scan"; YouTube "progressive, 4:2:0" |
Bitrate floors and ceilings the platforms actually state
Of the pages read for this sheet, only TikTok (516 and 2,500 kbps) and LinkedIn Pages (192 kbps) publish a minimum video bitrate, and only LinkedIn Pages publishes a maximum, at 30 Mbps. YouTube's 8 Mbps at 1080p is a recommendation, not a floor. To size a file to a cap before exporting, run the length and bitrate through the video bitrate calculator.
Generating spec-compliant social video in Playcut
Every text-to-video model in Playcut offers 9:16 and 16:9 in its ratio picker, so a social ad is generated at the placement's ratio rather than cropped from a landscape master. Veo 3.1 outputs 16:9 and 9:16 at 720p, 1080p or 4k in 4, 6 or 8-second clips, with 8 seconds required at 1080p and 4k. Pick the ratio in Playcut's AI video generator before prompting.
Which models render 9:16, 1:1, 16:9 and 4:5 natively
HappyHorse 1.1 is the one video model in the catalog that also outputs 4:5 (on text- and reference-to-video), alongside 16:9, 9:16, 3:4, 4:3, 5:4, 1:1, 9:21 and 21:9 at 720P or 1080P for 3–15 seconds, which makes it the pick for Facebook and LinkedIn feed placements. Seedance 2.0 renders 21:9, 16:9, 4:3, 1:1, 3:4 and 9:16 at 480p to 4k for 4–15 seconds.
The video providers specify a resolution tier, not per-ratio 9:16 pixels. The 720 × 1280 and 1080 × 1920 frames Playcut prepares for Veo 3.1 image-to-video are our own sizes, not Google-published output. Frame-size ladders for larger masters are on the 2.5K and 4K resolution sheet, and the full 9:16 ladder is on the 9:16 resolution sheet.
Matching model duration ranges to placement limits
Native clip lengths of 4–15 seconds sit inside TopView's 9–15 second, Pinterest's 6–15 second and X's 15-second recommendations, so a single generation is often the finished ad. For longer cuts, Veo 3.1's extension mode adds 7 seconds per call, up to 20 times, on 720p clips only. For a looping preview or a script draft, the free video to GIF converter and UGC ad script generator cover those steps.