YouTube Export Settings

[plnelson]

EDIT by EUGENIA: To save everyone reading long threads, here's how to export for Vimeo *and* YouTube in HD (applicable for many video tools): http://vimeo.com/forums/topic:3671


5 days ago I got an HV20 and Adobe Premiere Elements and as a practice exercise I made a little video from critter shots I took around my office park. When I export my project to Windows Media format at 1280x720 or 800x450 30 fps it looks great.

PC Magazine says to make YouTube videos use the iPod preset at 320 x 240, 15 fps. This generates an mp4 file which looks OK EXCEPT that every so often there's a kind of hiccup where the image fuzzes out. I uploaded it to YouTube anyway, which added a lot of compression artifacts, but you can still see the hiccups.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6v-p8tk0Lg (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6v-p8tk0Lg)

. . . Look around 1:18-1:19, and 1:28-1:29 . (There's others, too but those are pretty bad) :eek:

Again, these are in the original MP4 generated from Adobe Premiere Elements, but NOT in the Windows Media files made from the same project. What ARE these? :hv20-smilie49:

Can someone suggest a good reliable YouTube workflow that doesn't involve buying pro software?

Thanks in advance!

[Mal]

IIRC I read somewhere that if you encode into a certain bit sized FLV, youtube won't re-encode.
Not sure if that's true though.

Here's some encoders, not sure if there's any good free ones though (and many of the ones listed in this link are the opposite (FLV to AVI), so read carefully):
http://www.freedownloadmanager.org/downloads/flv_encoder_software/

[Pom16/10e]

Well, sounds like PC magazine is er... a peecee magazine. (I admit i was just lurking on the pc editing forum, only to have a few smiles...!-)

They just threw out a simple, pc-user-proof method that they knew would only give very average results but anyone can do easily.
To have an optimal output to youtube here is your best bet :

export using quicktime to an inter-frame codec such as photo-jpeg or Mjpeg at 320 X 240 (or 320 X 180 with an HV20's 16/9 footage), and keep the original framerate (no more hicups)
balance quality slider Vs file size :
You have 100megs at disposal, so anything under 5 minutes will be no problem. usually a slight notch just over medium quality will be fine (it's jpeg, so even at only 50% quality it'svery good overall )
Over five minutes it'll get trickier. just try and reach as close at possible to the 100megs limit.

Why use jpeg ?
It's an intra-frame compression only : it does compresse every frame, but every frame is really present in the file.
With more advanced codecs, (wich are inter-frame) you only have one full real frame every 30 frames or so, meaning intermediary frames are computed and therefore not very acurate compared to a jpeg.
These intermediary frames are calculated based on movements of pixel blocks but very soon after a reference frame, these blocks start generating artifacts.
Even at a very high quality, interframe codecs have poor results compared to a jpeg when you look at intermediary frames.

Youtube encodes to Flash (soon to H264, but it won't change the workflow, only the quality of youtube's encoding)
If you make an ipod (H264) file, it will read it and encode from it. But H264 is an interframe codec, so youtube will encode from interframes and the loss is huge. (remember dubbing a vhs tape from the copy of a copy ?)

On the other hand, when providing youtube with a jpeg .mov file, it will encode from pristine frames only. No weird macroblocks, no fuzzy moves, just nice frames to encode from.

And a MUCH better result.

Tradeoff : files are huge, anything over 5 minutes will be tricky.
But I think 5minutes is a nice youtube format, don't you ?

That's the "youtube pros" trick
enjoy !

One last thing : it seems youtube encoder likes a lot to ingest files that have benn prepped with a 2 pixel radius gaussian blur. But this could change very soon with their recent adoption of H264 to replace flash. I say could, because theorically, the H264 encoder should also like blurred movies better.

[Pom16/10e]

Mal, I also heard the .flv rumor here and there.
But to date no-one could give me values proven to "do it"
And I could not find them either, even after examining .flv files from youtube : they vary.

[plnelson]

export using quicktime to an inter-frame codec such as photo-jpeg or Mjpeg at 320 X 240 (or 320 X 180 with an HV20's 16/9 footage), and keep the original framerate (no more hicups)

Did you mean Quicktime Pro? Adobe Premiere Elements has a Quicktime export feature but I didn't see JPEG / MJPEG options in it.

[Numbox]

Why don't you just encode it to dvd resolution? Or VCD if you can't spare the bandwidth. Since youtube is going to transcode it anyway, why bother?

[veg]

There's a video tutorial here...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03p3UlvkAT4
Its for Vegas but I'm sure you could tweak it in Adobe.

[plnelson]

Why don't you just encode it to dvd resolution? Or VCD if you can't spare the bandwidth. Since youtube is going to transcode it anyway, why bother?
Because apparently YouTube is better at transcoding some things than others, so the idea is to give it something that it's not going to mangle too badly.

[jaket]

I have had pretty good sucsess with encoding to .WMV files in vegas.
I use the 3Mbs profile and change my resolution to either 320x240 or 720x480
and the videos look great for youtube. after uploading the video they usally have it live in 30sec-1min.

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=jacobthorup
My youtube videos.

"A night out" was shot on the HV20

[veg]

Jacob..
Interesting that "A night out" was shot on the HV20..
...but all static shots ( no camera moves).
Any particular reason?.

[plnelson]

I have had pretty good sucsess with encoding to .WMV files in vegas.


Which version of Vegas? The low-cost one or the pro one? (as I said in my initial post I don't want to have to buy pro sw to do this)

[jaket]

Vegasarian, The main reason for no camera movements was lack of crew and lack of time. I had a deadline for the end of the school semester, I had already written up two other scripts and done partial pre-production on both, before realizing that they were to complicated to finish before the end of the semester. The Idea for "A night out" started with just a couple ideas for some charcters, from there we had to adlib the lines, locations and diologue.
The only Cinematic decission that I made was to be on a tripod until Scott robbed the store,and from there it was supposed to be hand held, this was never fully realized because we never officially shot the last scene, (Brian was supposed to rob a store and come to the realization that it wasn't a joke.)

Sorry didn't mean to be long winded.

PLNELSON
I do have Vegas 7pro, Sorry.
Good luck finding a good compresion scheme.
Jaket

[Deep G]

I'm not totally experienced in this but I just give them more than what they need, say more resolution and larger file sizes, then they re-encode looks better.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2urEOPlqryQ&feature=PlayList&p=E7747F3D6B7BA17B&index=0&playnext=1&session=A1tEsaj7Gk_I7ufmp-h7gkG0Sn3wk2ZUOQWyV5G3js-b9royAcZFA9gsUPLaeeYmX89hs8wFyvAbS7sph0xnm9643DB1f O36-NPszMB7Xbz-rJhkhaT8_AZ6F-UegJ2EjBH5ufVGzOxgWO6Lk8YLExbvvizR_qys1zf-GAHGpAsRK4E2MIFz1Ki5eqHexeLAgtlNqZ9CyIkb646pI9MrLF h5RbA4C1HxoeoSDjZJcdKbr--cpzj3vFvx9u9bslqWvml9m9hrdggaOPfDM8o_ZsWtlddIkwDz4 1TAyU4PyZV4byeYfqJxhEgpje9sWN74ameqnwI25drlyBc1khn 4_73MKgYrYWa-aL5BONRXCBAfOFLENQpc2CqdG1RGPqxdRWtYAfvN3Jkhj_T6v4 3MLuiLUBanmiAzCbAjvjuJH1px7ywgor_laTJ-pQZNbEtF

[SenorKaffee]

I definately cannot confirm that. My experiences are, whatever your worklflow is, in the end it gives the best results if you transfer a video that is 320x240, progressive, 30fps or lower. Using MJPEG sounds plausible, I use a DIVX CQ (quantizer 2 or 3) setting and MP3 audio at 320kbit/s in an AVI container. I´m just too cheap to buy an MJPEG codec, I wouldn´t use it for something else.

