Recommended Video Source Formats and Specifications

While Kaltura supports a wide range of video formats and codecs, there are some recommended specifications for creating source files. These will ensure that your source file is quickly transcoded to multiple flavors (renditions), while offering the optimal video and audio quality. 

The lists and tables below are designed to supply you with the recommended settings you should use when compressing a video project in software as Final Cut Pro, Avid, Compressor, Adobe Premiere and others.

Please note: this is a best practices document. Other settings are likely to work as well.

Recommended Video Settings

File

Recommended

Avoid

Compressed Source

H.264, ProRes

 

Container

MOV, MP4

 

Bitrate

x1.5-2 of the largest flavor

 

Frame Size

As big as the largest desired flavor

Don’t scale/zoom

Frame Size

Multiples of 16 (see below)

 

Frame Rate

Keep the original

Don’t re-sample

Some editing and transcoding software include various export profiles. We recommended exporting using the QuickTime MPEG-4 profile. In the options choose the following:

MP4/MOV Streaming - choose Fast-Start.
MP4 Video Compression - choose H.264 High profile.
Bitrate – based on video dimensions. See table below.
Progressive scan mode – avoid interlaced (Kaltura can handle interlaced as well, but it’s not recommended).
Multi passmulti-pass will provide better quality (although Kaltura can convert single-pass file as well). 
VBR vs. CBR - VBR (variable bitrate) usually provides better quality than CBR (constant bitrate).
Frame Rate – choose Current.

Frame Sizes with Recommended Bitrates

An ideal source bitrate is 6,000-8,000 Kbps, however for smaller dimensions you may use lower bitrates as shown in the table below (default Kaltura flavors dimensions appear in bold).

16:94:3Bitrate Range
1920x1080 (1080p) 6,000-8,000 Kbps
1280x720 (720p) 3,750-5,000 Kbps
1024x720 (iPad) 3,750-5,000 Kbps
960x540 (540p)  
720x405  
640x360640x4801,350-1,800 Kbps
560x315560x420 
480x270480x360600-800 Kbps
400x225400x300 
320x180320x240600-800 Kbps

Recommended Audio Settings

FileRecommendedAvoid
Compression

AAC, MP3

Nellymoser

Channels

Stereo, Mono

Surround, 7.1

Sample Size

44.1 kHz or lower

 

Sound Levels

Normalized

Peaks, low sound

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