In Summary Export an MP4 at the frame rate you shot, framed for where the video is going: 16:9 for YouTube, square or vertical for Shorts, 9:16 for Reels and TikTok, and 16:9, 1:1, 4:5 or 9:16 for LinkedIn. YouTube, Meta, LinkedIn and TikTok all take an MP4. Where they differ is frame rate, file size and caption files. Several of the numbers that guides argue about, such as a Reels video bitrate or a Shorts frame rate, are not on the platforms' own pages at all. The table below takes every value from the platform's own help or ads page, and says "Not published" where the page gives none.
The short answer
Make one H.264 MP4 at your recorded frame rate for YouTube. A LinkedIn post can use the same file only if it is at most 30 Mbps, at most 60 fps and 5 GB or less; otherwise make a separate LinkedIn export. Make a 9:16 version for Shorts, Reels and TikTok. Export an .srt caption file alongside both. Then check the limits before you upload: Shorts run up to three minutes, a LinkedIn post up to 15 minutes and 5 GB, and LinkedIn and TikTok video ads cap the file at 500 MB.
Ads and ordinary posts have different specs. LinkedIn publishes both, and they disagree on frame rate. Meta and TikTok publish ad specs we could open; their help pages for ordinary posts did not load for us, so the table uses the ad specs for those two and says so.
The spec table
Every cell links to the page it comes from. We opened each page on 10 November 2026. "Not published" means the page we opened gives no value. It does not mean there is no limit.
| Platform (page type) | Aspect ratio | Resolution | Frame rate | Codec and container | Max length or file size | Caption files |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| YouTube video (help pages) | 16:9 is standard on a computer; the player adapts to vertical and square videos (YouTube Help) | For 16:9: 1280×720, 1920×1080, 2560×1440, 3840×2160 or 7680×4320, down to 426×240 (YouTube Help) | The rate it was recorded at. Common rates: 24, 25, 30, 48, 50, 60 (encoding settings) | MP4, H.264 High Profile, progressive, 4:2:0; AAC-LC or Opus audio at 48 kHz. Reference bitrate for 1080p: 8 Mbps (24–30 fps), 12 Mbps (48–60 fps); "no bitrate limit is required" (encoding settings) | 256 GB or 12 hours, whichever is less; over 15 minutes needs a verified account (YouTube Help) | .srt, .sbv/.sub, .vtt, .ttml, .scc and others (YouTube Help) |
| YouTube Shorts (help pages) | Square or vertical (Upload Shorts) | Not published | Not published | Not published | Up to 3 minutes on standard channels, for videos uploaded on or after 15 October 2024 (three-minute Shorts). File size: not published | Not published |
| Instagram Reels ad (Meta Ads Guide) | 9:16 (Meta Ads Guide) | 1440×2560 recommended. Minimum width 250 px under 30 seconds, 500 px at 30 seconds or longer (Meta Ads Guide) | "Fixed frame rate"; no number given (Meta Ads Guide) | MP4 or MOV; H.264, square pixels, progressive; stereo AAC at 128 kbps or more. Video bitrate: not published (Meta Ads Guide) | 0 seconds to 15 minutes; 4 GB (Meta Ads Guide) | Captions "optional, but recommended"; file format not published (Meta Ads Guide) |
| LinkedIn post (LinkedIn Help) | 1:2.4 to 2.4:1 (LinkedIn Help) | 256×144 to 4096×2304 (LinkedIn Help) | 10 to 60 fps (LinkedIn Help) | MP4, MOV, AVI, WEBM, MKV, WMV and others; 192 Kbps to 30 Mbps. ProRes may upload but will not process (LinkedIn Help) | 15 minutes; 5 GB (LinkedIn Help) | Not published |
| LinkedIn video ad (Marketing Solutions Help) | 16:9, 1:1, 4:5 (recommended) or 9:16 (LinkedIn ad specs) | Recommended 1920×1080 (16:9), 720×900 (4:5), 720×1280 (9:16). Maximum 1920×1080, 1920×1920, 1080×1350 and 1080×1920 (LinkedIn ad specs) | "Less than 30 FPS" (LinkedIn ad specs) | MP4; H.264 or VP8; AAC or MPEG4 audio. Apple ProRes not supported (LinkedIn ad specs) | 3 seconds to 30 minutes (in-stream ads up to 90 seconds); 75 KB to 500 MB (LinkedIn ad specs) | SRT only, text only, no custom formatting (LinkedIn ad specs) |
| TikTok in-feed ad, non-Spark (TikTok Ads help) | 9:16 (recommended), 16:9 or 1:1 (TikTok Ads help) | At least 540×960 (9:16), 960×540 (16:9) or 640×640 (1:1) (TikTok Ads help) | Not published | .mp4, .mov, .mpeg, .3gp or .avi; bitrate at least 516 kbps. Codec: not published (TikTok Ads help) | Up to 10 minutes; 500 MB or less (TikTok Ads help) | Not published. The page's "ad captions" are the ad's text line, not a subtitle file |
Two rows are missing on purpose. Instagram's Help Center and TikTok's support site did not load for us without a full browser, so we have no official values for an ordinary Reel or an ordinary TikTok post. We count those as not published and did not fill them from other guides.
What the table settles
Reels bitrate. Meta's Reels ad spec gives an audio bitrate (stereo AAC at 128 kbps or more) and no video bitrate. If a guide quotes a Reels video bitrate, it did not come from that page.
Shorts frame rate. YouTube's Shorts pages say nothing about frame rate. YouTube's general encoding page says to upload "in the same frame rate it was recorded" and does not treat Shorts separately. That page opens with a note that it is written for partners who use YouTube Studio Content Manager, but its frame rate advice is not specific to them.