I already tried to upload an FLV, it took very little time to be available, but was recompressed by the YouTube transcoder and didn´t look so well. I think the transcoder just isn´t set up to detect videos that already meet the criteria.

[plnelson]

I definately cannot confirm that. My experiences are, whatever your worklflow is, in the end it gives the best results if you transfer a video that is 320x240, progressive, 30fps or lower.

But WHY is this so hard to settle? All over the web everybody has their own opinion or personal experience but there's no CONSENSUS. For very piece of advice saying "do it THIS way" there's some other guy guing "NEVER do it that way"!

This isn't art or music where it all comes down to personal opinion - this is science and technology where we ought to be able to settle it systematically. To that end I've started to upload the same video encoded different ways. So far I have three up there . . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIv4OXZ61VM
... WMV at 320x240, 30 fps 1 keyframe /sec (the lowest A.P.Elements would let me go)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1T4W3eOGjGM
... same as above but 800x450

\http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4GQr3AfYJI (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4GQr3AfYJI)
. . . Quicktime video ...encoded using H.261, 2K kbps

N.B. that the original video from which these were made was sharp as a tack, started off as 1080i and deinterlaced in A.P. Elements and had no blockiness in the transitions and fades.

BTW I wanted to do an H.264 Quicktime but using the H.264 encoder in Elements it looked like crap. If I could figure out how to export a full-res file from Elements to Quicktime Pro I would try that.

I intend to put up more examples and it anyone has an encoding scheme they would like to see I'll be happy to try. Also, I might try putting up a hi-res WMV or even MPEG file on my my website if anyone wants to try their hand.

[SenorKaffee]

You may want to try MeGui with X264 to create the H264. One of the best free encoding solutions.

[iotatau]

But WHY is this so hard to settle?

Same here. I have tried about ten different formats, none of them is satisfying. My latest attempt was MJPEG with separate pictures for each frame - but that wasn't satisfying either. Some videos on YouTube actually have decent quality (not great but at least not too disturbing) - so far I have failed to achieve such a level. Does YouTube use less compression for some users depending on certain criteria? One video sharing place which has a better quality than YouTube is http://www.metacafe.com/ For maximum quality there is http://www.vuze.com/ which accepts HD videos with no size limit. Not everybody might like the P2P approach of Vuze, though.

I don't want to put up with YouTube any more and have started to use Flash Video MX (http://www.flash-video-mx.com/video_to_flash_web/). It's fun to watch 320x180 Flash videos which are sharp.

[SenorKaffee]

You can always use the FlowPlayer and an FLV you compressed yourself if you don´t like the output of YouTubes transcoder. But the main point of YouTube is the audience, not the hosting service.

Can it be that the nice looking videos you have seen are just better fit for low bitrate compression? Like static scenes, few and hard cuts, and so on?

[plnelson]

You can always use the FlowPlayer and an FLV you compressed yourself if you don´t like the output of YouTubes transcoder.
Other people have tried that and reported it didn't work. I don't know if YT re-munges .FLV's to make new .FLV's more to their liking.


Can it be that the nice looking videos you have seen are just better fit for low bitrate compression? Like static scenes, few and hard cuts, and so on?
Possibly but the test clip I put up in 3 different flavors, above, also has static scenes.

My point is that we can speculate all we want about why some videos look better than others on YT, and there's no shortage of advice and opinion (often conflicting) on the topic. But I'm an engineer, and the right engineering way to settle this is to come up with a standard reference clip that has a good range of test conditions - static scenes, moving scenes, fast transitions, slow transitions, color and contrast tests, wide-dynamic and frequency range audio, etc. Then put the test clip on a public server (like here or one of mine where people can download it from so they can encode it any way they want and then we'll see what looks best.

[Eugenia Loli-Queru]

By using a VGA file instead of QVGA (even if Youtube's encoded video files are QVGA) you let the Flash encoder decide how to use the extra bits to look good. You give their encoder the advantage to use the bits that would look good with their engine. And so yes, VGA at 30fps is your best bet, because (320x240)x4=640x480 so the algorithm will have an easier time doing so. Just make sure you have setup the letterboxing correctly if you are shooting widescreen. That's all you need, no reason for a specific "workflow". Just use whatever app you use and set the letterboxing and export at VGA/30fps. Only use QVGA if your video is bigger than 100 MBs and Youtube blocks your upload.

[Numbox]

Do i output it as avi, mpeg1, mpeg2 or what? And why 30 fps? I have a PAL cam.

[plnelson]

By using a VGA file instead of QVGA (even if Youtube's encoded video files are QVGA) you let the Flash encoder decide how to use the extra bits to look good. You give their encoder the advantage to use the bits that would look good with their engine. And so yes, VGA at 30fps is your best bet, because (320x240)x4=640x480 so the algorithm will have an easier time doing so.

But this still begs the question of file format, keyframe distance, who's encoder implementation, etc.

And as I said, there is no shortage of opinion; the challenge is to separate the wheat from the chaff and determine objectively what works best, by developing a standard reference clip. I'm about to come out with an improved version of my "Test1" clip that will have better tests for motion detail (no more goslings!), i.e., how well it retains fine detail information when there are lots of changes between keyframes. It will also have improved tests for blockiness in fast and slow fades.

The goal, again, is to have a short (~1 minute) clip that we can try encoding using everyone's favorites encoder and workflow so we can compare them side-by-side and see what really produces the best results.

[Numbox]

OK, now i'm getting pissed off at youtube. Evrytime it makes a mess out odf my video. What should i render the movie to from Vegas? It's a 5 minute clip.

[SenorKaffee]

@Eugenia

I understand your logic. But the YT-Encoder might just don´t use the extra information.
In this case I would waste quality in the source file because I need to compress four times the image data actually needed and loose control over the resizing algorithm.

It´s just too much theory now, we´d need a YT-compressionist in this forum to clarify things. There are poeple from Microsoft, Real and DivX Networks at Doom9, but noone from YouTube.

@plnelson

We´d need some kind of uncompressed source (lossless compression, like Lagarith or HuffYuv) to test different compression techniques. Every modification of resolution and every further lossy compression matters.

I think the best way to do things to gather all ideas about how to do things. Then one person can prepare the files accordingly and submit them to YouTube.


@Numbox

30fps for NTSC - 25 fps is also fine.
Please define "messes up my video". ;)

[Numbox]

@Numbox

30fps for NTSC - 25 fps is also fine.
Please define "messes up my video". ;)

Well here isthe video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qkW6ZrXa-o
(xvid source)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMCLIm2w9-A
(mp4 source)

Both of them look crappy. How exactly should i encode a 5 minute video so it looks ok on youtube?

[SenorKaffee]

Hmm - I think the video material is just too hard to compress at a low bitrate like YouTube uses. So much motion information.

