Best Settings for Output for YouTube

plasmavideo wrote on 4/7/2008, 4:00 PM
I have a project that needs to be posted on YouTube for an organization. This is uncharted territory for me.

Can I get from the braintrust some recommended settings in Vegas?

The source files are DV. I have changed the project settings to 320x480 progressive, interpolate fields. I've applied a Studio to RGB filter to the timeline. I'm exporting using the Mainconcept MP4/AAC preset modified to constant bitrate, about 1,700mps with the deblocking filter checked. I'm trying to get this 10 minute file to be about at the 100mb limit imposed by YouTube.

I had uploaded the same DV file which I had run thoough the Nero MP4 encoder. It looked fine on my computer, but got butchered by the YouTube recompression. I'm hoping that adding the studio to RGB filter and tweaking the Vegas settings will give me a better quality product. I'm going to post it on Vimeo later, but right now I've been requested to get it on YouTube.

Any comments or suggestions about my settings?

Thanks.

Tom

Comments

Spot|DSE wrote on 4/7/2008, 4:54 PM
I'd recommend outputting that file as MP4 to the YouTube presets, adding just a touch of luma/brightness as you're already doing.
640 x 480 iPod template.
plasmavideo wrote on 4/7/2008, 4:56 PM
Thanks Spot. I thought that the 640x480 would end up as too big a file, but I'll check out that preset.

Tom
johnmeyer wrote on 4/7/2008, 5:17 PM
I thought that the 640x480 would end up as too big a file, ... Resolution doesn't affect the size of the file at all; only bitrate changes the file size. However, if you keep the bitrate the same, and then increase the resolution from 320x240 to 640x480 (as one example), then fewer bits will be available to describe the motion of each pixel from one frame to the next, resulting in worse temporal quality. Thus, you will get video that is sharper in low motion scenes, but which has more break up, pixelization, and "mosquito" noise in fast moving scenes. Therefore, normally when you go to a higher resolution, if you want the same temporal quality, you usually increase the bitrate as well.

But, back to the point, the ONLY thing that affects file size is the bitrate.
plasmavideo wrote on 4/7/2008, 5:26 PM
Yes John, that was what I meant - larger frame size for same bitrate = larger file size.

YouTube kinda specifies that a 320x240 mpg4 file would be the ideal to upload, but it did not turn out as nice as I would have liked. I thought it would not recompress that type file, given what the YouTube help indicated, but it ain't so. Plus, the difference in brightness/contrast that the studio to rgb filter makes will add a notable difference.

I'm using Spot's suggestion now to render a new file to try.

Tom
Jonathan Neal wrote on 4/7/2008, 7:12 PM
Upload your video as an FLV (FLV1 - Sorenson h263) with a combined (video and audio) bitrate of 350kb/s.

Use MediaInfo or GSpot to verify the final bitrate.

If you use the free version of Riva, it is recommended that you set 192kb/s video at 29.97 fps 320x240, and 128kb/s audio (mp3) at 44100Hz. This method is not verified with the latest updates to YouTube.

Also note that with the MP4 upgrade to Flash, your videos will be offered in two formats. There is more information and discussion on this available here.
bStro wrote on 4/7/2008, 8:12 PM
Have a look at this tutorial:

.

Rob
NickHope wrote on 4/7/2008, 9:48 PM
Last time I looked YouTube were asking for 640x480px videos.

I have a rather long and convoluted method for converting to Xvid for upload to YouTube. The results are quite nice but I'm not sure it's worth the extra effort over something like the mp4 that Spot suggests.

Note that YouTube have confirmed that they save your video at original size and are starting to introduce high quality versions.
John_Cline wrote on 4/7/2008, 11:11 PM
Up until recently, YouTube was encoding Flash at 350kbit 320x240 22k mono audio, now they are additionally encoding videos using the new Flash MP4 at 480x360 at a 900kbit rate with 44k mono audio. They are also re-encoding certain previously uploaded videos if they were originally uploaded at a high enough resolution.

I have always used .WMV at 640x480 29.97 with 44k mono audio. I calculate the bitrate based on keeping it just under 100 meg in filesize.
Jonathan Neal wrote on 4/7/2008, 11:26 PM
Just to let you know, the methods I listed were for high quality videos with stereo audio, on YouTube.
plasmavideo wrote on 4/8/2008, 7:59 AM
Thanks. You guys are a wealth of info. I'll try some of the different methods and see what the best result is. I tried uploading the file encoded like Spot suggested. After taking forever to upload, I got a message saying YouTube could not convert the file, so I need to check that out.

It did, however play nicely with Vimeo, so that's where it's going to live for now.

Again, my sincere thanks to all. I'll have fun playing with shorter clips to see what method looks best. This particular one is just short of 10 minutes long, so it's not the fastest one to use for playing.

Tom