Deliverables
Ad campaign deliverables: every film, cutdown and still, by channel
For the brand or marketing manager writing the deliverables list into a brief, who needs to know what each channel asks for before a studio quotes.
The short answer
A campaign's deliverables list names every file the campaign needs: the hero film and each cutdown, in every aspect ratio and length the channels accept, the stills for feeds, stores, display and billboards, and the extras (captions, textless versions, audio stems, thumbnails). Write it before production starts. In AI production an extra ratio or length can mean new generations rather than a crop, so the list sets both the plan and the price.
Video
Video deliverables, channel by channel
| Channel | Ratio and size | Length |
|---|---|---|
| YouTube skippable in-stream | 16:9 at 1920 x 1080 recommended; 9:16 and 1:1 accepted | No maximum; under 3 minutes recommended; skippable after 5 seconds |
| YouTube bumper | 16:9 | Up to 6 seconds, not skippable |
| YouTube non-skippable | 16:9 | 15 to 60 seconds, depending on the campaign type |
| YouTube TV (connected TV) | 16:9 | 6, 15, 30 or 60 seconds, within one second of the length |
| Prime Video | 16:9, at least 1920 x 1080 | 15, 30, 45 or 60 seconds |
| Instagram and Facebook Reels, Stories | 9:16 at 1440 x 2560; keep 14% top, 35% bottom, 6% sides clear | Up to 15 minutes on Instagram Reels |
| Facebook Feed | 4:5 at 1440 x 1800 | Up to 241 minutes |
| TikTok In-Feed | 9:16 recommended, at least 540 x 960 | Up to 10 minutes for auction ads |
For broadcast, sound is a deliverable too. In the US the CALM Act directed the FCC to make the ATSC A/85 loudness practice mandatory for TV stations and pay-TV distributors, and in Europe broadcasters work to EBU R 128, which targets -23 LUFS. Ask for a broadcast mix measured to the standard of the country where the ad airs.
Stills
Stills deliverables, channel by channel
| Placement | Size | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Meta Feed image | 4:5 at 1440 x 1800 | The same frame as the 4:5 video, so the campaign reads as one |
| Meta Stories and Reels image | 9:16 at 1440 x 2560 | Same safe zone as the video |
| Google Demand Gen and Performance Max | 1200 x 628, 1200 x 1200 and 960 x 1200; JPG or PNG up to 5 MB | Keep key content in the center 80%; include one image per ratio without text |
| Store and marketplace | Set by each marketplace | Main images usually on a plain white background; check each rulebook |
| Digital billboards | Set per screen by the media owner | Lamar rotates ads every 6 to 8 seconds; about seven words or fewer |
| Key visual | A large master, wide and tall | The frame the site hero, press and out-of-home crop from |
The extras
The deliverables people forget
- Captions, as a sidecar file and burned in, for everyone who watches with the sound off.
- A textless version of every film, so a new price, offer or language needs only a new title pass.
- Audio stems: voice, music and effects as separate files.
- End cards with and without the price, legal line or URL.
- Thumbnails and cover frames for YouTube, Reels and TikTok, chosen by you rather than left to the platform.
- Clean stills: every photo with type on it, also delivered without.
- Licenses in writing: music, voice and any real likeness, with territories and dates.
- AI disclosure settings for each platform. See AI video quality control.
Template
How to write the deliverables list
One row per file. A made-up launch, as an example:
| ID | Asset | Channel | Ratio and size | Length | Text |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F01 | Hero film | YouTube, connected TV | 16:9, 1920 x 1080 | 30 s | Supers on; textless too |
| F02 | Cutdown | YouTube bumper | 16:9, 1920 x 1080 | 6 s | End card only |
| F03 | Vertical cut | Reels, TikTok, Shorts | 9:16, 1440 x 2560 | 15 s | Captions burned in |
| F04 | Feed cut | Facebook Feed | 4:5, 1440 x 1800 | 15 s | Captions burned in |
| S01 | Key visual | Site hero, press, billboard | Wide and tall masters | Still | Clean and with headline |
| S02 to S07 | Feed stills | Meta, Google Demand Gen | 4:5, 1:1, 1.91:1 | Still | Three with text, three without |
| S08 to S12 | Store photos | Product page, marketplaces | Square masters | Still | None |
Each row gets priced. A version made for its own frame costs more than a crop and looks better, and that choice belongs in the quote, before anyone starts the edit. How each row turns into a budget line is in the commercial production budget template.