[Sniper1154]

I've been filming for a while, but just recently purchased the HV20. I normally export to YouTube, however as many of you are probably aware from your exporting jobs, you must sacrifice some quality in order to get it under the 100MB. My question, is there a software available that allows you to have fairly small files that are quite detailed; or is it just the nature of the HD beast that you must compress them so much so that quality shall be sacrificed.

I run Premiere Pro 2.0 now, and am looking at getting Premiere Pro CS3 along with a trial of Vegas 7.0

Thanks.

[Eugenia Loli-Queru]

Save as h.264. This will create the smallest file size of all. YouTube's native resolution is 320x240, so for your widescreen video, simply export to 320x180 h.264, 384 kbps video at 30 fps, 64kbps audio and you are done.

If YouTube seems to be stretching your video to 4:3, then export at 320x240 with letterbox, in order to keep the right aspect ratio. That resulted QVGA file will be playable on QVGA Symbian S60 3.1 and UIQ 3.0 phones, iPod and Sony PSP btw.

[Sniper1154]

cool beans, thank you.

[nluchau]

I just picked up the HV20 a couple days ago and so far I love it. Thanks for convincing me to buy it. I took a short 3 minute video of my fish aquarium and I transferred it to the PC using HDVSPLIT. Its like a 450 MB file just for 3 minutes. I am now wondering what is the best way to shrink it down without losing quality for lets say a youtube video.

Can someone give me step by step instructions or perhaps this has been asked before and all I need is a web address for that thread.

I have Premiere Elements 3.0 installed but when I import the video to it all I get is vertical red lines (not sure whats happening there). I can import it successfully into Sony Vegas 7 but not sure about how to export it to a smaller file and not losing much if any quality.

I am new to this and would need detailed instructions if its not too much to ask.

Thanks a ton.

Nick

[ZarbK]

Well, for starters, did you record in 60i or 24p? If you recorded in 60i, just make a new project in Sony Vegas and choose settings like:

Template HDV 1080-60i

Full resolution rendering quality: Best (can change when you render), Motion Blur Type: gaussian (preference), Deinterlace Method: (again whatever you want, you change this in rendering if you want, this is just for previewing etc)

If 24p, choose the HDV 1080-24p template and import your pulldown'd 24p footage, there's a nice streamlined program to do that in the 24p section, otherwise if you make a 24p project with something that hasn't had the pulldown done, you'll get repeating frames and crap frames you don't want for 24p, because they're basically fake ones the camera made :P

Make sure to put deinterlace method to None for 24p projects tho.

Also to export, edit however you want in Vegas, then go to File -> Render As...

Personally, I use .avi file type and for Template (which we will change a bit) choose again HDV 1080 (or 720) 24p intermediate (or 60i!)

Then click 'Custom' and we can change the variables in the template, but you won't overwrite the template, it'll just make a new blank one temporariliy, but dont worry it saves your settings.

Project Tab: Video rendering quality is just the overall quality, preview should be ok for YouTube, but for indie stuff you just would choose best imo.

Video Tab: Aight, frame size is just the resolution you want, you can do 1440x1080 which is the size your video was when you captured it, or any other resolution you want, you dont necessarily have to do a HD standard one, but you might just want to render at whatever resolution YouTube uses, which I dunno what that is. :P

Frame Rate: should be already done by template, but 29.970 NTSC for 60i, and 23.976 ITVC film for 24p, Pixel Aspect Ratio controls widescreen vs square, if it's 1.333 it will make a widescreen by streching each pixel from 4:3 to 16:9 and such for the whole picture, I don't bother with this since the codec I use (next part) overrides this setting, but you would use 1.000 I think for YouTube.

Video Format is your codec, I know there's a few ones just for youtube and you should probably download and install those, restart vegas, then you can select and configure here. I use DivX and Stage6 so I'm not sure :p

Interleave is not too important, I like having every frame so I can pause even in WMP at any spot, which is nice since I use 24p always, but it's just a personal taste.

Audio Tab: again, YouTube probably has some optimized audio codec they like to use, but I do mp3 for my vids...probably something better lossless that I havn't found tho.

After that is all configured just hit 'Ok' and then 'Save' and it will render your video, and put it wherever you told it to Render/Save it.

I hope this helped!

[nluchau]

ZarbK,

Thanks for all your guidance. I was able to successfully convert it so it looks decent. Once I upload it to youtube I will give you the link.

Thanks again,
Nick

[SenorKaffee]

We should make a sticky out of this. o_O

There are very different philosophies what is the best video source for YouTube.
The inconvenient truth is - to achieve great YouTube quality, you have to shoot your movie in a way that makes it fit for low bitrate compression. Talking heads filmed with a tripod maybe. ;)

Which video and audio codecs did you choose in the end?
MotionJPEG or DIVX in a Constant Quality Mode is my favourite choice. If your video is under one minute HuffYuv (lossless compression) may also work.

[nluchau]

I just uploaded it and it looks alright. It could be better. I used Divx Video and MP3 audio.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBfZw5msn4I

[GregHV20]

For HD On-demand web video, forget YouTube; try LiveVideo or REVER.

There is an clear example, both are the same video uploaded at different sites.

YouTube Version:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzckzsGhhrk

LiveVideo Version:
http://www.livevideo.com/video/C2DBAD4681F54A3F8EADFB25D3F49846/livevideo-youtube-video-compar.aspx

I'm not a LiveVideo Fan or YouTube fan, dont care, and this is not a YouTube vs LiveVideo post. Like you, I look for the service that better results offers me to share my HD videos.

[GregHV20]

There's a video tutorial here...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03p3UlvkAT4
Its for Vegas but I'm sure you could tweak it in Adobe.
Bah, "mr.safety" can blow me, their video tutorials are very basic or lame... let the professional things to the pros ;).


Mal, I also heard the .flv rumor here and there.
But to date no-one could give me values proven to "do it"
And I could not find them either, even after examining .flv files from youtube : they vary.

I don't know about that rumor

but I did it!; I crancked/figure a way or method to encode videos and upload to youtube, with the same high quality like playing in your pc, skipping the YouTube encoder.

However the bandwith needs a minute (or less) to let the video load, for a smooth play -if you have an 1MB or adove internet connection maybe you don't notice-.

This trick (I called "goyo-technique") deceives youtube encoder, and the video duration is read incorrectly, but with a insane video quality and amazing CD quality sound, all in a small encoded file easy for a quick uploads.

I just bougth my hv20, soon I'll upload some examples.

[GregHV20]

OK, here is an example for you guys.

Maybe you already saw this video:

Canon HV20 Outdoor Sample Footage v2" from crobs808 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeD1VWNWdOo)

Its a beautiful footage with the HV20, with a encode very well done.

So, I went to the home of crobs808 to get the HQ quality raw version, to encode with the "goyo-technique".

Here's a short from my encode.

crobs808, video "goyo-technique" version (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4FWh9SdYvA)

compare them ;-)

-Greg

[stoop]

Greg:

Gorgeous. Can you post encode details? Would love to get somewhere's close to this example. Did I mention it's gorgeous?

- Stoop

[SenorKaffee]

Examples... what about a how-to?

[GregHV20]

Yesterday I took severals shoots (my first ones, hehe) with my HV20 cam. Then I produced the movie with PowerDirector which made a file of 102MB. Finally I encoded that file with this method and gives me a 21MB file, excellent video quality as the RAW file, already uploaded and live in YouTube.

Now I'm uploading the original RAW file (shorted to 92MB) for comparision purposes.

