YouTube
Render a 16:9 film for a YouTube upload, with the YouTube limits and the vawe commands.
At the end of this page you have a 1920 × 1080 mp4 that follows the YouTube encoding page for codec, container and audio. For a vertical film under 3 minutes, read YouTube Shorts.
The limits
The full table with sources is in Video specs by platform. The rows that matter here, read from the YouTube Help pages on 2026-10-31 and 2026-11-01:
- 16:9 is the standard aspect on a computer. A square or vertical upload of 3 minutes or less is a Short.
- A file is 256 GB or 12 hours, whichever is less. An unverified account uploads 15 minutes at most by default.
- YouTube asks for H.264, an MP4 container with the moov atom at the front, AAC-LC audio at 48 kHz, and BT.709 colour for SDR.
- At 1080p, YouTube lists 8 Mbps for 24 to 30 fps and 12 Mbps for 48 to 60 fps.
- YouTube does not state a loudness target on these pages.
Make the film
Start a 16:9 page
bin/vawe new my-video --request "a 45 second product intro" --aspect 16:9 --length 45The verb writes films/my-video/page.html with <meta name="aspect" content="16:9"> and <meta name="duration" content="45">. Change the duration in the page if the film grows.
Measure the sound
bin/vawe sound films/my-video/page.html --waveformThe verb prints the LUFS and the true peak of the mix. Without a <meta name="loudness">, the level is what the cues add up to. See Loudness and the mix.
Ship the final
bin/vawe ship films/my-video/page.html --aspect 16:9
bin/vawe ship --status --waitship needs a fresh critique and the owner approval first. See Ship. The master is out/my-video.mp4.
What the final contains
The final is 60 fps, H.264 High profile, yuv420p, with +faststart (the moov atom at the front). The audio is AAC at 48 kHz. These match the YouTube page for codec, container, sample rate and fast start. Upload out/my-video.mp4. Do not upload the .web.mp4 copy beside it.
YouTube asks to upload at the recording frame rate. A vawe final is always 60 fps, because ship has no fps flag. The 60 fps row is on the YouTube list (48 to 60 fps).
Limits
- Colour: the encode arguments in
harness/media/render-page.mjsset no colour tag, and no code inharness/media/names BT.709. The YouTube page recommends BT.709 for SDR. Check the colour of a final with your own tools before a colour-critical upload. - B-frames and GOP: the YouTube page lists 2 B-frames and a closed GOP. vawe passes only
-profile:v high -preset fast -crf 16 -x264-params aq-mode=3, so these settings are the x264 defaults. - Bitrate:
-crf 16is a quality target, soshipsets no bitrate.
Video specs by platform
Loudness and the mix
Aspect ratios
From the blogHTML video aspect ratio: 16:9, 9:16 and 1:1
Video specs by platform
Aspect, size, length, frame rate, file size and loudness for YouTube, Shorts, Reels, TikTok, LinkedIn and X, with the official page and the date read.
YouTube Shorts
Render a vertical film of up to 3 minutes for YouTube Shorts, with the limits, an estimated safe zone and the vawe commands.