LinkedIn frame rate. The two LinkedIn pages disagree. A post accepts 10 to 60 fps. A video ad must be "less than 30 FPS". That rules out a 60 fps file for an ad. The page does not say whether exactly 30 fps passes, so if a video will run as an ad, export the ad version at a rate below 30, such as 25 or 24 fps.
YouTube bitrate. The 8 Mbps figure for 1080p is a reference, not a cap. YouTube says no bitrate limit is required, so a higher bitrate is fine.
From the table to your export presets
You need two masters, not five.
- Landscape master. 16:9 H.264 MP4 at your recorded frame rate, 1920×1080 or 3840×2160, AAC audio at 48 kHz. This goes to YouTube as it is. A LinkedIn post takes the same file only if it is at most 30 Mbps, at most 60 fps and 5 GB or less. A 4K master at YouTube's reference bitrate (35–45 Mbps, or 53–68 Mbps at 48–60 fps) is over LinkedIn's 30 Mbps, so make a separate LinkedIn export at a lower bitrate or at 1920×1080. For a LinkedIn ad, make a copy at 1920×1080 or below and under 30 fps.
- Vertical master. 9:16 H.264 MP4 at 1080×1920. That size is inside every vertical spec above: above TikTok's 540×960 minimum, within LinkedIn's 1080×1920 ad maximum, and well above Meta's minimum width. Meta recommends 1440×2560 for Reels ads, so export at that size if your footage holds up.
- Caption file. Export an .srt of the same cut. YouTube accepts it, and LinkedIn ads accept only SRT.
- Check length and size last. Up to 3 minutes for Shorts, 15 minutes and 5 GB for a LinkedIn post, 10 minutes and 500 MB for a TikTok in-feed ad, 500 MB for a LinkedIn ad.
The exact menu steps are in our editor answers:
- Premiere Pro: export for YouTube, export for Instagram Reels and TikTok, make a vertical video, export an SRT and reduce the file size.
- DaVinci Resolve: export for YouTube, export for Reels and TikTok, make a vertical video and export an SRT.
Those answers use each editor's own preset names. Whatever preset you start from, check the frame rate and resolution against the row above before you render.
Where Eddie fits
Eddie renders a finished edit to an MP4 in the cloud, in 1080p or 4K (4K needs a picture that reaches true 4K, such as 4K footage). Under MP4 · 1080p in the export options you can tick Limit file size to and type a limit in MB, which helps with the 500 MB ad caps. Eddie lowers the picture's bitrate evenly across the whole edit so the file lands under the limit; the sound is not reduced. See rendering a finished MP4.
For the vertical master, Eddie can turn a horizontal shoot into a vertical or square cut, cropping each clip to keep the subject in frame, and you can adjust any shot's crop by hand on the timeline. The crop bakes into MP4 renders. A tight vertical crop from a 1080p source has to be enlarged to fill 1080×1920, which can look soft, so judge sharpness on an exported MP4, not the preview. See crop and reframe for social and social clips. Footage shot sideways can be rotated a quarter turn; that shows in video renders and in Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve project files, but FCPXML and Premiere XML do not carry it yet.
For captions, Eddie adds a caption track from the transcript's word timings, with filler words left out by default. Captions burn into the MP4, and an edit with captions has free Captions (.srt) and Captions (.vtt) downloads under Export ▸ All export options… ▸ Video file. See captions and subtitles.
If you want to set the codec, bitrate and frame rate yourself, export the edit as a timeline instead: Eddie exports to Final Cut Pro, DaVinci Resolve, a native Premiere Pro project, Premiere XML or OpenTimelineIO. Then render from your editor with the settings above. See the Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve workflows.
FAQ
What frame rate should I export for YouTube Shorts?
The rate you shot at. YouTube's Shorts pages give no frame rate, and its encoding page says to upload in the same frame rate the video was recorded, listing 24, 25, 30, 48, 50 and 60 as common rates.
What bitrate should I use for Instagram Reels?
Meta does not publish one for Reels ads. Its spec asks for H.264, a fixed frame rate, progressive scan and stereo AAC audio at 128 kbps or more, at a recommended 1440×2560. Use a high-quality H.264 export and stay under the 4 GB limit.
Can I upload a 60 fps video to LinkedIn?
As a post, yes: LinkedIn Help lists 10 to 60 fps. As a video ad, no: LinkedIn's ad spec says less than 30 fps.
Which caption file works everywhere?
SRT is the safe choice for the platforms that publish a format. YouTube accepts .srt along with .vtt, .sbv and others, and LinkedIn video ads accept only SRT, text only. Meta's Reels ad spec and TikTok's in-feed ad spec name no caption file format.
Is 1080×1920 enough for vertical video?
It meets every vertical spec in the table, and it is the maximum for a 9:16 LinkedIn ad. Meta recommends 1440×2560 for Reels ads, so go higher there if your source allows it.
How long can a YouTube Short be?
Up to three minutes, for square or vertical videos uploaded on or after 15 October 2024 on standard channels.
Sources
All checked 10 November 2026.
- YouTube Help, YouTube recommended upload encoding settings (container, codecs, frame rate, bitrates)
- YouTube Help, Video resolution & aspect ratios (16:9 standard, resolutions)
- YouTube Help, Upload videos longer than 15 minutes (256 GB or 12 hours)
- YouTube Help, Supported subtitle and closed caption files
- YouTube Help, Upload YouTube Shorts and Understand three-minute YouTube Shorts
- Meta Ads Guide, Video ad specs on Instagram Reels
- LinkedIn Help, Video sharing troubleshooting (post specs)
- LinkedIn Marketing Solutions Help, Video ads advertising specifications
- TikTok Business Help Center, TikTok Auction In-Feed Ads
Have the edit already? Start a project for free and export the vertical cut and its captions from one place.
