1080p upload on YOUTUBE.....is it worth it?

[ashclever]

Hey guys, I am uploading a big project today to a clients youtube acct and have done a lot of testing myself over this last week on uploading the project to my own youtube acct in unlisted links. The question for me is, on youtube, is the 1080p option on youtube really better than 720p viewing. I ask this because I have not been able to see the difference in comparing my uploads. Now, my internet connection is not the best as I live pretty far out in the woods so am I missing something?

It could be that I have not figured out the best 1080p file type for YOUTUBE? I am using CS5.5 and exporting the files to H.264 default Vimeo HD settings for 720p version and making a H.264 Windows Media file for the 1080p version. I use the vimeo preset over the youtube preset because the youtube preset seems to squash my audio terribly. I am using Windows Media file to make the 1080p version because I can't seem to customize the resolution up to 1080p when using either the VIMEO HD or YOUTUBE HD presets within CS5.5.


This is the unlisted link to the 720p version of Part 1 of what I am uploading. The compression is just kind of killing me a bit so any advice is welcome. Even if I just get the knowledge that Youtube's 720p and 1080p are pretty much the same and just an option for people to click so they think they are getting some extra viewing experience.

Thanks and thanks!

TRANS AM MINI DOC Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGYyXYd1bbQ

[Garion]

Hi Ashclever,

I was also underwhelmed when uploading 1080p video's to youtube or vimeo at the sort of bitrates generally recommended. What I now on my NLE is burn to Blueray... but not to disk but to an image file. bury down in the disk structure and there will be a file called xxxx.m2ts. IIrc its a 22-24mbit file (and big) but when I upload this to youtube it is much sharper and clearer than my other attempts.

Here's a guide from youtube itself which shows the normall bitrates most people use and also recommended higher settings for best quality :-

http://support.google.com/youtube/bin/static.py?hl=en-GB&guide=1728585&topic=1728573&page=guide.cs

I know some say they cannot see the differance when using higher rates, but when viewing 1080p fullscreen on youtube, I always prefer using the blueray disk image method. (although i too also have very slow broadband so it takes ages to upload)

cheers Andy

[ashclever]

Wow, very interesting method that I have never heard of. I am going to investigate this further for sure. The only unfortunate thing is that I think I will have to leave this videos quality where it is at for now as it is set to go live tonight and with the current circumstances, won't have time to go through file creations and massive uploads in time. I am going to test this method out on my personal vimeo upload though and potentially do it for future projects if it works well. Thanks a bunch. Do you have any links to a video you uploaded using this method?

Thanks again

[Garion]

Hi, sorry I dont have any current that I can share, my kids have the files now. I originally came across the idea from the Edius NLE forum where many people have asked the same question about youtube and vimeo quality. This is why some of the commercial youtube videos look so clear and crisp I believe. I mainly now shoot personal films for myself and family and a lot of the shots are wideangle landscape shots. 720p just doesnt have the resolution for me, it has to be 1080 and high bitrate for me to be happy.

For closeups and mids lower bitrates and/or 720p is fine, but its the wideangle shots that really benefit the higher bitrate for me :)

[ashclever]

Well I appreciate the tip and look forward to exploring it.

Thanks

[LanceOregon]

On your bitrate encoding option on your Premier export, definitely use the VBR, 2 pass option. Takes a bit longer to render the video, but it will definitely improve the quality.

Then experiment increasing the export's target bitrate. Try increasing it to 14 Mbps, and see if you don't like that better.

The H.264 Blu Ray export option is definitely higher quality still, but will also take even longer to render and upload. If you do that a lot, you are going to want to have a real powerful workstation and also an upgraded broadband connection.

[ashclever]

Appreciate that tip as well. I will have a chance to mess around with this again sometime next week. Filming every day until then. Thanks again guys. I will explore both methods. My internet connection is limited to the wireless USB cards so not the fastest in the world. The number one downfall of living out the woods. Every other aspect, I love!

[Tony Maceo]

I do lots of youtube and vimeo uploads. You really have to consider how the majority of your client's target audience will be viewing the content. If it will just be on typical computer screens, tablets, smartphones,etc...then 720p is fine on 27" and smaller screens. Many people now are viewing youtube on their large screen HDTV via builtin internet, roku/wdtv/appletv, etc. and that is where I can see a slight difference in IQ with 720 vs 1080p. As far as getting the best encoding-to-file size, i'd forget about rendering h.264 in Premier Pro and do it in a x264-based app such as Handbrake. It supports Avid DNxHD and I use that as my render intermediate with Handbrake settings: High profile/CQ 16. Remember whatever file you send to Youtube, it will be reencoded on their end, so I know bandwidth is an issue for you, but you want to upload the highest quality you can. What's wrong with hitting the upload button before you go to sleep at night? I know for shorter clips, some video purist comrades upload DNxHD and ProRes clips.