Ceros will accept and convert most video formats to the MP4 format for playback. If the device or browser doesn’t support MP4, Ceros will automatically offer an alternative, without any additional work on your end.
Supported File Formats
For best quality playback, we recommend uploading an MP4 video whenever possible. This format is specifically designed for web-based playback, plus, Ceros converts all video files to that format anyway, so starting with MP4 ensures the highest quality playback possible.
If you don’t have an MP4 video, don’t worry. We also accept:
- H.263
- H.264
- MPEG
- Flash FLV
- AVI
- MPG
- MOV
- 3GP/3G2
- WMV
Sizing and Compression
Your video must be a minimum file size of 1 KB and a maximum file size of 1.5 GB.
Videos are typically the largest item to download in an experience— often taking up over 95% of your total asset file size. Because they’re downloaded as part of the experience, it’s extremely important to optimize for the highest quality at the smallest possible file size. Otherwise, your visitors may be tempted to exit the page instead of waiting for it to load.
Recommended Encoding Size
Encode your video at the size you intend it to be seen. If your video is 640 x 480 pixels on the canvas, encoding at 1920 x 1080 just makes it take longer to download.
Recommended Bitrate
The truth is there no all-inclusive correct bitrate. Every video should be addressed individually. The general rule of thumb is to use a lower bitrate for “slower” videos where there is not much motion and a higher bitrate for “faster” videos.
Think of a Rambo film vs. a talking heads interview. Rambo gets the higher bitrate every time. Audio works the same way. Use a higher bitrate for high-quality music and lower bitrate for narrative.
Adaptive Bitrate Streaming
On the player side, we use adaptive bitrate streaming which takes into account changing network quality and speed. Rather than downloading a full video file at a single quality level, the video is downloaded in smaller segments at various qualities. If the viewer’s network connection degrades, a lower resolution segment of the video will be played until network quality improves. This helps ensure videos load faster and are more flexible across varying network connections.