Render Settings for Youtube HD...
 

Hello,

I know this is somewhat of an evolving topic...

But I wanted to find out what the best rendering settings are for YouTube these days. I have a few HD videos I'd like to upload. I assume .mp4 is still the best format, but I appreciate anyone out there who might be willing to share their latest custom "cookbook" settings for this task.

Thanks,

Jerry

Re: Render Settings for Youtube HD...
 

Forgot to mention.... In the past, I've noticed that the video always looks darker when it has been posted to the Web. What is the best way to compensate for this?

Thanks in advance for everyone's comments/suggestions.

Jerry

Re: Render Settings for Youtube HD...
 

Hey Jerry

Yep MP4 seems to be the general consensus BUT whether to use Sony AVC Template and the MainConcept one..that is the burning question!!!

I have been using the Sony AVC on YouTube and my clips seem to look very much the same as other formats..they are definately not much darker at all...maybe the main Concept template makes it darker??

Chris

Re: Render Settings for Youtube HD...
 

Anything that goes to Youtube or Vimeo needs to be graded 16-235, blacks lower than 16 are clipped as are whites over 235.
What you give to Youtube really doesn't matter because unless its exactly what Youtube wants it will re encode your video anyway.
The key is to give it what it wants.
Which is,
For 720p
Video
Codec = h.264
Data rate = 5000Kbps
PAR =1
Key frame rate = 300
Audio
AAC
Sample Size = 16
Sample Rate = 44100
Data Rate = 256000

With these settings it shouldn't re encode your video, just upload and its there.

You are still better off to export your intermediate from Vegas and encode in Handbrake using its superior x264mp4 codec. The results at the same bit rate are way better than what we can achieve from Vegas.
There are also settings similar to the above for SD encoding, ask if you want them.

Re: Render Settings for Youtube HD...
 

I agree with Gerald.

I've found with 720 and 1080 the upload times can go for a day. Many people think (not saying anyone here) that their upload being really fast means youtube.com gets the full file quickly. The people forget about their upload and that it is generally really slow.

600+ minute uploads are not uncommon for me. That is for 10-15 minutes of I'd assume 1920 since it's pulled from the camera and uploaded. Maybe using some software to take it down from the highest level of 1920 to 720 would fix my times.

Re: Render Settings for Youtube HD...
 

Gerald,

Thanks for the info.

Can you explain exactly what you mean here:
"export your intermediate from Vegas and encode in Handbrake"

I'd like to try Handbrake but don't know what you mean by "export intermediate." Do I render the file to a certain format and then import this into Handbrake.

Does handbrake provide even better quality when the videos are viewed on YouTube, Vimeo, etc.?

Workflow steps would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Jerry

Re: Render Settings for Youtube HD...
 

Check out "Sony Vegas to Youtube Tutorial - A Better Method ".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=rWMX5lSvEgY

Re: Render Settings for Youtube HD...
 

As Mike has linked to....
In short,
Export from Vegas to at least a "visually " lossless codec, e.g. If you are working in 1920x1080, then export a 1080p Sony MXF 422 50Mbps clip, which you then import into Handbrake.
Handbrake uses a superior type of mp4 codec to Vegas, (IMO the extra quality is especially noticeable by eliminating compression artefacts in dark flat areas of your clips.
It will also resize in higher quality too.
However, I don't believe that tutorial addresses the issue of giving Youtube the "right" type of file so as to not have to re compress it.
As Bob noted, you dont want to have to upload anything for 10 hrs. then have Youtube re compress it into a file the same as I upload in 10 mins.

Re: Render Settings for Youtube HD...
 

Gerald,

Thanks again for the info.

I experimented with using handbrake and was impressed with the results. However, I had a very long upload time.

If I understood your earlier posts, do I need to make adjustments within handbrake to make sure that it is creating a more user-friendly file for Youtube? If that's the case, can you provide a few more details of how to adjust the settings within Handbrake to accomplish this?

Again, I greatly appreciate your time and the info.