Best export settings for 1920x1080 25p YouTube video?

Best export settings for 1920x1080 25p YouTube video?

Can somebody advise me on the best export settings for YouTube.

I’m shooting in 1920x1080 25p

If I choose the default YouTube setting in Resolve the file size is a bit on the Large size.

I have chosen Custom for export and I use:

MP4, H.265 with Quality set to Automatic, but a friend said I should try setting the limit to 6000 instead, but people on YouTube suggest this should be set to 50,000, which creates files even bigger than when I use the standard YouTube export settings.
I have Key Frame set to Automatic.

There is little to no movement in my videos, just a locked off camera filming a seated presenter with some cutaways that perhaps have a gentle pan or tile, but nothing more than that.

For the record, I’m filming on a Sony A7 III mirrorless camera set to 1920x1080 at 25p also.

Suggestions please.

Try this, changing the Frame rate to 25.

Best Quality Encoding.jpg (81.37 KiB) Viewed 6202 times

If you have good Upload speeds, you can get even better results by exporting Cineform AVI files.

Tried that. H.264 produces larger files than H.265.

Yes h264 files are larger. File size is dependent on bitrate. The lower your bitrate the lower the quality. Remember, YouTube re-encodes all uploads so you need to give it a decent quality upload in the first place.

If I put Quality to 'Restrict to' what K/bs would you recommend I put in there. Default is 10,000, Youtubers often say 50,000, mate of mine said he gets great results and small files with just 6000.

Just use H265 constant quality PQ 14 NVENC and PCM audio. Messing around with bitrates is really outdated and unnecessary. Use higher PQ value if file still to large. No point forcing key frames either, despite YT have it in their guidelines. This is for crappy encoders, which NVENC is not.

I would put "Key Frames" at 1 and never touch it again.
I had (and many others) got artifacts sometimes with exporting in h264/h265 (every person who had this problem and who changed to 1 fixed it for them). And when you notice them, it's always too late, it can be on one frame, or two, in the middle of a 20-50 mins video.

I would export in h265 with Main10 (10 bits, even if the source is 8 bits, better compression, etc.)
That would be if you want to archive the videos locally without them taking up too much space.

But Youtube accepts DNxHR, ProRes, Cineform, etc... : https://support.google.com/youtube/trou ... 8402?hl=en

So if you don't want to compromise and don't want to spend too much time in the settings, just export a DNxHR HQX10 file, and upload it to youtube. But of course, you need a good upload speed lol.

And like someone said, Youtube will re-encode them anyway, they make their "own" master so it's better to upload a very good quality video. They will generate the different streamed version from it.

(TIP : anyone can request their data from youtube, and when you do, you'll get these mp4 "master" for each video, but each file can be very large, I know, I tested it... it's a tip for those who uploaded videos and don't have any good quality copy locally. It's called Google Takeout : https://takeout.google.com/. Never download from the youtube studio page, the quality is pure garbage)

And last thing, even if your timeline is 1080p, export in 4k (if your computer can handle it). Because youtube uses the AV01 coded for everything below 1440p (I think,... below 4k for sure, you can see it if you right click on the youtube player > Stats for Nerds - to see the info about what's streamed).

VP09 for the 4k. And the 1080p version you will be able to select in the youtube player will have a better quality.

I'm not sure if it's the frame-rate that triggers the passage to the VP09 codec, or the resolution. Anyway, it works. Of course, the 4k version will just be a basic upscale of the 1080p video, but who cares, at least the 1080p version will look better.

Just use H265 constant quality PQ 14 NVENC and PCM audio. Messing around with bitrates is really outdated and unnecessary. Use higher PQ value if file still to large. No point forcing key frames either, despite YT have it in their guidelines. This is for crappy encoders, which NVENC is not.

Didn't understand any of this, Peter. What is PQ, NVENC and YT???

Thanks for reply guys, but all getting a little tech here. I'm not fussed about maintaining incredible standards, no point, people view these YouTube videos on iPhones, not at the Cinema.

What I'm aiming for is the smallest file size before I upload to YouTube, I know YouTube compresses again, but I still want it really small on my local hard drive so all these videos don't take up much room.

So what I'm definitely doing is shooting, editing and exporting in 1920x1080 at 25p and sticking with that from camera to export.

Only question was about an export setting for YouTube that would result in a smaller file, but without any real noticeable difference between my original footage and the exported version.

You already got those answers. It is not advisable to use very small files for upload to YT.
Because of their recompression, your files should be better than the final result, which can not be achieved with small file sizes.
Storage space is cheap these days, so why limit quality, even for phones?

If you want to get the best size at good quality, use Handbrake.

Tried that. H.264 produces larger files than H.265.

Yeah. So?

You wanted the best quality, right?

people view these YouTube videos on iPhones, not at the Cinema.

Barbarians! Uncouth rabble!

I do all my YouTube watching in a 4K Home Theater. Cater to that audience, because the plebeians won't notice if you do, but we civilized viewers absolutely will notice if you don't.

For what you're describing you would probably be fine at 10000 Kb/s.

I know you're trying to save space, but would really recommend exporting with PCM (uncompressed) audio instead of AAC, as DR's AAC encoder is pretty bad even at its max bitrate. You can export H264 + PCM in a Quicktime MOV file instead of MP4.

People also view YT on things like ipads and decent computer monitors. Many of us don't want to squint at a 5" screen.

Thanks for reply guys, but all getting a little tech here. I'm not fussed about maintaining incredible standards, no point, people view these YouTube videos on iPhones, not at the Cinema.

What I'm aiming for is the smallest file size before I upload to YouTube, I know YouTube compresses again, but I still want it really small on my local hard drive so all these videos don't take up much room.

So what I'm definitely doing is shooting, editing and exporting in 1920x1080 at 25p and sticking with that from camera to export.

Only question was about an export setting for YouTube that would result in a smaller file, but without any real noticeable difference between my original footage and the exported version.

Again, select MP4, H265, Nvidia, Profile Main10, Rate Controll to Constant Quality and set the three quality parameters to 14. Disable any forced key frames.

If still unhappy with file size set parameters to 18, 20, or 22. 14 will retain perfect visual quality for YouTube. Higher numbers less so.

Thanks guys. What I'll do, based on all above suggestions, is select a 30-second clip and export it at several settings and upload all to YouTube with a lower 3rd text stating settings and then I'll view them all on YouTube after YouTubes compression has hit them and take it from there.

This has already been done at scale in a scientific way. PQ 14 is the sweet spot. That's why it's recommended.