Youtube Compression settings

[flipsidekrew]

Hey does anyone know what is the best settings to get high quality video on youtube, I've been uploading using H.264 at 15fps, but the video ends up pixelated and choppy. I know its possible to obtain high quality stuff because i've seen many youtube videos, even with a lot of motion. Could someone please help me. Thanks

[flipsidekrew]

anyone, Please.

[Spartacus]

I tried uploading different formats of the same file - they all ended up chunky and choppy...
Good luck!

[DVX100Shooter]

Youtube repcompresses your footage making it look bad in my opinion. I was always told to compress your footage at the highest level you can within the guidelines of you tube then upload it. When they recompress that footage it won't look as bad. I have yet to try this. I have been using www.sharkle.com (free video hosting site) and my projects look a lot better than on you tube.

[Ryan Hawk]

I've been doing some tests, and Divx exported at 320x180 (from HVX) is looking best when exported from Final Cut Pro aiming for as close to the 100mb limit as possible. So try uploading the divx file (rename the extension AVI, it's the same thing) at the right size, but with as large a file as possible.

[Justin Reade]

640 x 480; MPEG-4; 700 kbps for video; 128 kbps for audio. FCP --> Compressor is perfect for this.

[cinetech]

640 x 480; MPEG-4; 700 kbps for video; 128 kbps for audio. FCP --> Compressor is perfect for this.

I've researched a lot and the best settings are here:

http://www.squidoo.com/youtuberight/

[taormina]

awesome!!!

[RE1000]

I just tried basically all of the tutorials that i could at that site, yet they all turn out bad.

[KyleProhaska]

There is NO BETTER way to put youtube videos up except making flv files. What your flv file ends up like is exactly what it'll end up like on youtube. Youtube doesn't recompress when you use FLV as your upload file.

- Kyle

[Spartacus]

There is NO BETTER way to put youtube videos up except making flv files. What your flv file ends up like is exactly what it'll end up like on youtube. Youtube doesn't recompress when you use FLV as your upload file.

- Kyle
FLV compressed with the on2 VP6 or the Sorenson codec?

[Alexa]

There is NO BETTER way to put youtube videos up except making flv files. What your flv file ends up like is exactly what it'll end up like on youtube. Youtube doesn't recompress when you use FLV as your upload file.

- Kyle
does anyone disagree?

i seek the best recipe for chocolate cake, too.

[Attic6]

Does this still hold true for the new format that Youtube are now using, i thin iread somewhere that they are going over to h.264 or something else? i wish they had something on their site about the best compression...

[DVX100Shooter]

Yea I am running out of ideas myself. I tried to make sure I was exporting the best quality I could in Final Cut Pro then I uploaded that file to youtube and it looks okay but I know it could look better! Now how come mainstream artists/musicians music videos on YT are crystal clear!!!!??? If I can get my videos to be sharp, bright colors like I was watching a DVD that would be cool!

[JPenna]

Hate to reply to an old thread, but I thought this was amazing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAFORL4qDWw

I recommend using the full screen button and hitting pause to let it load for a while. 1080p, I believe?

[Spartacus]

Amazing...
Wonder what the original file was: HD-DVD? Blueray? Uncompressed?

[DArcyFD]

I've been playing around with FLV to get good results on YouTube.

I found that setting the bitrate WAY up there - ~6000kbps, and the keyframes to 1 (yes, 1!) yields a REALLY nice, sharp image. I did this just exporting through FCP, using the 'Export Using Quicktime Conversion.'

A couple downsides:

1) Although the video is 2:55, the exported FLV clocks in at 3:11; the extra 16 seconds being a completely white, blank screen.

2) This 3:11 video is massive - 85.8mb. I haven't tried uploading it to YouTube yet (I have a pretty slow connection and want to do more tests) but if it is indeed true, according to KyleProhaska, that YouTube doesn't recompress FLV's, then this would be very slow to buffer.

3) The worst problem - The video and audio are OUT OF SYNC! And I'm compressing a MUSIC VIDEO!!

Has anyone else had this problem when compressing to FLV? I've never experienced it with any other format, but I have noticed a lot of out of sync stuff on YouTube.

I can't upload the damn thing as long as it's out of sync, cos it makes me look like a crap editor.

