Video Format Recommendations

Who can use this feature

Site Admin, Channel Admin, Live Event Operators

This article refers to video files that are uploaded as videos, pre-roll videos, trailers, and recorded videos used to replace a live video source.

See the topics below for the recommended recording settings, video input requirements, and video output formats.

Video Upload Format and Recommended Settings

Video that is uploaded to the platform will be reencoded by the platform to optimize it for playback on the web.

By using the following settings, you will reduce your upload time, maximize video quality and reduce the amount of your upload quota used (if you are on a plan with an upload quota).

Recommended Bitrate (based on video resolution)

  Less than 720p 720p 1080p
Recommended Video Bitrate 1.5 mbps 3.5 mbps 5 mbps
Recommended Audio Bitrate 128 kbps 128 kbps 128 kbps

Maximum File Size: 20GB

Minimum Bitrate: 600 kbps. Bitrates above 5 mbps, and resolutions above 1080p will not increase video quality for your viewers and will increase upload and processing time. 

Recommended Recording Settings

You may wish to record video at a higher quality to allow you to make edits to the video without compromising the quality of the video. A usual workflow will then involve exporting the edited video for upload to the web. You are free to use whatever video format you’d like for recording and editing as long as it can be converted to a supported upload format (see supported file types below).

Re-encoding your video

If you are editing your video at a higher bitrate and would like to re-encode your video before upload to match the recommended settings, we recommend using the encoder built into your video editor to export to the web. Alternatively you may use a tool like HandBrake.

  Recommended HandBrake Setting
Video / Video Codec H.264
Video / Framerate Same as source
Video / Quality

Avg Bitrate

- Less than 720p: 1500kbps

- 720p: 3500kbps

- 1080p: 5000kbps

- 2-pass encoding is not required and will double the length of time it takes to re-encode your video
Audio / Codec AAC
Audio / Bitrate 128kbps

Supported File Types:

  • avi
  • flv
  • mp4
  • mpg
  • mov
  • mpeg
  • m2ts
  • mkv
  • m4v
  • ts

Supported Video Codecs:

  • DIVX
  • DV
  • DV25
  • DV50
  • DVCPro
  • 50
  • H.263
  • H.264
  • IMX
  • 30
  • ProRes
  • Motion-JPEG
  • MPEG
  • HDV 1080i
  • MPEG V1, Layer 2
  • MPEG2 V2 (m2v1)
  • MPEG4 Part 2 (MPEG-4 Visual)
  • MPEG XDCAM HD422
  • VP6
  • Windows Media Video 9 (WMV3)

Supported Audio Codecs:

  • AAC
  • HE-AAC
  • mp3 (MPEG V1, Layer 3)
  • PCM
  • Windows Media Audio 2 (WMA2)
  • WMV (Pro)

Video Outputs

Video files are encoded into multiple streams to enable adaptive bitrate switching. Each stream is encoded with H.264 for video and AAC for audio. Each stream’s settings are made up of its video resolution, video bitrate, and audio bitrate.

The number of streams depends on several factors, including: 

  • The input video bitrate
  • The input video resolution
  • Your plan