-Greg

[GregHV20]

This is my first HV20 footage:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpOzt4Ey4PU

Is a 2min video, with very nice quality same encoding method.

Now I really believe, that the "YouTube Partners" have a bandwith privilege, because with this way you get the maximum quality with the low limit for a common user account bandwith, that is way you get a time lenght incorrect read out in order to have a limit.

[nluchau]

Thats quite the difference. Nice

[JoeInBH]

Greg - I couldn't open the YouTube video (said it was "private") but the LiveVideo looked great. I'm going to try it out myself. Thanks!

[Luthyr]

Stage6 is pretty nice for uploading actual HD videos. Here's a comparison of the same video between Youtube and Stage6. I didn't really try to hard on quality for Stage6, but for Youtube I submitted a 640x480 WMV file right under the 100mb limit.


Youtube Version:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Te0efJdNOMI

Stage6 720P Version:
http://stage6.divx.com/user/Luthyr/video/1390971/The-Dark-Knight-Set-on-Fire---Chicago

[JoeInBH]

Greg - I think we all would be interested in trying to replicate your "goyo-technique." Would you be willing to post step-by-step directions for achieving the awesome quality you have posted on YouTube? Thanks.

[GregHV20]

I'm making a video tutorial, with all you need to know about it.

Greetings.

-Greg

[nluchau]

I'm making a video tutorial, with all you need to know about it.

Greetings.

-Greg

You Rock MAN! I will surely check back.

Thanks again,

Nick

[crobs808]

cool. glad my video was of some use ;) i will be patiently awaiting the tutorial also.

P.S. - full hd versions here if anyone is interested in seeing the rest:
http://www.pixelgrill.com/public/hv20/

~ crobs808

[africanmarty]

hey GregHV20 geat HD video quality on youtube, very impressive !!! would you workflow work for myspace ect aswell ? cant wait for yout tutorial.

[africanmarty]

hey greg hows that tutorial going ? i need it SO0o bad :)

[SenorKaffee]

Maybe it´s just me, but every time someone is teasing but not delivering information I think this someone wants to sell something. Internet Scam Paranoia or something. ;)

[Numbox]

^^Seconded^^

[africanmarty]

i've been waiting for days on a reply regarding a tutorial on this youtube workflow..... so i'm i bit sus too, cmon greg whats the hold up ?

[GregHV20]

Hehe, sorry Guys. This is not a scam, I'm just a guy who spent almost 2 months testing ALL video codecs, and encoding tecniques that I know, and uploading almost 300 times the same video, converted with dozens of diferents programs searching for Hi-Fi for youtube. And even though I find one way to do it, its not perfect.

Sorry for delate, I was sick (flu+laryngitis) =(

But, I'm men of word, and today I finish the guide.

Today will be published, I swear.

[africanmarty]

Today will be published, I swear.

i'm so glad to hear it :) cant wait for the tutorial :) i'm watching this space !!

[africanmarty]

Stage6 is pretty nice for uploading actual HD videos.

i second that :) though it should be said that u must dowload a plugin in order to upload to stage six and you need to convert your movies to divx format. ( not really a bad thing, but one thing to do prior to uploading )

[GregHV20]

There you go!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLVA91WkCfI

=)

I need spleep =( =P

BTW I made a file with all profiles ready-to-go with the TVC and HV20, I don't know if I can post a link here for download, its only a settings file that I made, no piracy. I'll be wait for admin permission.

[africanmarty]

There you go!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gHgZvZqWLs

=)

I need spleep =( =P

BTW I made a file with all profiles ready-to-go with the TVC and HV20, I don't know if I can post a link here for download, its only a settings file that I made, no piracy. I'll be wait for admin permission.

The movie file is private... i cant view it. Can you add me i'm 'africanmarty' on youtube aswell :)

[africanmarty]

any one else able to view it ?

[um3k]

Yes, but once you convert to DivX, no more conversions are done to the video. It puts you in control of the video's quality.

[GregHV20]

uuuuuuuuuuups
SORRY SORRY SORRY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLVA91WkCfI

Know is Public

[GregHV20]

Stage6 is pretty nice for uploading actual HD videos. Here's a comparison of the same video between Youtube and Stage6. I didn't really try to hard on quality for Stage6, but for Youtube I submitted a 640x480 WMV file right under the 100mb limit.


Youtube Version:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Te0efJdNOMI

Stage6 720P Version:
http://stage6.divx.com/user/Luthyr/video/1390971/The-Dark-Knight-Set-on-Fire---Chicago


YouTube Hi-Fi Version encoded by me:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZyEvo9-tyc

Its a 2M Video Quality, only 1:00 min for comparishon could be full you have to downgrade the Video Bitrate to 1000 and maybe framerate to 20fps, to avoid that YouTube reject the video, for the duration mismesure.

[Luthyr]

Wow, that's a huge difference. I'm going to have to look into your method further to try to get my Youtube video submissions looking better.

[pascalbrown]

I've just got the software, followed your instructions, had some issues uploading, but finally done it! It really looks good on youtube.

This is the example; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoRJYBOn8no

The same footage is posted in the footage forum if you want to see a 720p version.

Interestingly, I tried this same method to upload via google video and it looks very very bad. I thought these two were one and the same but I am obviously wrong. This the google video example; http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1491349270921475882&hl=en

Thanks for the video tutorial greg. Perhaps I can now use youtube a bit more! Stage6 has major issues with Vista so I haven't bothered!

[GregHV20]

Yeah I Odd Isn't It? =), hehe ;-) the reason is that google is using a different flash converter engine.

BTW you can use SpeedBit Video Accelerator (Freeware) to a quick load for viewing this type of heavy videos.

Nice Footage m8!

[Ian-T]

Greg, thanks for the tut. Never liked Youtube for showing videos but now since your tutorial I think I'm having a change of heart.

[GregHV20]

I made a short version (self-explain), with a little more info and background music, for more advanced users.

Short Version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08NI4cy4zik (I like more =-P)

The first version is for more explanatory, for begginers who doesn't know about encoding.

[SalaTar]

:hv20-smilie68:youtube workflow:
Take good footage and compress it till it is so bad no one cares...sorry

[africanmarty]

greg thanks for the tutorial. great work cant wait to upload, it sucks how you can only get 4 minutes though (max).. :( but great work for figuring this out. - Marty.

[africanmarty]

are you using total video converter to convert your files to 640x480 ? or other software ?

[GregHV20]

I'm using Sony Vegas 7 for make my movies. When I gonna upload something, I notice that the Vegas Render engine works very well with DivX codec 6. So, I go to New Project, and choose Video render quality to Best. Import my clips, and then to produce the movie: "File/Render As... " I check Best for Video Render Quality, and set my video codec (DivX 6) like this:

http://www.forumsigs.com/users/goyomora//VegasDivxpara24PHDsmall.jpg

That is a 24p footage (pull-down already). I know, Project Frame Size is 1440x1080, but the codec is 640x480, notice Bicubic(Sharp) Filter so the render file will have a 640x480 size, and maybe is just me... with this combo, it seems that the render engine works better than using a NTSC 640x480 Project and have less image noise.

Then, for youtube I just convert with the TVC, using "Original Size" at VideoResize Tab, and Aspect Ratio 4:3 (because the vid has black bars added), and just ConvertNow!.

Although TVC can convert m2t files from HDVSplit directly, is very powerful indeed. But, for resizing I trust more in vegas render engine.

