5 golden rules to upload best quality videos on Instagram

Instagram is one of the fastest-growing networks in the world. The platform’s content displaying quality is superior to any other platform. With the ban on Tik-Tok in India and the simultaneous introduction of Reels feature on Instagram. This feature allows users to make 15 to 30-second snippets and upload. Such snippets are mostly for entertainment and may not be very highly scripted. But one thing is for sure either you upload a Reel or IGTV video, people are more likely to follow your content if the video quality is good. Today we are about to discuss some great ways to upload the best quality videos on Instagram.

Lack of experience in capturing and editing can cause poor quality uploads. You try to use the editing features of Instagram only which allows very little flexibility. Influencers, vloggers, and businesses must know how to upload as content quality in today’s time to reciprocate the brand quality.

Best Audio and Video Formats for Instagram

The most preferred format for uploading any video on Instagram is Mpeg-4 or MP4. It gives the best resolution quality to your video than any other format. It also reduces failures in aspect ratio.

When we speak about audio formats, people generally go for MP3. But we suggest an AAC format. You must browse specific audio files with this extension.

Best Aspect ratios for Instagram

Aspect ratios are not file sizes but the dimensional ratios of any video. Like your movies are adjusted to 16:9 ratio which is horizontal, Instagram mostly favors 9:16 which is the vertical way of presentation.

Video dimensions must be 864 pixels in width and 1080 pixels in length to create. This maintains a roughly 4:5 aspect ratio. The stellar quality of video in horizontal ratios might be good on Facebook or youtube, but since Instagram users prefer mobile devices, vertical ratios work best.

IGTV now allows 1080x1920 format, but to post the same on a story might need a rotation of the camera. Filming from a pro camera like DSLR’s and capturing 4K videos, you should crop it to a 9:16 ratio. This can be done with little to no decrease in quality.

For the feed-post on Instagram, we recommend a ratio of 1.91:1 to 1:1 i.e. square to horizontal. So, for landscape it becomes 1.91:1 (1080x608), for square it will be usual 1080x1080 and for portrait, it will be 1080x1350. These will give you the best results.

These tricks help if you understand a simple fact that 9 out of 10 Instagram users do not prefer to turn their phones to watch any content. You must edit smartly. Also, note that IGTV live videos are automatically cropped to 4:5 aspect ratio for your feed.

Best Video lengths for Instagram

The video lengths vary upon where you want to place it for your viewers. It is different for feeds, reels, stories, IGTV, and live. Below is the list of limits for each of them:

· Feed – 3 seconds to 1 minute long.

· Reels – 10 sec to 30 sec.

· IGTV - Between 15 sec to 60 minutes.

· Stories - Between 15 sec to 10 minutes.

· Live - Up to 60 minutes.

Files sizes of more than 3.6 GB are cannot be uploaded. We suggest if your video is not fulfilling the minimum size criteria, you can always loop it.

New features are always introduced on Facebook or Instagram so must be updated all the time.

Quality uploading measures for Instagram:

We can tell you how to export from software like Adobe Premier or Final Cut, but this is not necessary as you can learn it from anywhere. You must know a more important fact here that Instagram compresses videos to 640x360 resolution and 3 Mbps as soon as you upload from your mobile device. This is poor quality if you truly understand. So you need to combat it through a few tricks:

1. Upload from a high-speed wifi connection.

2. Try to upload from a computer device via the Instagram website rather than your phone.

3. Know that IGTV provides the best quality and aspect ratio. So you might make it a preferred home to all your videos.

4. While uploading on IGTV, check the ‘post a preview’ tab to make sure it’s 10-second snippet shows on your feed as well.

5. Post video cover with a 4:5 aspect ratio. Upload it while uploading the video itself.

This way you make sure that the best quality content reaches your audience.

Summary

· Record your video in the appropriate aspect ratio and resolution depending on your desired IG output (Feed, Stories, Live, or IGTV)

· Export file type MP4 or H.264 codec

· Format to AAC audio

· Export at 3500 kbps bitrate

· Use a frame rate of 30 fps (frames per second)

· In your export, pay attention to aspect ratio for each format — Feed, Stories, Live, or IGTV

· Use an Instagram video aspect ratio of 9:16 for Stories and IGTV videos

· Format videos to at least 1080 pixels wide

· Note the video length differences for each format, from 3 seconds to 60 minutes

· Upload from the Instagram browser rather than the app

· Use a strong WIFI connection

Your users must get the best experience and you must follow all these above steps to get ahead in the game.

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