When posting videos to Instagram, particularly with IG reels, users need to be mindful of the platform's specific video requirements including format, size, and duration. Here at Vista Social, we prioritize a seamless experience for our users! With the help of our video processing tool, our platform automatically converts your video into a format compatible with Instagram, saving you valuable time.
However, there are some caveats to note:
- Vista Social will automatically update your video into the video format Instagram wants (mp4, AAC, 48khz audio, H264 progressive scan video, frame rate, bitrate)
- Vista Social will verify that your video is of the right duration and trim it if necessary (60 seconds for video feed posts, and 15 minutes for reels)
- We will check the overall width of your video and shrink it if necessary. Instagram only wants videos that are less than 1920 pixels in width and height.
- Vista Social will also verify aspect ratio (width and height of your video) to see if it 'fits' Instagram requirements. Specifically:
| Aspect ratio for landscape | 16:9 |
| Aspect ratio for portrait | 9:16 |
| Aspect ratio for square | 1:1 |
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Note: If your video falls outside of the required width and height, padding will occur. This padding is not ideal and we certainly recommend that videos are uploaded within the requirement dimensions but if they are not, we will still make it work. Below are some examples.👇🏽 |
Example 1: Trying to upload a really wide video as reel.
This video is too wide to be a reel because reels have to be 9:16 (0.5625 aspect ratio). The video was 1920 wide by 1080 high which is 1.777777777777778 aspect ratio (much bigger then allowed aspect ratio). Bigger aspect ratio means image is too wide. We have to make it taller. Note how the black padded areas appear on top and bottom when we make it taller. Without this padding, this video would have failed to post. By adding this, the video is published.
Example 2: Trying to upload a really tall video video as feed post.
In this example a really tall video (2160 with × 3840 height = 0.5625 aspect ratio) was uploaded. It falls well outsize of 4:5 (0.8) and 16:9 (1.777777777777778) required aspect ratio for Instagram feed post videos. We basically have to make it wide. Which we do. Note that it creates padded areas on both sides of the video.
Conclusion
While our goal is to have every video published to Instagram without errors, and while padding videos are a fairly accepted norm for most video publishing, it is still recommended that our users upload videos that either fit within the aspect ratio requirements (no padding) or are very close to it (minimal padding).
Videos that are far outside these requirements will still be published, but padded regions will be fairly large. Not a huge deal perhaps, for most users! 🙌🏻
Related Reading:
Ideal image sizes and formats for your posts
Attaching images, videos, and other media to your posts
Video specs and guidelines per social network
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