[africanmarty]

excellent i have vegas and will give it a try :) thank so much for your help.

[pascalbrown]

I used virtual dub mod to resize the files. So it went from tape to m2t via hv20pulldown.exe, then edited in vegas, then output uncompressed, then resized in virtualdubmod, then converted in TVC.

[SenorKaffee]

Hm - I already tried to feed YouTube a video encoded with Squeeze. Maybe it was too long to be accepted or TVC writes something interesting in the files.
I can´t try it at the moment because it only works with admin right. Lazy programmers.

[nluchau]

Thanks Greg! I'm trying it now

[GregHV20]

I tried:
- Adobe Premier Pro 2
- Adobe Premier CS3
- Adobe Premier Elements 3.0
- Adobe After Effects
- Sony Vegas
- Ulead Video Studio 10 and UVS 11+
- Ulead Video MediaStudio Pro 8
- Cyberlink PowerDVD
- TMPGEnc Xpress
- Riva Encoder
- FLV Converter
- FFmpeg
- Sorenson Squeeze Pro 4
- On2 Flix Pro
- Windows Media Encoder 9
- AVS Video Converter
- Movavi Converter
- VirtualDub+MPG & VirtualDubMod
- Magic Video Converter
- SUPER video converter
- Allok Video Converter
- Xilisoft FLV Converter
- MPEG Streamclip

And on each one I make converted files with the following Video codecs and formats, where could be possible to use:

- DivX
- Xvid
- MPEG1
- MPEG2
- ffdshow versions
- JPEG Video
- FLV1
- FLV Sorenson Spark Pro
- FLV On2 VP6.0
- FLV On2 VP6.2 Sharp
- FLV On2 VP7.0
- H.264 / Avi / Mov
- X.264 / Avi
- Flash 6/7
- AVC/H.264 MP4
- WMV
- H.263, Intel & Microsoft Version
- Invideo Intel
- H.263+
- 3GP

At default settings flv converted for TVC was a shame, actually Premier 2 flv has more quality, blury but smooth. However, with more Video Bitrate TVC flv are extraordinary, but... only for a few seconds on youtube 30sec, then I with those settings you can get more time.

The hard part of my research was convert - upload and compare every damn video in YouTube, then I have to download the betters for be analized with other tools.

Actually my account got a suspended notice, for upload the same file over and over, so I sent a msg to youtube, they let me continue, but on another account "GregoryChannel", for Private working area.

All is simple like this:

Uploading to Youtube using this method: You are exchanging Video Quality (Bitrate kpbs / Framerate) for Time length, that's all.

The reason is the TVC engine built-in, are compatible with two of the 3 phases of the process that the YouTube Encoders does.

flv files converted with codecs and anothers applications, are degraded/resized/rencoded in the same way like other formats. Except the flv from TVC, an this is not an advertising.

I'm only an Guy who seted out a goal (these video could be better here, and I can do it) and complete it, now I share my finding. =)

[SenorKaffee]

Okay, okay - I already believe that you don´t want to cash in. ;)
From what I have seen TVC is freeware.

[iotatau]

Hi,


From what I have seen TVC is freeware.

TVC isn't freeware, it costs $45 after a 15-day trial. But - it works for me, too.

YouTube clip: "Berlin Tegel (TXL) airport: takeoff and landing"

Without TVC
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCJ_NM8PCWA

With TVC
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLa9YGl1wn4

The TVC clip quality isn't perfect. Due to the duration of this particular clip I had to go down to 768 kbps, there's only so much this bitrate can deliver. But TVC yields a considerable improvement. I had given up on YouTube, now it has become acceptable for me.

Thanks, GregHV20, for all the legwork!

[africanmarty]

hey greg i re-uploaded most of my files on youtube :) and they look SO0o much better ( sad i lost all my views/comments about them ) and deleted the old ones ( didnt want doubles ).

Just a quick question though what happends if you go to 2000 bit rate ( instead of 1000 ) does that give you a 30sec flv clip uploadable to youtube ? Also you state that 1000 will give you a clip playable flv of 2mins.. what happens if you used 1000 and the clips was over ( like 4 mins ) what happends ???

- Marty.

[iotatau]

Hi,


what happens if you used 1000 and the clips was over ( like 4 mins ) what happends ???

The clip is not accepted by YouTube. I tried a 2:29 clip with 1000 kbps and got a rejection. The size limit of a FLV clip to be submitted with the "GregHV20 TVC method" is somewhere around 20 MB.

[africanmarty]

Hi,



The clip is not accepted by YouTube. I tried a 2:29 clip with 1000 kbps and got a rejection. The size limit of a FLV clip to be submitted with the "GregHV20 TVC method" is somewhere around 20 MB.

and that 20mb file is equal to about 2mins HD right.

[africanmarty]

the videos i post with the VTC method doesnt let me have text comments, have you guys found this too ? how do i fix this i checked my setting and its set to 'Allow comments to be added automatically'.

[JoeInBH]

Greg - Thanks for your wonderful contribution! I'm glad that the optimal solution requires relatively inexpensive software (rather than a top-of-the-line NLE).

[SenorKaffee]

Maybe the length limit can also be overcome this way - although, who wants to squeeze 30 minutes of video in 20 MB?

[SenorKaffee]

EDIT:

Next try: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_HgzguhTKk
This was encoded at 6000kbit/s. Youtube rejected videos over 6000kbit (testes 8000 and 6500), although the FLV was below 20MB.

[africanmarty]

does this still work i tried to upload another vid using the tvc workflow and it looks like sh*t. Here the upload :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_LkjR8dECk

[SenorKaffee]

Fetch the FLV and check the bitrate with GSpot. Then you know for sure.

I´m pretty sure it worked, because the player says the video is 4 times longer than it really is. A sign of the HD trick. If you don´t like the quality, lower resolution or increase bitrate even more.

[cmaikai]

I did greg's tut, but I don't think it works anymore.

[amigomatt]

I can't render any of my videos using the divx 6.7 codec. Vegas just comes up with a non-descript 'error while rendering video with codec'. I've tried every setting and even re-installed Vegas and codecs to no avail. Has anyone else had this problem, or alternatively, which other format should I use to render the file before I send it through TVC?

[newbie]

There you go!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLVA91WkCfI

=)

I need spleep =( =P

BTW I made a file with all profiles ready-to-go with the TVC and HV20, I don't know if I can post a link here for download, its only a settings file that I made, no piracy. I'll be wait for admin permission.



Thats awesome footage for youtube Greghv20, however i still can't atchieve quality anywhere near that.

i followed the settings given in the video, although i cant get my footage to the exact size stated (as im using windows movie maker untill vegas arives!)

the file exported from movie maker is:
WMV 1080p 7.8mps
1440x1080
16.9
25fps

is there anything obvious im missing? or do i need to use other software
before using TVP?

sorry for the basic stuff but im confusing myself!

[SenorKaffee]

LOL - that´s what I get for not checking my YouTube account regularly.

Gizmondo linked to one of my videos (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_HgzguhTKk) encoded with this method and got me over 200.000 hits.

Well, there goes my window for unearned Internet fame. :D

[rozroz]

tried to watch your link senorkaffee..
getting stuck all the time (even with the red line full)
but still looks amazing.. :)

[rozroz]

btw...
isn't it possible to do this with the premiere media encoder?
do you have to use that software?

