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Video requirements

• Content must be trimmed to only contain the program material. Non-program content like advertisements, bars and tone, test patterns, production slates, textless material, or ad/commercial blacks not due to creative intent and/or longer than 1-2 seconds must be removed before delivery.
• Letterboxing and pillarboxing don't need to be removed from video sources prior to delivery so long as they are free of burned in subtitles or ancillary data such as VITC timecode. Automated cropping during the transcode process ensures that final target encodes include the active picture only. Ensure that letterboxing and pillarboxing are symmetrical.
• Advertisements, Bugs, Logos, and Watermarks
  • No non-program advertisements. If an ad is part of the program, it may stay (i.e. sponsorships, product placement, parody, etc.)
  • No studio or network logos.
  • No callouts to external websites or other distribution platforms.
• Prime Video can accept video sources in either progressive or interlaced formats but will reject all telecined content. If your content is stored in a telecined format, we require it to be inverse-telecined to return it to native frame rate before delivery.
• The frame rate of the mezzanine file must be constant. Variable frame rate sources will be rejected.
• The file header metadata must accurately describe the following:
  • Scan Type: Progressive, Interlaced, or Adaptive(MBAFF) —Progressive or interlaced formats are accepted, but telecined content isn't. If your content is saved in telecined format, it must be inverse-telecined to return it to native frame rate before delivery.
  • Field Order (Bottom Field First or Top Field First) if video source is interlaced.
  • Display aspect ratio information in one of the following accepted formats: 4:3, 1.66:1, 16:9, 1.85:1, 2:1, 2.20:1, 2.35:1, 2.39:1, or 2.40:1. Note: Anamorphic content must have correct 4x3 or 16x9 display aspect ratio flags. 3:2 and 5:4 anamorphic storage formats will be rejected.
• If the display aspect ratio isn't flagged in the header of your mezzanines, you must supply this information in the Prime Video Simple Asset Manifest.
• VITC timecode and other ancillary data must be cropped prior to delivery.
• If saving video out of QuickTime Player, the display size in the View window must be saved to Normal Size before delivery to Prime Video. In the Movie Inspector window, Current Size must match Normal Size.
• Multi-Track Audio—Mezzanines delivered with Multi-Track Audio (MTA) packages (multiple languages for one piece of content) for the Global marketplace should be semi-textless, removing the embedded Forced Subtitles. For more information specifically for the Germany territory, see the territory requirements.
• Single-Track Audio—Mezzanines delivered with Single-Track Audio (STA) (one language only, however, there can still be stereo and 5.1 tracks contained in one source) to Classic marketplaces should contain the Forced Narrative of the audio language contained within the mezzanine.
• HDR sources must be delivered in the Open HDR Format, commonly referred to as HDR-10.
• All HDR deliveries must include a separate, standard dynamic range (SDR) source in the same resolution as the HDR source. Conformance and runtime of SDR and HDR sources must be identical.

Embedded audio requirements

• All audio tracks in a given source file must be in the same language. Multiple language tracks within a single source aren't allowed.
• Audio mixes must only contain program audio. Non-program and production audio like Music & Effects, MOS, silent, or commentary tracks must be removed.
• Audio duration and video duration must match exactly.
• All audio tracks in a given source file must be the same bit depth. For example, an 8-channel MPEG-2 TS which has a 24-bit surround sound track must have a 24-bit stereo track. A 24-bit track and a 16-bit track embedded in the same video will be rejected.
• Surround Sound Channel Layout: Prime Video requires the following audio channel mapping. Incorrectly mapped audio will be rejected.
  • 1-Channel Mono
  • 2-Channel Stereo: L-R or Dual-Mono
  • 6-Channel 5.1 Surround Sound: L-R-C-LFE-LS-RS
  • 8-Channel 5.1 Surround Sound+Stereo: L-R-C-LFE-LS-RS-Lstereo-Rstereo
• All audio tracks in .mov and .mp4 files must be enabled in the QuickTime Player Video Properties window. Content with disabled audio tracks will be rejected.

Content processing guidelines

Transcode of video assets shouldn't be necessary if sources meet the above guidelines. If transcoding is deemed necessary, Prime Video works with you during the technical asset review to determine the ideal output format. The tables below under Specifications are provided to convey Prime Video profile expectations for standard video formats. Any video processing must follow industry best practices for creating high-quality video mezzanines. Content with obvious artifacting or quality loss due to improper processing will be rejected.

Prime Video requires that source mezzanines have frame rates native to the title’s production. Content originally produced at 23.976fps, 24fps, or 25fps which was telecined to 29.97i should receive inverse-telecine and be delivered at native frame rates. Also, Prime Video won't accept sources that have been upscaled or upsampled.

Specifications

Unsupported video formats

Prime Video doesn't support the following file types and are rejected upon ingestion. Work with your Prime Video Partner Operations Manager to identify alternatives.

Video mezzanine validation and delivery

To minimize delivery of out-of-spec video assets, the following QC software services can be used for testing to perform automated QC on video mezzanines prior to delivery:

• Interra Baton from Interra Systems
• Aurora and Vidchecker from Telestream
• Pulsar from Venera Technologies

The following are common issues:

• Non-standard display aspect ratios
• Resolutions that don't meet the minimum requirements for SD, HD, or UHD delivery
• Too many audio channels
• Too few audio channels
• Mismatched video and audio durations
• Non-standard frame rates
• Long silent periods

Trailers

Prime Video supports trailers for movie content only. For episodic content, trailers can only be delivered as Value-added Material (Classic) or (Global). The following requirements apply:

• Trailers must be of the same video quality as the full source file delivery (e.g., a 4K UHD movie release should be accompanied by a 4K UHD trailer). For a 4K UHD release, Prime Video prefers 4K UHD SDR trailers. In the absence of a 4K UHD SDR trailer being available, Prime Video will accept an HD trailer file. We currently don't support 4K UHD HDR trailers.
• Trailers must be approved for all audiences. "Red Band" trailers and any trailers with nudity, graphic violence, or adult language aren't accepted.
• Trailers promoting a locally-dubbed version Single Language Audio version of a title must contain audio dialogue that matches that dubbed language. If both dubbed and OV versions of a title are available in a single territory, it is preferable to have multiple trailers to promote both versions. For Global MTA trailers submissions, provide the OV trailer only.
• Prime Video prefers to receive the final theatrical trailer, or most recent trailer if re-released to theaters. It's preferable that the source for the trailer to match the native aspect ratio of the movie.
• Foreign-language trailers destined for the US, UK, DE, and JP territories must have embedded timed text in the primary language of each of those territories.
• Trailers must not exceed six (6) minutes runtime.

Unless otherwise permitted by contract, all promotional material must be free and clear of any "call to action" (CTA) information. CTA refers to any auditory or visual references to any of the following:

• Theatrical release timeframes (e.g., "Theatrical Release Date," "Coming Soon," "This Summer").
• Distribution format or services (e.g., "Now on DVD & Blu-Ray," "Available on iTunes").
• Website/Social Media call outs (e.g., mymovie.com, @mymovie, facebook.com/mymovie)