TikTok TopView ad specs: size, length, and safe zones

TopView is the video ad shown when someone opens TikTok. An uploaded TopView creative (Non-Spark Ads and Spark Ads Push) must be vertical 9:16 at 540 × 960 px or larger, 5 to 60 seconds long (9–15 recommended), 500 MB or less, and at least 2,500 kbps, as .mp4, .mov, .mpeg or .3gp. TopView creatives need pre-approval, and TikTok reviews submitted assets within 2 days.

TikTok's rules are quoted from its Business Help page TopView ad specifications ("Last updated: June 2026"), read on 2026-09-29. Sume facts come from the Video generation, Timeline 1.0 and Video inspect docs and the Sume API reference.

What are the TopView video specs?

These apply to Non-Spark Ads and Spark Ads Push. For Spark Ads Pull, which reuse an organic post, TikTok sets no duration limit beyond what the app lets you publish.

What creative rules does TopView add?

TopView plays in two stages: a 3-second full-screen open, then the same video in the feed with TikTok's buttons and caption over it. TikTok publishes separate safe-zone files for each stage as a zip on the page, and says the in-feed zone is more restrictive. Beyond that:

• No plain white in the first 3 seconds, and no logo or key message over the TikTok logo, skip button or swipe-up link in that open.
• Sound on: the video must not be completely silent, the audio can't be pure verbal broadcasting, and a promotional sentence can't repeat more than twice in a row.
• Still pictures can't be the main narrative. They're allowed only outside the first 3 seconds and for no more than half the video.
• No contact information such as QR codes, barcodes, phone numbers or addresses, except required disclaimers.

What has to happen before a TopView runs?

• Pre-approval: TikTok tells you to consult your sales representative.
• Assets can't be changed or replaced once preloading happens or the campaign goes live, so deliver final files.
• The same creative can't run in another placement, such as in-feed ads, on the same day, or the day before or after a 100% SOV TopView.
• TopView campaigns are limited to 20 ads per ad group.

How do I make a TopView video with Sume?

Generate the shots with POST /v1/videos at aspect_ratio: "9:16" on a model that lists it; each model advertises its own ratios and lengths. Then assemble them with a Timeline 1.0 render (POST /v1/timeline-1.0/render), which outputs 1080 × 1920 MP4 by default:

• audio.duration_seconds: 15, inside TikTok's 9–15 second recommendation. It sets the output length exactly.
• Put a voice-over on the audio spine and a music soundtrack under it, so the audio isn't pure speech. In current code the render keeps only the spine and the soundtrack; each clip's own sound is dropped.
• Use moving clips, not stills, in the first 3 seconds: a still in video[] is a static hold.
• Before you submit, check brand and text placement against TikTok's safe-zone files and its preview tool.

How do I check the file before I submit it?

Run POST /v1/video-inspect with frames: false on the render's video_url; the probe is unbilled. Today Timeline encodes at a constant quality with no bitrate target, so measure:

• size_bytes × 8 ÷ duration_seconds must reach 2,500 kbps. A 15-second file under about 4.7 MB falls short (our arithmetic, with 1 MB as 1,000,000 bytes); how to check a video's bitrate shows the math.
• width and height: 1080 and 1920. has_audio: true.
• For organic posting limits and in-feed specs, see TikTok video specs; for AI labels, Does TikTok allow AI-generated content?.