[kanexpo]

Hi,
I have been desperatly trying to get any decent quality on Youtube. Unfortunatly I cannot watch any of Greg's Videos since they are all Private.

I've been trying all afternoon uploading Videos with different settings on Youtube. Neither Google nor anyone else could help me.

Here is a link to all videos: They are all the same file, just with different settings http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=kanedova&p=r

Some were uploaded as MWV (3Mbsp), 1Mbps, FLV file, mp4 etc but nothing seems to work.

Does anyone know of something that could possibly help me?

Thanks

[SenorKaffee]

Looks like this trick does no longer work. But looks like YouTube is going HQ anyway.
http://www.youtube.com/blog?entry=ponKL3LTyr0

By the way - don´t forget that your source can be up to 1GB now!
http://youtube.com/my_videos_multiupload

[GlennG]

How do we maximize the quality of our videos in the new YouTube high quality format? Is it still worthwhile to use TVC? Can Vegas & Premiere Pro render it equally well, now? Are there any other steps which would be helpful for us to know?

Thanks!

-Glenn

[SenorKaffee]

Upload a video in full resolution and very high quality - 1GB should be enough for DivX with the CQ1 setting or maybe even a lossless encoding.

Then add "&fmt=18" when you link or embed your file. This forces YouTube to show the highest quality version. Of course this doesn´t work if a high quality video hasn't been uploaded. ;)

Or maybe just try Vimeo. :D

[LarBrd33]

I still need assistance actually. I'm using premiere to export and i'm encoding using the mpeg blueray setting at max details. Unfortunately that spits out a .m2v file and .wav... it doesn't have the sound with the video file? I'm confused...

obviously I have to upload one file... not a video and sound file.

[LarBrd33]

I notice that Premiere Pro, if you select H.264 has a youtube preset. Im not sure if that takes into account their new "high quality" features.

[argonaut]

Hm - I already tried to feed YouTube a video encoded with Squeeze. Maybe it was too long to be accepted or TVC writes something interesting in the files.
I can´t try it at the moment because it only works with admin right. Lazy programmers.

I couldn't avoid re-compression while using squeeze. No matter what tutorial I follow. It even reduced the image size of my movie to 320x240. I try h.264, I guess I have to try with divx now, but outside squeeze.

Regards

[youngfilmmaker]

Okay i've been shooting and editing videos on the HV20 in HD 24p widescreen mode. The problem is, whenever i finish my final work, render it out and post it on youtube, it does hot have the letterbox (two black bars on the top and bottom like this.... http://a248.e.akamai.net/7/248/51/3035301182360591/www.info.apple.com/images/kbase/303530/303530_1.jpg What am I doing wrong? How should I render my videos in order to get the letterbox? Please help me! I am using sony vegas 8 pro.

[ipodguy007]

uh . . . it's letterbox in my world

[CycleWriter]

uh . . . it's letterbox in my world

Guess you have trouble with reading comprehension in your world.:hv20-smilie84: The link was to an example of letterboxed format. His actual video doesn't look like the link sample, which is his problem.:hv20-smilie87:

[orchidsofwrath]

in your NLE, make sure you set your frame format correctly in preferences. 1440x1080 no fields etc etc. Then when you render make sure you render with a pixel aspect ratio of 1.0. Youtube automatically letterboxes for me so long as i don't have a PAR, i don't think youtube supports PAR.
For example, if your going to render HV20 footage don't render at 1440x1080 with a PAR of 1.33. Render at 1920x1080 with a PAR of 1.0. Your NLE should automatically remap your 1440 pixels into 1920. Ofcourse youtube wouldn't support that high of resolution because file size would be too big. Just scale it down. perhaps 320x180 would do. (320x180 is just one sixth of 1920x1080.)
See if you render at 1440x1080 with PAR, youtube won't stretch it, so to youtube it just looks like 4:3 without letterbox.
-hope all that wasn't too confusing! I'm not the best at explaining things.

[youngfilmmaker]

wait so if i have a 1440x1080 i should render it out in 1920x1080? I have tried the 320x180 and the resolution was so awful, it was even worst that the radom home videos on youtube. So render at 1920x1080 with a PAR of 1.0., am i correct?

[orchidsofwrath]

you are correct. And thats fine for your final render for PC viewing. But for youtube thats WAY too huge. Remember youtube videos need to be under 100 megs in size so you can keep pushing the resolution bigger until you hit that threshold. Just be sure to make your resolutions a 16:9 ratio.

[amigomatt]

Here's a link to a short video I uploaded using Greg's method:- http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=ONMqwH_QDsc

[Koppel]

Here's a link to a short video I uploaded using Greg's method:- http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=ONMqwH_QDsc
This uploading a *.flv thats under 350Kbit/s and doesn't get re-encoded no longer works.
Youtube should make a program and share it with people so people could encode videos themselves and things don't get re-encoded over and over.

Currently the best method I know is to feed Youtube a x264 encoded MP4 with a 640x480 resolution and a bitrate of 1000Kbp/s or so.
Youtube then resizes the video to 320x240 for the standard quality and 480x360 for the "watch in high quality"

[Brian O]

I don't believe its been mentioned but YouTube has increased their maximum file upload size to 1gig and now have a "watch in high quality" option which drastically increased viewing quality. I'm not sure how it effects how we should be exporting videos but we are now also allowed a higher resolution for the videos for people who wish to embed larger videos into web pages.

http://www.baekdal.com/notes/personal/youtube-high-video-quality/ (you are no longer required to change the URL now however, the option to view in higher quality is now right on the page.

[MyNickname]

Is Greg´s video down ?

[adam777]

uuuuuuuuuuups
SORRY SORRY SORRY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLVA91WkCfI

Know is Public

...oh it's been removed .. and i only just found this this thread ...

[Breeze]

So...I've read every post in this thread but still couldn't find out what the ultimate youtube settings are for export. Also greg's video doesn't work anymore.
Is there anyone who can enlighten me (or us) with the best quality workflow (since youtube has a 1gb limit now this should be easier, right?)

[MadSammyboy]

Maybe I missed it, but what of the audio settings for rendering videos for YouTube? I put up a video on Vimeo that sounded great, but when I threw it up on YouTube (I didn't even bother knocking myself out on the video settings; nobody goes to YouTube for the picture quality), the music was fuzzy, the voiceovers were almost completely inaudible, and the whole thing sounds bad. Who knows what the best audio settings are? Or did I miss a post that discussed this? (if so, my apologies)

[John]

How do you change the preset on adobe premiere elements 4, everytime i go to share and go to youtube frame rate is 30p and i dont know how to change that preset to other. Do you know how.




5 days ago I got an HV20 and Adobe Premiere Elements and as a practice exercise I made a little video from critter shots I took around my office park. When I export my project to Windows Media format at 1280x720 or 800x450 30 fps it looks great.

PC Magazine says to make YouTube videos use the iPod preset at 320 x 240, 15 fps. This generates an mp4 file which looks OK EXCEPT that every so often there's a kind of hiccup where the image fuzzes out. I uploaded it to YouTube anyway, which added a lot of compression artifacts, but you can still see the hiccups.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6v-p8tk0Lg (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6v-p8tk0Lg)

. . . Look around 1:18-1:19, and 1:28-1:29 . (There's others, too but those are pretty bad) :eek:

Again, these are in the original MP4 generated from Adobe Premiere Elements, but NOT in the Windows Media files made from the same project. What ARE these? :hv20-smilie49:

Can someone suggest a good reliable YouTube workflow that doesn't involve buying pro software?

