Trying to keep a 4k file to a manageable size

Apercele79 wrote on 4/4/2015, 6:29 PM
I noticed on youtube several ways to render a 4k file; some are AVC, some are AVI and a few other formats. Each type of file is very different as far as the size of the file. The same clip can be 2 GB in one format and may be 3.6 GB in another format.I plan on rendering a 90 minute 4k video next week so im trying to maintain the 4k quality but in the smallest type of file. Any recommendations?

Thanks in advance!!!

Comments

Chienworks wrote on 4/4/2015, 9:28 PM
File size is determined by bitrate and duration. If you want it smaller without making it shorter then use a lower bitrate. Note, however, that while you can reduce the bitrate to potentially get as tiny a file as desired, the lower the bitrate the worse the quality will be.

Some codecs are better at lower bitrates than others. Probably MP4 h/264 is about as good as it gets for lower bitrates.

Just curious, but are you expecting your youtube audience to be able to experience your video in 4K? I'd tend to guess that the fast majority of them are probably going to be viewing on 2K monitors. Possibly many of them don't have an internet connection fast enough to show a reasonable 4K bitrate in real time either. You might do better uploading a 2K version instead. At any given bitrate you'll get better video quality with a 2K image than a 4K image.
Apercele79 wrote on 4/4/2015, 10:35 PM
Thank you very much for the response. I am making this video just for my personal use, it's my cousin's christening, what i was able to tape. So it wont go on youtube, it will just be played at my house. I have a 4k media player but most likely i will save the file on to my laptop and connect the laptop to my 4k TV via HDMI cable. That's why i want the highest possible resolution.

Thanks again for your help :)
John_Cline wrote on 4/4/2015, 11:03 PM
Just because most people don't have 4K TVs or monitors now doesn't mean that they won't be much more common in the future. If the source is 4K, there is no reason that you shouldn't upload it in that resolution now. Of course, encoding a 90-minute 4K production in h.264/MP4 is going to take quite a while and the resulting file will still be pretty huge using a bitrate which will still maintain any semblance of quality.
NickHope wrote on 4/5/2015, 12:38 AM
Sony XAVC Intra is a very nice codec if your media player will support it. If you want the file smaller and can accept a little more quality loss, you could try XAVC S Long-GOP.
astar wrote on 4/5/2015, 12:45 AM
Divx HEVC will give you an excellent quality and size, but you will pretty much need the DVIX player. Since the encoded file will be in H.265 and .MKV
RamTec wrote on 7/9/2015, 5:28 AM
Although we have a number of 2K pro camera options, it was the delivery of our LG G4 smartphone that prompted us to start preliminary testing of a sustainable workflow for 4K. Bear in mind that we produce exclusively for internet delivery.

Assuming that your 90 minute video will be sourced via a consumer compressed format, you will be looking at a storage requirement of at least 35GB, although that will probably be considerably more given the shoot / final edit ratio.

So far as output is concerned, we've noted some big advantages in shooting in 4K and rendering to 1080p. These include excellent crop capability, without losing output resolution (we can even simulate a two camera shoot with one camera), as well as generally improved HD output quality compared to a native HD shoot.

On the downside, you will need a very high spec computing capability to edit your video with any degree of timeliness and reliability. At the moment, archiving could also be a real headache. If you have the money, then by all means go for it. Others may choose to wait a little until the entire workflow environment is a little more mature and affordable.

Whilst we may consider a move to limited shooting in 4K, given the variety of connections and devices being used, I've yet to be convinced that the average internet consumer is ready for 4K.