EDIT: Just had an idea: is it possible the sync problem could be caused by going from 25fps to 30? Cos I'm in PAL land, so the vid was shot 25fps (SD, interlaced) but YouTube shows 30fps, so I changed the fps when exporting to FLV.

This was done on the assumption that even if I uploaded a 25fps FLV, YouTube would recompress it to conform to 30fps.

Is this assumption perhaps wrong? Maybe YouTube really doesn't recompress any FLV's, but merely suggests people convert to 30fps because they recommend uploading in H.246, which they will then recompress to 30fps FLV.

Does that make any sense?

[DArcyFD]

OK, because this issue is getting me really worked up, I tested Kyle's claim about YouTube not recompressing FLVs:


There is NO BETTER way to put youtube videos up except making flv files. What your flv file ends up like is exactly what it'll end up like on youtube. Youtube doesn't recompress when you use FLV as your upload file.

- Kyle

I took a 20.7mb FLV and uploaded it to YouTube. According to my computer, 'Date Modified' is 6:17pm.

I went to http://downthisvideo.com/, one of the many YouTube video downloading websites, and downloaded the same video.

The file that appeared in my Downloads folder was 6.8mb, 'Date Modified' 7:01pm. Visually, it looks slightly (but not very noticeably) more compressed than the file that was uploaded.

I'm not Sherlock Holmes, but to me this suggests YouTube IS in fact recompressing FLVs.


I feel a bit stupid for not running this very obvious check earlier.

Has anyone else looked into this?

[JPenna]

I think it depends on your settings. I just uploaded this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kr0GzDNvZY

and it's still stereo and still 400x300

[Spartacus]

Is there any reason why Youtube just isn´t listing the best settings for encoding?
Even if most "normal" people don´t have access to Flash encoding, why shouldn´t there be a How-To for people who can encode to flash...?

[triplej96]

I have flash encoding but still don't get very good results and even worse sometimes it is hit or miss?

[DArcyFD]

I think it depends on your settings. I just uploaded this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kr0GzDNvZY

and it's still stereo and still 400x300

What do you mean?

Have you downloaded it from YouTube? Is the filesize the same?

[GenJerDan]

Does anyone at YouTube actually have a clue?

Why do they ask for 320x240 if they're going to present it as 455x342? (But tell you to embed it as 425x350...Why let the browser play with it?)

Are they purposely screwing with the quality?

[GenJerDan]

That being said, I uploaded a FLV file at 320x240 / 768kbs / 64kbs audio, stereo, 22.1 kHz and the quality didn't suffer too much.

[MScrip]

There is NO BETTER way to put youtube videos up except making flv files. What your flv file ends up like is exactly what it'll end up like on youtube. Youtube doesn't recompress when you use FLV as your upload file.

How do you make FLV files?

[Spartacus]

FCP and Flix Exporter would be one way...

[GenJerDan]

I use Sorenson Squeeze.

Not cheap, but I think it's worth the price. (Never compared it to any others, though, so take that for what it's worth.)

[DArcyFD]

OK sorry to drag up an old thread but....

CAN ANYONE sort this whole YouTube thing out, please? I have to upload a music video ASAP and really want it to look as good as possible.

Does anyone know if YouTube does or doesn't recompress FLV uploads?
(My test, read above, showed in my case it does)

Does anyone know if YouTube has moved over to H.264 yet?

Does anyone have some tips for getting really sharp vids on YouTube?

Does anyone know ANYTHING, please!?

[DArcyFD]

got impatient and went for a search, found some interesting information:

http://tech.t2.com/category/video-compression-tips/
http://wiki.multimedia.cx/index.php?title=YouTube
http://dvcreators.net/discuss/showthread.php?t=15785
http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/youtube_compressor_gary.html

i'll try some of their suggestions and report back with my findings. i should think just about everyone on this forum would/should want to know how to get the best out of youtube....

[Unix]

Flash for youtube

Sorenson spark pro
1 pass CBR
320 x 240
mp3

.flv
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3s8O3rssqA

.wmv
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FZJzX4zvks

im gonna try another one but using instant HD down to the same flv settings, let's see if it yields better res.

[Spartacus]

The .flv looks slightly better IMO, but the .wmv loads MUCH faster...!

[GenJerDan]

YouTube does recompress FLVs. I just did a 320x240 / 768 kbs / 64 that went from 9 MB to 4 MB once it was uploaded. Better than the WMV did.

Doesn't look bad, though.

