Getting the technical specs right is what separates a video that looks native to Shorts and TikTok from one that looks obviously cropped or resized after the fact.

Resolution and aspect ratio

1080×1920 (9:16) is the standard vertical spec across YouTube Shorts, TikTok, and Instagram Reels. Anything shot horizontally needs to be cropped in - not letterboxed with black bars - to look native rather than repurposed.

Length

45-90 seconds is the sweet spot for a ranking video with 5-10 clips. Long enough to give each clip a few seconds of breathing room, short enough to sustain a full watch-through, which is one of the strongest ranking signals on every short-form platform.

Frame rate

30fps is standard and safe across all three platforms. Source clips recorded at other frame rates should be normalized during editing rather than left mismatched, which can cause subtle stutter when clips are stitched together.

Safe zones for text

Keep rank numbers, titles, and keywords away from the very top and bottom of the frame - that's where each platform's own UI elements (captions, like buttons, usernames) tend to sit and can cover your overlays.

File size and export settings

Export at a reasonably high bitrate rather than the smallest possible file size - all three platforms re-compress on upload, and starting from a low-quality source only compounds the loss.

What happens if you get it wrong

Letterboxed or off-ratio video reads instantly as low-effort or repurposed content to a scrolling viewer, and tends to get scrolled past faster regardless of how good the clips inside it are.

Specs handled automatically

Shortszilla renders every video at 1080×1920 by default, so you never have to think about cropping, letterboxing, or frame rate mismatches.

Export a properly formatted video →

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use a horizontal clip in a ranking video?

Yes, but it should be cropped to fill the vertical frame rather than shrunk with black bars on the sides, which reads as unpolished next to native vertical content.

Is there a minimum length that still counts as a "ranking video"?

Not strictly, but going much shorter than 45 seconds usually means too few clips to feel like a real countdown rather than just one or two highlights.