Stock Video File Size Calculator

What is the maximum video file size on each agency?

Adobe Stock: 3,900 MB. Its contributor portal’s web upload dialog takes "up to 3900MB for videos" (read 2026-10-01). Adobe does not say whether that means decimal or binary megabytes, and we have not measured whether SFTP shares the cap, so the calculator counts a file as fitting only strictly under 3,900,000,000 bytes. Getty Images: 6 GB, as read in its ESP batch editor (measured 2026-09-08).

Pond5 gives two figures for two routes. Its FTP server’s banner says "All files must be under 5GB. Larger files will not be processed." (read 2026-09-11). Its footage page sets 3 GB for HD and vertical clips, 5 GB for 4K to 6K and 6 GB for 8K (read 2026-10-28). The calculator applies 3 GB to frames narrower than 3840 pixels and to vertical frames, and 5 GB otherwise.

Shutterstock contradicts itself. Its technical requirements for video (updated 2025-12-17) say 10 GB; its article on the "Your file is too large." error (updated 2025-07-14) says 4 GB. We have not uploaded a file between the two, so a size in that range is shown as unsettled, not as a pass.

How is the size worked out?

Bitrate in megabits per second, times the length in seconds, divided by 8, in decimal units (1 GB = 1,000 MB), the stricter reading where an agency does not say. H.264 and HEVC have no fixed rate: it is whatever your export settings chose, so the calculator asks for it. The Video Metadata Reader shows the average bitrate of a clip you already have.

ProRes does have published rates. Apple’s ProRes white paper (April 2022) lists a target data rate for each flavor, frame size and frame rate, and says the real rate is usually close to it. The presets use those numbers for 1920×1080, 3840×2160 and 4096×2160. One example: a 60-second UHD clip in ProRes 422 HQ at 29.97 fps comes to about 6.63 GB, over Adobe’s, Pond5’s and Getty’s caps.

Why does a large upload take so long?

Upload time is the file size divided by your real upload speed. A 4 GB file needs 3,200 seconds, about 53 minutes, at a steady 10 Mb/s; if it takes over two hours, less than about 4.4 Mb/s is getting through. No agency publishes an upload speed, and we have not measured one, so the place to look is your own connection.

Quick tips

• Staying under 3.9 GB, Adobe’s web upload cap, keeps one file under every agency’s published cap at once, except Pond5’s 3 GB for HD and vertical clips.
• On Shutterstock, staying under 4 GB avoids the contradiction until its help says one thing.
• A long ProRes clip is the usual case for an oversized file: trim it, or deliver H.264 at a bitrate you choose.