I think the problem with WMVs is the artifacting inherent in the format, so it will depend a lot on what is in the video, to begin with.

[DArcyFD]

OK, I carefully read the Ken Stone article http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage...ssor_gary.html and some of the stuff he said makes a lot of sense, in particular compressing in the Photo-JPEG format, because it doesn't have any inter or intra frame compression, and since this is introduced by YouTube's FLV compression you can avoid having it done twice.

I compressed a whole bunch of Quicktime mov's with Photo-JPEG at various sizes (640x360, 540x303, 425x239) and quality levels, and was going to upload them all to really see which worked best, but in the end..... it took so damn long just to upload the first one, which was 93mb (the largest) and the band the video was for, and myself, have been so drained by the video experience (a whole other story) that we just said "f*ck it" and used it without trying any of the others.

The quality is surprisingly good, definitely the best results I've ever experienced uploading to YouTube. The initial file was 425x239, High Quality and a really nice, sharp picture - didn't look compressed at all. So the YouTube recompression wasn't too severe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKU1jtm81rw

The trial and error method is great in theory, but only good in practice for those with a fast internet connection. And the connection where I live is appallingly slow - apparently 'broadband' in Australia is not really 'broadband' by most other countries' standards.

LASTLY a very important word on de-interlacing: I had the misfortune of shooting the video with a Sony PD-170 (initially we were supposed to be using a HVX200 but again, that's whole other story) which only has one of those fake progressive modes and it can't even be used in conjunction with 16x9 (why Sony??). All the de-interlacing I'd seen before was rubbish: coming out either really pixellated or with that frame-blended look. BUT in Ken Stone's article he recommends using the de-interlace feature in Compressor - select 'Better (Motion Adaptive)' and turn 'Adaptive Details' OFF! Stone claims that doing this causes "the encoder to harness the same algorithms that the application DVD Player uses to deinterlace video on the fly during playback."

I tried it and I have to say the results were spectacular. You wouldn't know it was interlaced in the first place.

EDIT: Sorry, I should have pointed out that Compressor, and Ken Stone's article, are specific to Macs.

[Unix]

yep for some reason the .flv takes longer to load

The .flv looks slightly better IMO, but the .wmv loads MUCH faster...!

those were exported from premiere pro 2 timeline

now for this other one I made an .avi first and then I used the riva flv encoder

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvdFO9vSBjQ

[John Froton]

check out Digital Juice's tutorial on YouTube video uploading

http://www.digitaljuice.com/djtv/segment_detail.asp?sid=204&sortby=&page=1&kwid=0&show=all_videos (http://www.digitaljuice.com/djtv/segment_detail.asp?sid=204&sortby=&page=1&kwid=0&show=all_videos)

Just right click and download the clip

[floss]

You can download this program for a trail use
http://www.geovid.com/VidCrop/

[alwayslearning]

I just found this youtube thread since I am thinking about putting a video or two up there. I see a lot of various views as to what will result in decent quality. I had a thought tonight ..... why not find a video there that looks really decent and send a message to the person and ask them what they did to get it there and looking good. So I just did that. If I get any useful info, I will post it here.

Larry

[alwayslearning]

While waiting, I was doing some browsing around tonight and found this:

http://www.infocusmediaservices.com/videoediting.html

Click on "chapters" 13 & 14.

Larry

[alwayslearning]

The reply I got.


I'm creating my videos with Windows Movie Maker and it gives several options when creating the video. Here are the details on the option that I choose, I hope this is what you're looking for....

Bit rate = variable
Display size = 640x480 pixels
Aspect ratio = 4:3
Frames per second = 30

Again, I hope that's what you're looking for.

The guy has great looking videos on youtube. Figures it would be some simple thing for someone. Well, I'll play around some, post something on youtube and put a link here with what I did to contribute to what else is being said here ....

Larry

[cinetech]

I've written 3 procedures on how to encode good quality videos.
Check it out, especially the FLV section :thumbsup::
http://www.squidoo.com/youtuberight

[briones1]

I tried the setting outlined above and my 4 minute video is coming out to about 118MB. Is there a way to retain setting but make size a bit smaller? Youtube limit seems to be 100MB. also, I did this using quick-time - I could not find the 640x480 in compressor under the MPeg4 options. Any thoughts on this?