Thanks in advance!

[graydonblair]

Ok, looks like this thread was getting a bit dated.
I think I've read that YouTube has some new ways it's encoding...

So, for those of you YouTube experts out there, what's working for you these days?

This one was set at the following:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4DXJAcvKSw

QiickTime 480x360 with H.264 compression at high quality.
Framerate set to 24 (source footage)
keyframes set to auto. Single pass encoding.

Details here:
http://hv20.com/showthread.php?t=17563

I just uploaded one tonight & didn't think it came out well at all.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELyOuNmxW88

The Letterbox didn't stick though & I'm not sure why...

Here's what my settings were:
Shooting Details:
Canon HV 30
In Full Auto Mode
Edited in iMovie 08
Imported at 960 x 540?
Exported in QuickTime
H. 264
Frame Rate: Current
Key Frames: Every 24
Frame Reordering Checked
Data Rate: Automatic
Quality: High
Encoding: Faster
Size: 640 x 480 VGA
Preserve using letterbox
Deinterlace video
.MOV file type

Even in the High Quality mode it still sucked.

--I'm all ears for anyone elses suggestions...

[graydonblair]

Well, I think I've found the answer for YouTube.
It's called exporting it out in WMV format (which sucks because it means back to the PC I go).

I use Adobe Premiere Elements 4.0
Exported using Windows Media
Use preset for Local Area Network
Here's what that preset sets it to:
File Type: Windows Media (.wmv)
Frame Size: 640 x 480
Frame Rate: 30
Audio: 96kbps, 44 kHz, Stereo, VBR
Average Video Bitrate: 928

This footage wasn't shot on my HV30, but man, talk about crystal clear video!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nMsqTujGWI

I'll be experimenting with the HV30 on these settings & will post here on that.
But man, what a difference using WMV did!

[graydonblair]

Here's some new footage using the HV30 with the new WMV settings..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXMyWGgbtos

Much better!
-Graydon

[KaPwnedPro]

on youtube I usually Set the video to 640 by 360 on .mov and on medium quality settings
its pretty decent
here you can see for yourself http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfAalxe9mDU

[graydonblair]

What software did you use on it?
You're right, looks good!

[KaPwnedPro]

I am using Final Cut Express 3.5 HD
Thanks

[SenorKaffee]

If still have one of the "cheated" HD videos in your YT account you might have noticed that they all show up in regular YT quality now. But it looks like there is much more is happening in the background.

There is the new parameter &fmt=22 that makes some of the videos play in HD. That makes sense, 22 has to better than 18.

I have to test if this is a regular feature for every new HD upload now.

[graydonblair]

Yep. I noticed last night they've gone to a wide-screen format.

I uploaded an HD video in the wide screen format though & it really made it look like crap, so I guess we all have some experimenting to do to see what's going to be the best format for their new layout.

-Graydon

[Mr.V]

Well there's a HD video called "android" which Eugenia(who else ;)) uploaded to the new 16:9 ration Youtube and it's a stunner...Vimeo has just received a rival.
I would really like to know what presets she used to upload it in such a pristine quality?
That's all i want for Christmas :)

Greetings

[graydonblair]

Check this one out!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUQ5bvy7QrI&fmt=22

Also, this one will walk you through how to upload in HD
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nF7tuSRrru0&feature=iv&annotation_id=event_174532

This is for a Mac, but basically, it's the same export settings.

Wow! I'm just amazed and excited!

Check out some of the HD videos. It's amazing!
&fmt22 will let you see the vids in HD quality (if they were uploaded that way).

-Graydon

[SenorKaffee]

You can use the same kind of HD compression that you'd use for Vimeo. I uploaded a handful of vimeo sources as a test and they all showed up as HD.

I hope it's not too long until YouTube modifies its website so everyone can just click on "View in HD" like they do with High Quality now.

[graydonblair]

Yep. Kind of makes Vimeo look kind of useless...
Especially when Vimeo makes you pay to upload more than 1 HD vid a week.

Just my $0.02 cents...
-Graydon

[graydonblair]

So I thought I'd try this out....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaBGGsNQf00&fmt=22

This was some footage I had from October.

Shot in full HV30 Auto mode.
Imported in full HD into iMovie 08

Exported as 1280x720
Bitrate: 1500
Frame Rate: 30
Keyframes: every 24
File Type: MPG-4
using H.264 Codec

Turned out pretty clear! I'm impressed.

It doesn't appear to be quite as clear as Vimeo's turn out, but it's a step in the right direction...

[dWyZaK]

Wow that quality is insane!

Im gonna try those settings myself now.


Edit - not bad

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=rgLbg3oXrrc


I like how Greys utube video defaults to high quality view where on mine you have to choose it in the bottom right section, any ideas why?

[dWyZaK]

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=-b1fpn7-c_U&fmt=22 - wow

Adding the following characters to the end of the YouTube URL will give you the HD quality playback (&fmt=22).

[SenorKaffee]

Of course even with 1GB per file and 720p YouTube still has its 10 minute length limit. They make exceptions, though, but I'm not sure if you have to pay extra for it.

[graydonblair]

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=-b1fpn7-c_U&fmt=22 - wow

Adding the following characters to the end of the YouTube URL will give you the HD quality playback (&fmt=22).

NICE!!!!!
If that's your video you shot, great job as well!
-Graydon

[sblfilms]

Here's one of my efforts at finding good youtube HD results. Pretty pleased

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzaSZ7FcXjI&fmt=22

3 minutes, about 110MB, pretty clean.

Encoded using Sony Vegas 9 and the AVC setting with custom setting for 720p, 30fps, and 5Mbps.

[SenorKaffee]

Another good thing, the fancy uploader of YouTube works at my office. Both FlickR and Vimeo need to fall back to their basic HTML uploader there.

[vnguyen972]

I like how Greys utube video defaults to high quality view where on mine you have to choose it in the bottom right section, any ideas why?

He had &fmt=22 on the URL
Also, you can tell Youtube to always play in high quality whenever you logged in and play it any clip (if a high quality version available) by setting it in your profile (under player profile)

[scotthampton]

OK, so we know to add "&fmt=22" to the URL of a video that we uploaded to YouTube in HD size. But how do we get YouTube to play that vesion natively? Do we have to manually add the variables to the end of the URL, or put a link on the page to say "click here for HD"?

Not sure how this works...

[SenorKaffee]

It's a case of history repeating. At first the fmt=18 switch was not available from the UI, now there is "Watch in high quality". In a few week the fmt=22 will likely be integrated in the UI as an additional viewing option. Then you only need to force it for embedding.

[scotthampton]

Well, I uploaded some test footage. The normal looks pathetic, the high quality is a joke, and adding &fmt=22 looks good.

I manually added it to the URL. Is there a way for it to display natively?

[thebill]

hmm, i did pretty much the exact settings above but i am not seeing it in HD.

1280x720
5000 bitrate
mp4 w/ h.264
also tried wmv
framerate and keyframes same as above posts

my video is 2 minutes in length and its about 70 mbs in file size. the strange thing is that youtube recognizes it as HD only when i did a test upload of the same video but only the first 20 seconds. also, it seems that the HD quality link on the bottom right only appears a few minutes after its been uploaded. is there a reason why my 20 seconds video shows up in HD but not my 2 minutes video? thanks!

edit
also tried adding &fmt=22. no luck.