Why it matters
Why the list matters more in AI production
On a shoot, a vertical version can be framed on the day, with a second camera or a second setup. In AI production it is often a new generation of every shot with a face or the product in it, because a 9:16 crop from a 16:9 frame keeps under a third of its width. Type is set in the edit rather than in the generated frames, so a textless master costs little if it is asked for at the start and a lot if it is asked for after the grade.
Every frame Ruminate X delivers is made with generative AI. There are no film crews, sets or location shoots. Ruminate X quotes each film from the brief, and versions are one of the things that move the number: the cutdowns, ratios, languages and hooks a channel plan needs. More on what an AI commercial delivers is on AI commercial production.
The stills rows
Where Overs comes in
Most of the files in the example list above are stills, and Overs plans stills the way this page does: by deliverable. Overs is an AI tool that makes product and campaign photos that match a brand, without a photo shoot. It is the sister product from the same founder, and it was built on the process 100creatives used to make hundreds of photos a week for hundreds of brands.
You tell Overs what the set is for (store page, feed ads, editorial, hero, banner, billboard), and the shot plan covers each one, in sets of 5, 8, 10 or 12 photos. Headlines, sublines and buttons go on in a separate typography step that keeps the clean version, so every still arrives with and without type. You see the plan and an estimated cost before anything renders, and the export carries the whole campaign with a record of the prompt, model and reference pictures behind each photo. A client review file, one HTML file, can go to the client, and their decisions come back into Overs.
At published model prices a usable photo costs $0.27 to $1.69 in AI fees. The free plan makes 40 photos a month, with the AI billed to your own OpenRouter key and no markup from Overs. How to size one campaign for every placement is in Overs' guide to adapting one campaign to every ad size. Fill the stills rows of your list before the film is cut; Overs is free to start at www.overs.studio.
Should Ruminate X make your deliverables?
Hire Ruminate X if
- A brand that needs the film, its cutdowns and every ratio from one world, made for each frame rather than cropped.
- A marketing team launching across YouTube, Meta, TikTok and connected TV at once.
- An agency producer who needs a partner to quote against a written deliverables list.
Hire someone else if
- You only need finished assets resized: a motion-graphics designer or a resizing tool costs less.
- You only need store and feed photos: Overs, or a product photographer.
- The campaign is one social post: make it in-house.
Questions buyers ask
What are campaign deliverables?
Campaign deliverables are every finished file a campaign needs, listed one by one: the hero film, each cutdown, each aspect ratio and length, the stills for each placement, and the extras such as captions, textless versions and audio stems. The list goes into the brief and the contract, because it decides what the studio makes and what it quotes.
What deliverables does a video ad campaign need?
Usually a hero film at its full length, cutdowns such as 15 and 6 seconds, versions in 16:9 for YouTube and connected TV, 9:16 for Reels, Stories, TikTok and Shorts, and 4:5 for the Meta feed, plus captions, a textless version, audio stems and thumbnails. Add the stills the same campaign needs in feeds, on Google, in stores and on billboards.
What aspect ratios do video ads need in 2026?
16:9 for YouTube in-stream and connected TV; 9:16 for Instagram and Facebook Reels and Stories (1440 by 2560 pixels), TikTok and YouTube Shorts; and 4:5 for the Facebook feed (1440 by 1800). YouTube also accepts 1:1. In 9:16, Meta asks advertisers to keep about 14% at the top, 35% at the bottom and 6% on each side free of text and logos.
How long should the cutdowns of a commercial be?
Match the placements. YouTube bumper ads run up to 6 seconds; non-skippable in-stream ads run 15 to 60 seconds depending on the campaign type; YouTube TV takes 6, 15, 30 and 60-second ads that must be within one second of their length; Prime Video takes 15, 30, 45 and 60 seconds. A 30-second hero with a 15 and a 6 covers most plans.
What are textless versions and audio stems, and do I need them?
A textless version is the film with no supers, prices or legal lines, so new text can be set for another market or offer without remaking the film. Audio stems are the voice, music and effects as separate files, so a new voiceover or a different music license does not mean a new mix from scratch. Ask for both; they cost little when made with the master.
Does every aspect ratio need its own AI generation?
Not always, but often. A 9:16 crop from a 16:9 frame keeps under a third of its width, which usually cuts the product or a face, so shots with either are generated again for the vertical frame. Wide establishing shots can sometimes be cropped. Settle which ratios are generated and which are cropped before the quote.
Send the list
Send your deliverables list, or the channels and dates, and get a quote row by row.