Video ad codec table: H.264 everywhere, H.265 only on Pinterest

H.264 is the one codec that appears on the YouTube, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Meta Facebook Feed pages. Pinterest also lists H.265, and LinkedIn also lists VP8. If you export H.264 MP4 from your editor, all four pages accept it. Sume does not let you pick a codec; its trim model either re-encodes to H.264 or passes your source codec through.

What each vendor page lists

The values below are copied from each vendor page on 2026-10-08. Where a page lists extra conditions such as progressive scan or square pixels, they are kept in the cell.

What Sume does with the codec

Video trim has a precision setting. With exact, the default, the clip is cut frame-accurately and encoded as libx264 yuv420p, with kept audio remuxed as AAC. With keyframe, the video is stream-copied, so the codec of your source passes through and the cut can start up to one GOP early.

The API rejects codec, crf, ffmpeg, filter and cmd fields with ffmpeg_fields_rejected, so there is no way to ask for H.265 or a specific bitrate. The Timeline docs do not name a codec for timeline output, so this post makes no claim about it.

Which setting to use

For YouTube, LinkedIn and Meta, use exact and you are on the codec all three list. For Pinterest, both H.264 and H.265 are accepted, so either setting works if your source is one of them.

If your source is something else, such as ProRes, which LinkedIn's page says is not supported, run it through exact trim first with start 0 and the full duration, so the output is H.264. Duration runs 0.2 to 900 seconds on trim, so longer masters need the timeline instead.

A short cost note

Re-encoding a 30 second master once with exact trim costs $0.02. Doing it for four platforms from one master does not need four jobs, because H.264 MP4 is on all four lists: 1 x $0.02 = $0.02. A 6 second Pinterest cut from the same master is one more trim: $0.02 + $0.02 = $0.04 in total.

Quick checklist

Run through these items before you upload a file. Each takes one call or a glance at the vendor page, and each catches a rejection that would otherwise show up only after you submit the ad for review.

The checklist assumes a single master per ratio. If you keep separate cuts per platform, repeat it per cut, and remember that the vendor pages above were read on 2026-10-08 and can change without notice.

• Container: MP4 is on every list above; MOV is accepted on some.
• Codec: H.264 unless the platform names another.
• Length: compare your duration with the shortest limit on your plan.
• Audio: keep AAC; drop it only for silent placements.