[Rumpelgeist]

also, it seems that the HD quality link on the bottom right only appears a few minutes after its been uploaded.
You think that YouTube must convert your video into low-res Flash and high-res Flash in two parallel threads and make sure that the conversion takes the same amount of time?

[thebill]

Nevermind. All is good now. All it needed was a little more patience. It eventually did displayed the HD option around 45 mins to an hour after I've uploaded. And if it doesn't show up, I would re-upload it.

So i've uploaded a mp4 and a wmv both with the same settings for youtube HD upload and i find that the colors on mp4 are a little washed out compared to the wmv upload. Anyone else encountered this?

[Eugenia Loli-Queru]

YouTube HD just needs the exact same exporting you do for Vimeo:
http://vimeo.com/forums/topic:3671

Looked great for my test.

[SenorKaffee]

By the way, if you are on a slow connection, the HD button might not show up. Since I'm moving I'm currently using my cellphone as a modem (EDGE) and most of the time I only see "High Quality".

[vnguyen972]

Now I see the option says "Watch in HD" instead of "Watch in High Quality", maybe they automatically add &fmt=22 to the "HD" link?

[graydonblair]

My latest HD YouTube vid....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aa7MMtrwUB4&fmt=22

Well, crap...someone turned on the "embedding YouTube vids on this forum. If you click on the link to see the video here on the forum, all you're going to see is the crappy low res version. If you click on the link at the top though it'll take you to the HD version.

The lighting sucks though. I'm still working on that....
-Graydon

[Eugenia Loli-Queru]

Email Mal or leave a comment here http://hv20.com/showthread.php?goto=newpost&t=18219 about it. I don't like the fact that you can't include a link without having to load this embedded player or include a real link either. I think the [youtube] and [vimeo] tags are more desirable than auto-changing of a url.

[scotthampton]

My latest HD YouTube vid....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aa7MMtrwUB4&fmt=22

Well, crap...someone turned on the "embedding YouTube vids on this forum. If you click on the link to see the video here on the forum, all you're going to see is the crappy low res version. If you click on the link at the top though it'll take you to the HD version.

The lighting sucks though. I'm still working on that....
-Graydon

The lighting is really off to a good start. Work on your fill light.

Your audio is off, too. Did you use the on camera mic or an external mic on a boom?

Overall, a good video, but you could ad some cutaways, angles, better quality audio mix, and you're golden!

[graydonblair]

Thanks for the feedback. I'll take all I can get.

Yeah, haven't sprung for an Off Camera mic yet. Still just the stock camera mic.
Trying to decide if I want to go with a wireless one or just an external on-camera one.
Good suggestion on cut-aways & angles.

So, on the Fill-Light, where's the best angle to point it? I have a light set & I've been experimenting with it trying to get it set up right, but frankly, it's kind of confusing.

-Graydon

[scotthampton]

Thanks for the feedback. I'll take all I can get.

Yeah, haven't sprung for an Off Camera mic yet. Still just the stock camera mic.
Trying to decide if I want to go with a wireless one or just an external on-camera one.
Good suggestion on cut-aways & angles.

So, on the Fill-Light, where's the best angle to point it? I have a light set & I've been experimenting with it trying to get it set up right, but frankly, it's kind of confusing.

-Graydon

The 45 degree angle options are always a good start. Try each light at a 45 degree angle to the subject. If the main light is to the subject's left, put the fill light 45 degrees to the subject's right. You can make the fill light half as strong as the main light.

These are basic STARTING POINTS, not absolutes in the mastery of lighting. You can start with that and get remarkable results. Can you use different angles? Sure you can. Can you use different strengths of light? Yes. The 45 degree and one weaker than the other suggestions that I gave are basic starting points. Try them, adjust as necessary. :)

[graydonblair]

OK, I experimented with a little higher bit rate on HD.
Didn't seem to do much to it. Instead of at 1500 I raised it up to 5,000.

I'm pretty sure YouTube just redoes it anyway...
YouTube - Testing For Water Content In Oil & Biodiesel Using A Deluxe Water Test Kit

[graydonblair]

I'll have to try the 45 deg. Angle & strong vs. not so strong light.
I have different watt bulbs for the light kit too so that'll be perfect to try.

How high up should I stick the lights? (I had this one pretty high up...about 3 feet above my head to the left of the camera w/ an umbrella diffuser).

Thanks
Graydon

[graydonblair]

For people that would like to embed their vids in HD quality, this code works REALLY WELL!
<object width="630" height="380">
<param value="http://www.youtube.com/v/YOURVIDEOCODEHERE&ap=%2526fmt%3D22" name="movie" />
<param value="window" name="wmode" />
<param value="true" name="allowFullScreen" />
<embed width="630" height="380" wmode="window" allowfullscreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/YOURVIDEOCODEHERE&ap=%2526fmt%3D22"></embed>
</object>

Just replace the YOURVIDEOCODEHERE with your YouTube Video code.
I think this is the magic code that makes it display in HD.
&ap=%2526fmt%3D22

Pretty cool stuff!
Enjoy!

[jamesgts]

I need your opinion guys, below are tests using wmv format with different settings and resolution, im using Sony Vegas Pro 8 for editing. Let me know which has the best quality please. I really dont like this embedding policy here so please just click on the video and choose "Watch in HD".


HV30 Test 1
YouTube - HV30 Test 1
File Size: 33.6 MB
Video Mode: VBR
Format: Windows Media Video 9
Image Size: High Definition (1440x1080)
Pixel Aspect Ratio: 1.333 (HD 1080)
FPS: 30.000
SPK: 2
Bit Rate: 3M

HV30 Test 2
YouTube - HV30 Test 2
File Size: 302 MB
Video Mode: Quality VBR
Format: Windows Media Video 9
Image Size: High Definition (1440x1080)
Pixel Aspect Ratio: 1.333 (HD 1080)
FPS: 30.000
SPK: 2
Bit Rate: 3M

HV30 Test 3
YouTube - HV30 Test 3
File Size: 199 MB
Video Mode: Quality VBR
Format: Windows Media Video 9
Image Size: High Definition (1280x720)
Pixel Aspect Ratio: 1.000 (Square)
FPS: 30.000
SPK: 2

HV30 Test 04
YouTube - HV30 Test 04
File Size: 32.2 MB
Video Mode: CBR
Format: Windows Media Video 9
Image Size: High Definition (1280x720)
Pixel Aspect Ratio: 1.000 (Square)
FPS: 30.000
SPK: 2
Bit Rate: 3M

[tig]

On my first Youtube test that is watchable in HD I use Sorenson Squeeze Media version 5.0 to compress at: 1280x720, multipass, 5000 kbps, H.264. Subsequently I've tried 2 passes and 3000 kbps and they work as well. It is not watchable in HD right away-- it takes a while for YT's servers to process before you get the 'watch in HD' option.

YouTube - hv30 test

[tig]

graydobblair wrote: For people that would like to embed their vids in HD quality, this code works REALLY WELL!

Okay I'll try that and see if it works.
tig

<object width="630" height="380">
<param value="http://www.youtube.com/v/YOURVIDEOCODEHERE&ap=%2526fmt%3D22" name="movie" />
<param value="window" name="wmode" />
<param value="true" name="allowFullScreen" />
<embed width="630" height="380" wmode="window" allowfullscreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0Au54Frci4&ap=%2526fmt%3D22"></embed>
</object>