So you've made your video, and now you need to get it ready for the web. Great! We do have a few specifications and guidelines we recommend following in order to obtain the best performance using our service.
Compress Your Video File
Once you've created your video, you should consider compressing it to reduce the file size as much as possible. This will make your upload and download speed of your video much faster. You can use any video editing software you prefer, but we recommend using Handbrake (it’s free and works across Windows, Mac, and Linux).
File Size Limit
We have a 2GB limit on the videos you upload, but that does not mean you need to upload a 2GB video. Most of the time you can get the same quality with a smaller video size! This will ultimately give your students a smoother experience as the smaller the video, the less data they are required to stream, which is great when connected to wifi or slower internet connections.
Supported File Types
You can upload files with the following extensions:
| mp4 | mjpeg | 3g2 | webm | qt | asf |
| mp2 | mjpg | 3gp | wm | rm | asx |
| mp3g | mkv | 3gpp | wmv | viv | avi |
| mpe | mov | 3gpp2 | wmx | vivo | dv |
| mpeg | movie | ogg | wvx | f4p | |
| mpg | m4v | ogv | f4v | ||
| mpg4 | ogx | flv |
That said, mp4 is the most popular and widely supported online video file type across all browsers, so we recommend exporting your video in this format.
Not sure which file type is best for you and your students? You can check out Can I Use to find out what file types are best supported by which browsers.
Recommend Video Specs
Video
Codec: h.264
Resolution: between 640px and 3840px wide
Bitrate: 5,000 - 10,000 kbps. The higher the bit rate the better the quality and the larger the file.
Aspect ratio: Landscape videos are best as portrait videos will not display nicely in most cases. We accept any resolution, though 16:9 works best for courses and landing pages.
Audio
Codec: AAC (Advanced Audio Codec)
Sample rate: 44.1kHz
Channels: 2-channel Stereo (not surround)
After you upload a video, it is encoded and multiple versions are created for different use cases and environments (such as mobile devices). These versions are also ready to stream on the web.
Videos uploaded to Thinkific are hosted with Wistia which uses video-type detection and encoding settings (what we call Smart Encoding) so that live-action videos look great, and longer videos that require fine detail (like webinars) will be as efficient a file-size as possible (for smooth playback).
1080p, or 1920px by 1080px is commonly used for videos on the web. The resolution available to your students will depend on the dimensions and bitrate of the video you upload.
Check out Wistia's recommended bitrate and required video dimensions to achieve the quality you are looking for:
| Quality | Dimensions in pixels (width x height) | Recommend Bitrate |
| 2160p (4K) | 3840 x 2160 | 11,250 kbps |
| 1080p | 1920 x 1080 | 5,625 kbps |
| 720p | 1280 x 720 | 3,750 kbps |
| 540p | 960 x 540 | 1,800 kbps |
| 360p | 640 x 360 | 1,200 kbps |
| 224p | 400 x 224 | 300 kbps |
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do my videos look a lower quality that originally uploaded?
We can support videos with resolutions up to 1080p (1920px by 1080px), so provided that the resolution of the original file uploaded was lower than that, you shouldn't see any degradation of quality upon upload to Thinkific.
That said, our video player does automatically select a quality setting based on the current speed of your internet connection - so if your video looks blurry or lower quality when you're previewing it, then that's most likely why.
To increase the quality, you can always right-click on the video player to switch to a higher resolution.
Why do screencasts I upload have a diminished quality?
Screencasts are detected and encoded differently than other types of videos. To ensure your screencast video quality is preserved, we recommend keeping your bitrate higher than 1200 kbps. You can learn more about how this works HERE.
If you don’t have control over this in your video editor, you can always run the file through Handbrake to set a higher bitrate.
Why doesn't my video show all resolution options in the video player?
If you don't see all available quality or resolution options available in Thinkific after uploading, check out: Why doesn't my video show all resolution options?