Exporting · 6 min read
How to Export Video for YouTube, Instagram and TikTok
Recommended video formats, resolutions, and aspect ratios for every major platform, and how to export them from LuxOpus.
Why export settings matter
Every major video platform re-encodes video after upload. YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok all transcode your file into their own optimised format for delivery at various quality levels. This means the file you upload is an intermediate - it gets compressed again before viewers ever see it.
If your upload file is already heavily compressed or at a low bitrate, the platform's second-generation compression makes it noticeably worse: blocking artefacts, blurred motion, banded gradients. Starting with a high-quality, appropriately-sized file gives the platform's encoder the best material to work with. The platform still compresses it, but the degradation is far less visible.
Resolution, aspect ratio, and frame rate all affect how a platform treats your video. Each platform has its own recommended specifications, and deviating significantly from them - especially on aspect ratio - results in pillarboxing, letterboxing, or awkward cropping that makes your video look out of place in a feed.
YouTube: recommended specifications
YouTube is the most format-flexible of the major platforms. It accepts virtually any resolution from 240p to 8K, in both 16:9 (horizontal) and 9:16 (vertical/Shorts) orientations. The standard horizontal format - 1920×1080 at 30fps or 24fps - is the safe choice for long-form content.
YouTube Shorts uses the 9:16 vertical format (1080×1920) and videos must be 60 seconds or shorter. Shorts uploaded in 16:9 are displayed with black bars on the sides in the Shorts feed, which significantly reduces engagement. If you're creating content specifically for Shorts, set your project canvas to 1080×1920 from the start.
For bitrate, YouTube recommends uploading at 8–12 Mbps for 1080p. LuxOpus exports at 8 Mbps by default, which is at the lower end of this range but produces very good results. For fast-motion content like gaming footage, sports, or animation, a higher bitrate helps preserve detail. The H.264 codec (MP4 or MOV export from LuxOpus) and VP9 (WebM export) are both well-supported by YouTube.
Instagram: three formats for three placements
Instagram places video in three different contexts, each with its own ideal format. Feed posts - the main grid - supports 16:9 landscape, 1:1 square, and 4:5 portrait. Of these, 4:5 portrait (1080×1350) gives you the most screen space in the feed and tends to perform best on mobile, where most Instagram views happen.
Instagram Reels uses 9:16 vertical (1080×1920), identical to TikTok. Reels can be up to 90 seconds long as of 2024. Unlike YouTube Shorts, Reels uploaded in other aspect ratios are automatically cropped by Instagram, often cutting out important elements. Always edit Reels-specific content in 9:16 from the beginning.
Stories also use 9:16 (1080×1920) and disappear after 24 hours unless saved as Highlights. The top and bottom of the frame are partially obscured by the Stories UI, so keep important visual content in the central 60% of the vertical height. Max file size for Stories is 4 GB; max duration is 60 seconds per clip.
TikTok: vertical video and the algorithm
TikTok is almost entirely vertical. The 9:16 format (1080×1920) is the only appropriate choice for content you want to perform well in the For You feed. Videos uploaded in 16:9 are shown with black bars and appear physically smaller than native vertical content - TikTok's interface design makes them look like embeds rather than native posts.
TikTok supports videos from 3 seconds to 10 minutes. The sweet spot for most content is 15–60 seconds for discovery content and 3–5 minutes for detailed tutorials or storytelling. TikTok accepts MP4 and MOV files. H.264 is the best-supported codec. Keep your file under 500 MB - most videos at 1080×1920 at 8 Mbps are well under this limit.
TikTok applies heavy compression at high-motion areas, particularly on text. If you have on-screen captions, use a font size of at least 28–32 pixels equivalent and ensure strong contrast. Thin, light text at small sizes becomes illegible after platform compression.
Understanding codecs and containers
A codec is the algorithm that compresses and decompresses video data. H.264 (also called AVC) and VP9 are the two codecs LuxOpus can export. H.264 is the most universally compatible codec in existence - it plays on every device, every platform, and every browser made in the last fifteen years. VP9 is Google's open-source alternative, which produces smaller file sizes at equivalent quality but has slightly less universal support on older devices and non-Google software.
A container is the file format that wraps the video and audio data. MP4 uses H.264 video; WebM uses VP9 video; MOV can use H.264 video in an Apple QuickTime wrapper. The container determines the file extension (.mp4, .webm, .mov) but the codec determines the actual quality and compatibility. MP4 is the safest choice for sharing across platforms because every platform, operating system, and media player supports it.
For LuxOpus specifically: MP4 export requires Chrome or Edge because only Chromium-based browsers expose the H.264 MediaRecorder API. Firefox and Safari produce WebM export instead. If you are editing in Firefox and need an MP4 for upload, you can convert the exported WebM to MP4 using a tool like HandBrake (free, open-source) with no quality loss.
Exporting from LuxOpus
When your project is ready, click the Export button in the top toolbar. The export dialog offers three format options: WebM (VP9), MP4 (H.264), and MOV (H.264). Select the format that matches your target platform - MP4 for Instagram and TikTok, WebM or MP4 for YouTube.
There is no resolution or bitrate selector in LuxOpus - the export resolution matches your project canvas size, and the bitrate is fixed at 8 Mbps. If you need a specific resolution that differs from your project canvas, the cleanest approach is to open your video in a desktop tool for the final resize step. HandBrake can resize and re-encode a WebM or MP4 export in a few minutes.
Export plays back your entire project in real time while recording the canvas. Do not interact with the browser during export - switching tabs, scrolling, or resizing the window can interrupt the recording. Keep the browser window visible and in the foreground. For longer projects, consider starting the export and leaving the computer until it completes.
Checking your export before uploading
Before uploading to any platform, play the exported file through from start to finish in a separate media player or browser tab. Look for audio sync issues - these occasionally occur when export is interrupted and are immediately obvious. Check the first and last frames; black frames at the start or end are a sign that the export timing was slightly off.
Check on mobile if possible. A video that looks sharp on a 4K desktop monitor can look muddy on a phone screen, particularly if you're uploading compressed footage or have added heavy filter effects. Most social media platforms also display video on mobile, so the mobile view is often more important than the desktop view for judging quality.
Finally, check your audio levels. Export the file, download it, and play it at a comfortable listening volume. Is the dialogue clear? Is the music too loud? Audio problems that were subtle in the editor become obvious in an exported file played through phone speakers or earphones.