[briones1]

I tried the setting outlined above and my 4 minute video is coming out to about 118MB. Is there a way to retain setting but make size a bit smaller? Youtube limit seems to be 100MB. also, I did this using quick-time - I could not find the 640x480 in compressor under the MPeg4 options. Any thoughts on this?

[mellofello]

I originally found out about converting to .flv as a way to keep stereo sound in my vids. Me and some youtube friends have been using these settings with good results for audio in stereo. we use "any video converter" a free download to convert our videos to .flv.

video settings
192 kb/s bitrate
30 fps framerate
320x240

audio settings
128 kb/s bitrate
44100 mhz stereo

we were operating under the assumption that the combined bitrate audio 128 + video 192 = 320 must be under 350 or thereabouts to keep youtube from tampering. however video at 192 is really not great. I am now under the impression that it is not bitrate but total file size of the .flv that determines whether youtube compresses. based on that assumption I will be doing some tests with videos of lengths one minute, two minutes, and 3 minutes. I am thinking that the file size must be around 20 mb or less or else it will be compressed. i should be able to turn the video bitrate up to over 1000 on the one minute vid, maybe more, I may even be able to do 640x480. I'll get back to you. One thing to consider also is that youtube may change their compression settings depending on how many people are trying to upload at a given time. Another reason is they may be holding out to offer a premium service which allows high-quality full-length films for a monthly fee. who knows. One things for sure, it's a fantastic technology and a great service even with it's limitations.

[mellofello]

OK, because this issue is getting me really worked up, I tested Kyle's claim about YouTube not recompressing FLVs:



I took a 20.7mb FLV and uploaded it to YouTube. According to my computer, 'Date Modified' is 6:17pm.

I went to http://downthisvideo.com/, one of the many YouTube video downloading websites, and downloaded the same video.

The file that appeared in my Downloads folder was 6.8mb, 'Date Modified' 7:01pm. Visually, it looks slightly (but not very noticeably) more compressed than the file that was uploaded.

I'm not Sherlock Holmes, but to me this suggests YouTube IS in fact recompressing FLVs.


I feel a bit stupid for not running this very obvious check earlier.

Has anyone else looked into this?
I will be doing my own tests soon. My primary interest is in keeping decent quality stereo sound. of course my secondary goal is to get the best quality vid possible while still keeping the stereo sound. I would suggest just as a test, simply cut off about 30 seconds of your film, change it back to .flv using the same settings. that should get it down to about 18-19mb. let me know if that works. peace

[mellofello]

check this out !!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0IHJX5Bwgw#GU5U2spHI_4

[Ki-Ki]

Doesn't let me upload .flv files to youtube. Think it hates me. Or maybe i just tried uploading a .swf file, i dont know.

[Bill Clar]

I'm about ready to say the hell with youtube and create my own site.

[Mark Williams]

Check out http://youtube.com/watch?v=bTiZYqQgtFk When you do, hit the view in "high quality" button at the lower right side of the video screen below the word views. You can toggle between the two to see the difference. Not sure what triggers this function in youtube. I stumbled on it by accident. May be the original high bitrate upload.

Regards,

[DVX100Shooter]

To get your video at or under 100mb what are you setting your Data Rate at? I have mine set at 900 right now and when the compression was done my 8 minute video came out to 53mbs! I was told to try to get it as close to 100mb as you can.

My settings are as follows:
Frame rate: 29.97
Key frame every 24
Quality: high
Encoder - Fast /Single Pass
Data Rate: Restrict to 900
Size: 320x240
Filters: Sharpen edges 1.0 & Deinterlacing - odd 1.0
Footage shot in 24p format

Has anyone considered using www.brightcove.com I have seen some really nice looking videos that were done using that.

[jrmiller_entertainment]

screw youtube and use vimeo. You can upload 500MB a week SD AND HD. the HD stuff looks amazing.

[Ferret Lady]

man, youtube lets you upload 1024 MBS now. i usually just don't compress my file at all anymore so i can upload like a 800 mb file and almost NO quality is lost from their compression. a little sure, but nothing like before when i was having to compress it to under 100mbs.

also the 'view in high quality' option, which usually comes up based on the users bandwith, makes the quality almost perfect. check it out guys, things are really changing for the better on youtube.

[heathandmiller]

What capture pad do i need to get videos on my computer video is annalog

[GregorySinger]

I just uploaded a 720x480 video at 350mb and it looks great.