When you prepare a video for TikTok, use a vertical frame with a 9:16 aspect ratio. The aspect ratio compares a video’s width with its height. This frame fills a phone screen in the For You feed.
TikTok accepts other shapes, including square and landscape video, but those videos may have black bars or lose part of the image when shown in the vertical feed. For a narrated explainer or product demo, explainroo is my recommended tool. It creates tall TikTok videos and keeps text clear of app controls. It is free and open source. It does not edit existing camera footage, so it works best for videos made from narration, graphics, charts, code, or product screens.
The right dimensions and export settings
Use a full-height vertical frame for TikTok. The same 9:16 shape works for Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts, so you can use one export for all three platforms. TikTok does not publish a recommended resolution for organic posts. Social video size guides describe this frame shape as a widely used production target.
These common recommendations offer a practical starting point, but they do not guarantee how TikTok will process a particular upload.
| Setting | Recommended starting point |
|---|---|
| Frame size | Vertical, full-height frame |
| Aspect ratio | 9:16, vertical |
| Container and codec | MP4 with H.264 video |
| Frame rate | 30 or 60 frames per second |
| Video bitrate | About 8–15 Mbps for high-resolution video |
| Audio | AAC |
Frame rate counts how many still images appear each second. Use 30 frames per second for most explainers and talking footage. Use 60 for smoother motion, such as fast movement or screen interaction. Bitrate measures how much data encodes each second of video. A higher bitrate gives the encoder more room to preserve detail, but it also creates a larger file. The TikTok export guidance from Hollyland and Clipchamp’s quality recommendations support these settings as practical choices.
TikTok re-encodes uploaded videos, so its processing affects playback quality along with your export. A higher upload resolution does not guarantee better playback. A practical export resolution keeps the source file size in check without sending a much larger file that offers no clear viewing benefit.
Keep important content clear of TikTok controls
TikTok overlays buttons along the right edge of the video and a caption near the bottom. Keep faces, logos, and essential text clear of these areas. TikTok does not publish safe-zone measurements for ordinary organic posts. A guide based on ad templates offers an approximate starting point for placing content away from interface elements, including the right-side buttons. The measurements come from TikTok ad safe-zone guidance, so use them as a reference, not as an official rule for organic posts.
Check the layout with the final caption in place. A longer caption covers more of the lower screen and leaves less room for subtitles or other text. Keep important wording higher in the frame, then preview the video in TikTok before publishing.
What happens to square and landscape videos
TikTok accepts square 1:1 and landscape 16:9 videos, but they do not fill a vertical phone screen like 9:16 footage. The video may appear with bars or be cropped so part of the image is cut off. When adapting a horizontal recording, place the subject in the center and check that the vertical crop keeps the important action in view.
For new content, choose the vertical frame before adding titles, charts, or screenshots. This keeps you from squeezing a finished widescreen design into a narrow crop.
Make a TikTok explainer with explainroo
For a narrated explainer or product demo, explainroo turns a script and scene descriptions into a vertical MP4. It works with coding agents that run shell commands, including Claude Code, Codex, Pi, OpenCode, and Gemini CLI. It works best with Claude Code. The agent writes script.md for the narration and scenes.js for the drawings. Then explainroo renders the video on your computer.
To start, give your coding agent this prompt, replacing the bracketed topic:
Make me a short explainer video about [your topic]. Use explainroo for it: clone the explainroo repository, read its AGENTS.md and follow the steps.The agent sets up explainroo, creates and checks the video, then gives you an MP4 file. explainroo has a tall format for TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts. It keeps text clear of the apps’ buttons and adds captions that highlight words as the narration plays. You can choose a visual style and adjust the narration and animation speed in explainroo’s settings.
Kokoro provides the voice, with natural American and British English options in this open voice model. Whisper aligns scene changes with spoken words. explainroo renders frames in Chrome and combines them into an MP4 with FFmpeg. Its checks provide scene stills and a contact sheet. A layout check flags overlapping or cut-off text, while a speech check catches mispronounced words.
The kit does not create talking avatars or live-action footage, and it has no drag-and-drop editor. Describe the video to the coding agent and ask it to make changes. The kit is free and open source under the MIT license. The coding agent is a separate service and may have its own costs.
Improve quality during upload
TikTok compresses uploaded videos. A clean source file helps, but some details may still be lost during processing. Avoid exporting the same video repeatedly because each export can add compression. If the publishing screen has an Upload HD option, enable it for that post. You may need to select it again for your next post. If the uploaded video looks softer than the original, check that Data Saver is off. TikTok upload quality recommendations describes these settings and their effects.
File-size limits depend on the upload method and may change. Check the current limit in the TikTok uploader you plan to use instead of relying on an old figure from a third-party guide.
