Video export settings explained

The export window asks three questions — resolution, frame rate and quality — and the answers decide how sharp your video looks and how big the file is. Here's what each setting really does, and a cheat sheet for every major platform.

Updated 1 October 20269 min readBeginner

In short: 1080p, the same frame rate you filmed at, High quality — that's the right answer for almost everything. Go 4K only for YouTube with 4K footage; go 720p Standard for messaging apps and email.

Resolution

VDOAPP's resolution setting describes the shorter side of the video, whatever its shape. 1080p means 1920 × 1080 for landscape, 1080 × 1920 for vertical and 1080 × 1080 for square.

Setting16:9 sizeUse for
480p854 × 480Previews, very slow connections
720p1280 × 720Messaging apps, email, small screens
1080p1920 × 1080Almost everything — the standard
4K3840 × 2160YouTube, large screens, when you filmed in 4K

Exporting at a higher resolution than your source adds no detail — it only makes a bigger file. A 1080p phone clip exported at 4K is still a 1080p picture.

Frame rate

Frame rate is how many pictures per second the video shows. Match your footage:

  • 24 — the cinema look; slightly more motion blur.
  • 25 — the TV standard in Europe, much of Asia and Africa (PAL regions). Phones in those regions often record 25 fps.
  • 30 — the phone and web default in most places.
  • 60 — very smooth motion for sports, gaming and fast action; only worthwhile if you filmed at 60.

Converting between frame rates that don't divide evenly (such as 25 → 30) duplicates some frames, which can make pans look slightly stuttery. When in doubt, pick the rate your camera used.

Quality and bitrate

Quality sets the bitrate — how many bits per second the encoder may use to describe the picture. More bits mean fewer compression artefacts (blockiness in dark areas, smeared grass and water) and larger files. VDOAPP scales the bitrate with resolution and frame rate, so each quality level looks similar at any size.

  • Standard — good for sharing directly; smallest files.
  • High — the best default for uploads.
  • Maximum — for footage with lots of fine detail or movement (confetti, water, foliage), or when a platform will re-compress it heavily. Files are much larger.

Platforms re-encode everything you upload. Giving them a high-quality source means their compression starts from a cleaner picture, which is why High or Maximum usually looks better online even though the platform shrinks it.

Estimating file size

File size ≈ bitrate × duration. The export window shows an estimate before you start. As a rough guide, a minute of landscape 1080p at 30 fps and High quality (about 7 Mbit/s) is roughly 50 MB; 720p at Standard quality is around 15 MB a minute. If a file is too big to send, lower the resolution before lowering the quality — a clean 720p looks better than a blocky 1080p.

Settings by platform

DestinationCanvasResolutionFPSQuality
YouTube16:91080p (4K if filmed in 4K)Match footageHigh / Maximum
YouTube Shorts, TikTok, Reels9:161080p30High
Instagram feed4:5 or 1:11080p30High
X / LinkedIn16:9 or 1:11080p30High
WhatsApp, MessengerAny720p30Standard
Email attachmentAny720p or 480p30Standard

Platform limits change regularly; check the current upload limits of your destination for maximum length and file size.

Fast and real-time export

The export window tells you which method it will use. ⚡ Fast export renders every frame directly with the browser's video encoder — faster than real time, frame-perfect and always MP4. When that isn't possible (for example with a WebM clip, or a speed-changed clip with sound), VDOAPP exports in real time, playing the project once while recording it; keep the tab visible until it finishes. Details are in editing 4K in a browser.

Frequently asked questions

MP4 or WebM?

MP4 (H.264) plays everywhere and is what VDOAPP produces whenever the browser supports it. WebM appears only in real-time exports on browsers that can't record MP4.

Does the export have a watermark?

No. Nothing is added to your video.

Why does my video look worse after uploading?

Platforms compress uploads heavily, especially at lower resolutions. Export at 1080p with High quality or above; YouTube also applies better compression to 4K uploads.