Video Export Settings for Web and Social, Step by Step

To choose video export settings, start from a high-quality master, then make a version for each destination. For most web and social uploads that means an MP4 file with H.264 video and AAC audio, at the frame rate you shot, in the BT.709 color space, at the bitrate the platform recommends. YouTube publishes exact upload guidance, and other platforms publish their own. This guide is part of our video production guide.

You'll need a finished, color-corrected edit and editing software or an encoder that lets you set each option yourself. Platform guidance below was checked on October 18, 2026.

The settings that matter

Every export dialog uses different labels, but the same handful of settings decide how the file looks, sounds and plays. The defaults below are a safe starting point for web and social uploads, not a rule for every destination.

Master files and upload files

It helps to think of two kinds of export. The master is the highest-quality copy of the finished edit. It's large, it's what you archive, and it's the source for everything else. Upload files, sometimes called delivery files, are made from the master for one destination each, at that destination's size, codec and bitrate.

Keeping the two apart protects quality. Every time a compressed file is compressed again, detail is lost, so a delivery file should never become the source for another. It also saves time: when a client asks for a new cutdown or a different platform, you start from the master instead of re-rendering the whole project.

Steps

1. 01
   Export a high-quality master first.

   Before making any upload files, export one master at full quality from the finished timeline, in the highest-quality format your software offers and the client has agreed. Name it clearly and store it with the project's exports. Then make every platform version from that master, one destination at a time, rather than from each other.

2. 02
   Choose the container and codec.

   For uploads, MP4 with H.264 video is the safest default. YouTube recommends exactly that combination, and the MDN web docs list H.264 as supported in every major browser. Other codecs, such as HEVC or AV1, can make smaller files, but support varies by platform and device. Use them only when you know the destination accepts them.

3. 03
   Keep the frame rate you shot.

   Export at the frame rate you recorded and edited. YouTube says content should be uploaded at the frame rate it was recorded, and it lists 24, 25, 30, 48, 50 and 60 frames per second as common. Converting between rates, such as 25 to 30, can cause stutter. If the source is interlaced, deinterlace it before export: YouTube's example turns 1080i60 into 1080p30.

4. 04
   Set resolution and aspect ratio for each placement.

   Export horizontal video at your edit's size, usually 1920 × 1080 or 3840 × 2160, for YouTube and website players. YouTube's standard aspect ratio on a computer is 16:9, and its player adapts to vertical or square uploads. Vertical placements need a vertical edit, reframed rather than squeezed. Our guide on how to film vertical video covers that.

5. 05
   Set the bitrate.

   Bitrate is how much data each second of video gets. Too little and the image breaks into blocks; too much and the file is needlessly large. YouTube recommends variable bitrate and publishes reference figures, such as 8 Mbps for 1080p at 24, 25 or 30 frames per second, and 12 Mbps at 48 to 60. Use the destination's own figures where they exist, and don't treat one platform's numbers as universal.

6. 06
   Tag the color space correctly.

   For standard dynamic range video, keep the timeline and export in Rec. 709, which YouTube calls BT.709 and recommends for SDR uploads. Make sure the export writes the color tags into the file. YouTube assumes BT.709 when the tags are missing and converts full-range video to limited range, so a mismatch can make blacks look gray or crushed. Our guide on how to color grade video covers grading in Rec. 709.

7. 07
   Set the audio.

   Use AAC audio, which YouTube lists as AAC-LC alongside Opus. Export stereo unless you mixed in surround and the platform supports it. YouTube's reference bitrate for stereo uploads is 384 kbps. Listen to the mix on headphones and a phone speaker before export, and keep the dialogue clear: many social viewers start with the sound low or off.

8. 08
   Prepare captions.

   Export captions as a separate file where the platform accepts one, so viewers can turn them on and off and search engines can read them. For your own website, the HTML video element takes captions as a WebVTT file. For feeds where most people watch silently, you may also burn captions into a separate version. Either way, captions should cover speech and meaningful sounds.

9. 09
   Check the file before and after upload.

   Play the exported file all the way through, on a laptop, a phone and a TV if you can. Check the start and end frames, audio sync, captions and color. Upload it, wait for the platform to finish processing, and watch the processed version too, because that's what viewers actually see. Keep the master and upload files in the project's exports folder.

If you'd rather receive every version ready to post, our in-house video production team edits, grades and delivers each project in the formats you need, with no handoffs.

Settings by destination

Each platform re-encodes what you upload, so the goal is to give it a clean source in a format it expects. Here is where each common destination's settings come from.

For video that plays from your own site rather than a platform, file size matters more, because your server and your visitors' connections carry the load. Our guide on how to compress video for websites covers that. To keep versions organized across a team, see our video editing workflow.

Troubleshooting

The upload looks washed out or too dark

Cause: the color space or range was tagged wrongly or not at all, so the player interprets the values differently from your editing software. A file graded for one range but flagged as another shows gray, lifted blacks or crushed shadows. Exporting from a timeline set to a different color space than the footage was graded in does the same.

Fix: set the timeline and export to Rec. 709 for standard dynamic range, and make sure the export includes color tags. YouTube assumes BT.709 when tags are missing, so leaving them blank isn't a disaster, but mismatched tags are. Compare the export with the timeline on the same screen. If only the uploaded version looks wrong, check the export's metadata before changing the grade.

Motion looks choppy or stutters

Cause: the export's frame rate doesn't match the footage or the timeline. Mixing 25 and 30 frames per second material, or converting during export, forces the software to drop or repeat frames, which shows as a regular stutter on pans and movement. Interlaced footage exported without deinterlacing shows jagged lines on anything that moves.

Fix: set the timeline to the frame rate most of the footage was shot at, conform any odd clips properly in the edit, and export at that same rate. Deinterlace interlaced sources before export, as YouTube recommends. If one clip still stutters, check its original frame rate; it may need retiming or replacing rather than a different export setting.

The platform's version looks blocky

Cause: the upload had too little bitrate for the content, or it was already heavily compressed before upload. Fine detail, grain, water, foliage and fast motion need more data than a static interview. Exporting from a compressed review file instead of the master stacks one round of compression on top of another.

Fix: export from the master, using the platform's recommended bitrate or a higher-quality setting, and upload at the full resolution you finished in. Avoid adding heavy grain or sharpening just before export, because both eat bitrate. Wait for the platform to finish processing before you judge, because higher-resolution versions often appear after the first, lower-quality pass.