Video and audio formats and transcoding

You can upload video and audio content in Ad Manager as a creative for either a line item or an advertiser. A variety of formats, resolutions, and bitrates are supported. Uploaded files are transcoded into additional formats and sizes. #videoandaudio #transcoding

Jump to a specific section: Ad Manager hosted | streaming | audio-only | transcoding

Supported upload media

Ad Manager supports uploading audio and video creatives of common media codecs and mime-types. This includes:

• MPEG4, 3GPP, and MOV files: These formats typically support H264, MPEG4 video codecs, and the AAC audio codec.
• AVI: This format is typically produced by cameras. The video codec is usually MJPEG and the audio codec is PCM.
• MPEGPS: This format typically supports the MPEG2 video codec and the MP2 audio codec.
• WMV, MP3: Common audio-only formats that usually contain AAC audio codec.

Ad Manager allows uploads of video and audio files up to 1.9 GB or 20 minutes.*

Ad Manager hosted formats

Ad Manager generates the following formats for video and audio creatives:

• MPEG4 and MOV files: These formats support H264 video codec, and the AAC audio codec.

Resolution and bitrate

MPEG-4

 

Resolution	Target video bitrate	Target audio bitrate
320 × 240	192 kbps	32 kbps
176 × 144	56 kbps	24 kbps

MP4/H.264/AAC

 

Resolution	Target video bitrate	Target audio bitrate
1920 × 1080	4000 kbps	128 kbps
1280 × 720	3000 kbps	128 kbps
1280 × 720	2000 kbps	128 kbps
854 × 480	1500 kbps	128 kbps
854 × 480	1000 kbps	128 kbps
640 × 360	400 kbps	96 kbps

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Streaming formats

Ad Manager supports the following streaming formats with varying bitrates and resolutions:

• HLS (HTTP Live Streaming)
• DASH (Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP)

Video creative profiles

If you use video creative profiles for streaming formats, it's recommended that you turn off bitrate and resolution filtering.

Resolution and bitrate

HLS/DASH

Resolution

For both HLS and DASH the variants will have a maximum resolution of 1920 × 1080, and a minimum of 320 × 180, in 5 second segments.

Bitrate

Range	Target video bitrate	Target audio bitrate
Maximum	7000 kbps	256 kbps
Minimum	120 kbps	48 kbps

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Audio-only formats

Ad Manager supports the following audio-only formats. The high, medium, and low target bitrates are shown:

• MP4/AAC: 320 kbps, 128 kbps, and 64 kbps
• MP3: 320 kbps, 128 kbps, and 64 kbps

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Transcoding

Ad Manager transcodes your video and audio files into as many as nine formats and sizes. This is dependent on the format and resolution of the files provided. 

Due to the nature of transcoding, the following may not necessarily be the same as the original:

• Video duration: The video duration after transcoding may not be the same as the video duration before transcoding. If you need to use an exact video duration, use the duration after transcoding. Video files with a duration shorter than 0.3 seconds are considered invalid and are not transcoded.
• Video output bitrate: This may be higher or lower than the uploaded asset. When the uploaded asset is less complex (for example, contains a lot of black), encoding the data may require a lower bitrate.

When transcoding is complete, you can remove individual transcoded files using the controls in the "Active" column in the Settings tab of the creative.

Video and audio transcoding errors

Video and audio transcoding in Ad Manager will fail for unsupported video or audio files, unsupported audio inputs, excessive file size, and bitrates that fall outside of the target minimum and maximum values shown for the individual formats listed above. Transcoding errors can be any of the following:

• The asset provided was invalid.
• Failed to process the video due to an unreachable server.
• The asset provided has an unsupported media type.
• No audio streams were provided.
• No video streams were provided.
• The audio channels provided were invalid.
• The length of the audio stream was invalid.
• The duration of the video is too long.
• An unexpected error was reached.

Should you receive a transcoding error in Ad Manager, ensure your video and audio files comply with the supported criteria and upload your content again.

Audio inputs and normalization in transcoding

For Ad Manager hosted creatives: mono, stereo, 5.1, and 7.1 audio inputs are supported.

During the transcode process, Ad Manager normalizes audio by setting a target loudness value of -24 LKFS. You can learn more about this normalization in the ATSC A/85 guidance from the Advanced Television Systems Committee.

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* Applies to advanced and basic Ad Manager 360 accounts. See video features for all publisher contracts.