14 DAY TRIAL // Twitter Video will support “mp4” and “mov” formats typical to smartphones with an aspect ratio of 16:9, according to leaked documentation unearthed by a developer. The videos will be up to 10 minutes long.
Either by accident or intentionally, Twitter has made public a FAQ document describing the nuts and bolts of its upcoming Video service that will give YouTube and Vimeo a run for their money.
Leaked or just released?
Originally discovered by San Francisco resident Daniel Raffel, who is currently building snapguide.com, the Twitter Video FAQ specifically states that the service supports MP4 and MOV formats, and that videos should be encoded using the h.264 standard with a 16:9 aspect ratio and the AAC (Low Complexity) audio codec.
Users are told to ensure that their clip is no longer than 10 minutes and the video bitrate is as high as possible (at least 5000k bits), while the audio bitrate needs to be 128k.
“At this time we do not have a file size limit when uploading. As such, we are encouraging partners to use the highest resolution source video, to create the most optimal user experience. However, keep in mind that the larger the source file, the longer it will take to upload and process,” reads the FAQ.
How to use the service
To upload a clip, users need to select the ‘Upload’ button on the Dashboard tab of the Video Publisher tool. While there are no editing options just yet, the FAQ seems to indicate that Twitter is considering adding some in the future.
The title and description can be edited on the Compose Tweet page, and you can’t use YouTube videos. Your Twitter Videos must be uploaded and hosted by Twitter. No advertising is allowed either, but you will get some analytics, including video starts, and quartile completion rates (25%, 50%, 75%, 100%).
To delete videos, click the X at the top right of the video within your home Dashboard. To take down a video after it has been Tweeted, delete the Tweet from Twitter. Finally, Twitter offers a form for customers looking to report copyright infringement.
