Instagram just introduced IGTV, an all-new tool giving users the option to upload long-form vertical videos. IGTV is available within the standard Instagram app as well as its own standalone app for both iOS and Android. The good news? You can now upload videos easily via your desktop. Let’s take a closer look at the specifics.
Getting Set up
To upload a video you’ll first need to create an IGTV channel, which is quite easy. In fact, Instagram gives you three different ways to start your channel—via the Instagram app, the IGTV app, or on Instagram’s website. Simply follow the onscreen instructions to get everything finalized.
Just as with setting up your channel, you can upload videos via the mobile apps or directly on Instagram’s website. The web upload feature is particularly cool, as uploading videos via a desktop prior to IGTV was quite difficult. Now it’s as simple as going to your profile, clicking on the IGTV tab and selecting Upload.
IGTV has a handful of cool features, including custom thumbnail uploads, the ability to save drafts, share to Facebook, and view insights. The real selling point is the fact that users can now upload long-form videos, up to an hour in length. But again, these videos must be vertical. While this might rub some people the wrong way, Instagram argues that IGTV is built for “how you actually use your phone.” And according to them, that is fullscreen and vertical. Sorry, Glove and Boots.
What do you think? Will you go with the vertical flow? Either way, here are the tech specs for video uploads. If you'd rather not tinker with the settings, I have two IGTV export presets available for Adobe Premiere Pro users. For more information on Instagram's IGTV, go here.
Tech Specs
- Video Format
- MP4
- Length
- 15 seconds - 10 minutes for smaller accounts
- 15 seconds - 1 hour for larger accounts and verified accounts
- Aspect Ratio
- Vertical Videos Only
- Minimum aspect ratio - 4:5
- Maximum aspect ratio - 9:16
- File Size
- Maximum file size for videos less than 10 minutes - 650MB
- Maximum file size for videos up to 60 minutes - 5.4GB
