Squarespace background video blurry: 1080p and 3 Mbps
Squarespace advises 1080p and at least 3 Mbps for background videos. Sume sets size and fps on its renders but has no bitrate field. What to control.
Squarespace advises "1080p resolution and a bitrate of at least 3 Mbps" for background videos. With Sume you can set the resolution and frame rate of a render, but the docs list no bitrate or quality field, so check bitrate in your export tool before uploading.
Squarespace figures are from its two help pages; Sume figures from the Timeline and Video trim docs, read 2026-09-30.
What does Squarespace recommend?
| Topic | Squarespace says |
|---|---|
| Resolution | 1080p |
| Bitrate | At least 3 Mbps (its upload page lists 3 MBps for 1080p) |
| Frame rate | 60 fps, especially for slow motion |
| Aspect ratio | Horizontal or landscape, like 16:9 |
| Conversion | Uploads are converted to .mp4 |
What can Sume set?
Timeline 1.0 takes output.width and output.height as even integers from 256 to 2160, and output.fps of 24, 25, 30 or 60. Its default output is 1080x1920, so pass a landscape size such as 1920x1080 for a background. Video trim accepts the same size and fps conform.
Generated video on the legacy video route offers 720p (the default when omitted) and 1080p. Choose 1080p when the clip will fill a wide section.
Can I set the bitrate?
Not in the documented fields. Video trim refuses requests that send vf, filter, ffmpeg, cmd, codec, crf and similar, because the server compiles ffmpeg itself. Sume gives no bitrate guarantee, so if Squarespace's 3 Mbps matters, measure the delivered file.
Does the blur come from the fit mode?
It can. A portrait source rendered into a landscape frame is scaled or cropped, depending on fit; see Timeline fit modes. Render at the final size instead of letting the page rescale it.
Sources
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Written by Sume