Video Standards

Emory Photo Video supports university strategic priorities with high-quality video production. Please use the following resource guides to help produce videos to support your schools, units, and departments.

Video Production Guidelines and Specs

  • All people in a video should sign an On-Camera Media Release before beginning the shoot.
  • Video should be well lit in order to see the features of the subjects in the video.
  • All shots should be clearly focused and well framed. Close-ups should focus attention, not distract the viewer.
  • Video should be stable, not shaky. A tripod should be used whenever possible to reduce "camera shake." If tripod use is not possible, camera shake should be very minimal.
  • All titles or other text added to the video must be proofread for accuracy and proper grammar. Misspellings, typos, and poor usage are unacceptable and will require recreating the necessary section of the video.
  • All titles should follow the Emory Brand Guide using correct fonts, colors, and AP style.
  • Any additional graphics or animations should be professional, appropriate, and necessary for the message of the video. Graphics and animations must be clean, clear, undistorted, and fit on the screen.
  • All fade in/fade outs, effects, etc. should add to the message of the video and must be smooth, not abrupt or choppy.
  • All dead air should be edited out, so the video is seamless from beginning to end.
  • For videos showcasing speakers, panels, and events make a version of the video specifically for online use. For example trim down or cut out extended introductions. An online audience wants to see the main attraction. If needed, include speaker bios in the written YouTube description.
  • Include on-screen captions to adhere to accessibility guidelines.
  • All audio should be consistently audible throughout the length of the project.
  • All audio files should be clearly understood through the length of the project.
  • All audio files should be free of background noise, breaks, skips, hissing, etc.
  • If there is more than one speaker, neither speaker should be noticeably louder than the other.
  • Intentional background audio should be well-balanced with the primary audio.

 

End of Video Animation Required

All videos must have the Emory video exit graphics at the end of each video. No intro graphic is required. 

Emory Video Copyright Tag

Emory login may be required. All video credits should be made to departments who shot/produced the video if desired. If one chooses to have video credits, make sure all credits to departments, divisions, and/or persons are centered and orderly on the screen in an approved font from the brand guide at the end of the video.

Email questions about video guidelines to Corey.Broman-Fulks@emory.edu.

Video Technical Standards and Specifications

For videos to be uploaded to YouTube and other platforms:

  • Video Format: Preferred file type to upload is MPEG (.mp4)
  • Aspect Ratio: Native aspect ratio without letterboxing (example: 16:9)
  • Resolution: High-Definition 1920x1080, or higher.
  • Audio Format: .wav preferred
  • Frames per second: Native frame rate
  • Aspect Ratio: The aspect ratio of the original source video should always be maintained when it's uploaded. Uploaded videos should never include letterboxing or pillarboxing bars.
  • Testing: Since there is no ability to re-upload videos, it's important to test that your audio and video quality are satisfactory before you release your video publicly onto YouTube. Once a video becomes popular, the number of views, user ratings, user comments and other community data, cannot be transferred if another, higher quality version of the same video is uploaded. Make sure you get it right before you go public.

Original Video Source: The less a video is re-encoded prior to uploading, the better the resulting YouTube video quality. We encourage you to upload your videos as close to the original source format as possible.