Suggestions for file formats good to upload to YT ?

[rkstudio]

I'm really confused about what file format to use in the share option to upload a video to youtube. When I select Mpeg4, the file size is over 6gb, which takes half the day to upload. On Mpeg2, it's only 1.24gb. But I'm not sure how the quality would be. Very confusing to me. If anyone has any suggestions, I would really appreciate it. Thanks.

[asik1]

Nothing to be confused. it's all in the data rate
What is the content of your videos and for whom ? do they must be 4K?

[lata]

Hi
You do not say how long the video is or its type, you tube would be good using Mpeg4

Try setting your Project Properties to use the On Line template - then Share Same as Project Properties
MPEG-4 (1280 x 720, 25p, 5Mbps)
Or
MPEG-4 (1920 x 1080, 25p, 8Mbps)
I would think the latter, if the size is still high you can edit the template to use a lower Data Rate

I believe the YouTube option rendered to
MPEG-4 (1920 x 1080, 25p, 5Mbps),
cannot check this, as you are aware we cannot sign-in to YT

[pvreditor]

FWIW, I have a nearly 9-minute long 4K video that is 2.21GB, and it uploaded to YouTube fine. It was encoded using VideoStudio, so it encoded at VS's 40Mbps rate for 4K. It looks very good for that seemingly low data rate.

[Paul33]

That should upload fine to YouTube but it obviously depends on your broadband speed. I have just uploaded a 16GB 4K video to YT in 90 minutes without a problem.

[Davidk]

Several comments here.
First, altho YT now prefers mp4 from you, it was not always the case. And prior formats like mpg/mpeg2 are still supported. You can upload in that format.
Second, YT is and always has been optimised for viewing after a quick download to a browser page, for viewing in a preview screen. They use a file format that is optimised for that. You may recognise that after every upload to YT, at the end there is a short (?) processing phase. And in that phase your upload is being converted to the quick download format YT uses.

So, in reality, concerns about maintaining HD resolution for a YT presentation are not something you can do much about - YT is going to re-format the presentation to their needs anyway. Just recognise what is happening at the YT end. If mp2 is available, fast enough, then that's going to be good enough when viewed on YT.

If you seriously want to broadcast an HD video, the I would suggest using something like uploading to one drive or dropbox in a public folder, and emailing the link to whoever you want to see it.

[Paul33]

I have recently created and uploaded 4K videos to YouTube and they look superb on a 50" flat screen TV and definitely a lot sharper than 1080HD which is my normal resolution. Not doubting your explanation but, personally, I think it is well worth the effort to upload 4K to YT and, to my eyes, whatever YT is doing in the background, it does delivery a high quality result.

[tletter]

I'm really confused about what file format to use in the share option to upload a video to youtube.

The YouTube recommended upload encoding settings including video bitrates for SDR & HDR uploads are found at https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/1722171

If you seriously want to broadcast an HD video, the I would suggest using something like uploading to one drive or dropbox in a public folder, and emailing the link to whoever you want to see it.

This approach certainly isn't "broadcasting" in any real sense. As well, unlike like when viewing from a file server, YouTube uses adaptive bitrate to ensure a video is delivered in a reasonable quality despite changing network throughput without the need to re-buffer and start over. If you don't like YouTube then Vimeo may by of interest.

tletter
https://www.youtube.com/user/tletter

[asik1]

Uploading is relativity slow, so the consideration should be "does the content" have to be with high data rate.
My simple answer is no. I upload mainly seminars and talks, there the sound is much more important then the video. I decided not to upload more than 1.3GB no matter the length of the talk. so if it's 90+min I encode at 2Mb if its ~60min at 2.4Mb . Never did I received a complain from any of the viewers.
The Kids second grade end of year musical will be just fine at 3Mb/s