To help our contributors ensure that their submissions meet our technical requirements, Shutterstock checks for some common issues right at the point of upload. If your video doesn’t meet these technical specifications, a message will pop up informing you as to why we weren’t able to process your uploaded content.
Codecs
If you receive an error message stating that your codec is not supported, that means your video is not in one of our supported codecs listed below:
PhotoJPEG - Non-DV progressive scanned video. Use the 75% / high quality level.
Apple ProRes 422 / 422 HQ / 4444 /422 LT –
H.264* - If encoding to this format use the “best” quality.
PNG - Only use for footage (animation) requiring an alpha channel.
MPEG-4 Visual
Portable Network Graphics (PNG)
Apple Animation (RLE)
* We also accept the H.265 codec however, do not recommend it at this time due to a known HDR compatibility issue.
It is always best to create content in the right codec from the start. Though converting your content to a codec Shutterstock accepts is possible, it may reduce the quality of the video. If you need to transcode your video to a codec we accept, you can try a free program called HandBrake.
File Extension
If we prompt you to save your video as .mov or .mp4, you’ll need to convert the format. A free program called MPEG Streamclip is available to convert all files to QuickTime .mov format.
Aspect Ratio
If you receive the automatic error that your video’s aspect ratio, the ratio of your video’s width to its height, is less than the required minimum of .5, you’ll need to shoot in a wider view. You can learn more here.
Video Dimensions
Finally, if you receive the error that “Your video’s height is less than the required minimum 480 pixels,” you’ll need to upload in a higher resolution. We prefer HD (1920x1080) and 4K (4096x2160) footage, but your video must at least be 480 pixels high, which corresponds to SD.