Uploading to YouTube before I grow old and die

January 18, 2012 2:02 PM

iMovie HD. I am having to upload a lot of 4-5 minute videos to YouTube for a project I'm doing. I need the finished product to be in good resolution once uploaded. If I export them to "full quality," they take almost 6 hours to upload and sometimes fail to process at the end, which is maddening. If I export them to "CD-ROM" quality, they upload a lot faster but the resolution is too poor. Is there a sweet spot in the "Expert Settings" I could use so that they upload in just a couple of hours and still look reasonably clear? Obviously I know next to nothing, so please speak slowly.
posted by HotToddy to computers & internet (12 answers total)

Currently there is no way to deal with this besides uploading in a higher-quality version with a larger file-size. Other than that, you're going to have to tell us what you mean by "reasonably clear," since this can be different for different types of videos. For instance, a bunch of slides with text vs. sports action.
posted by rhizome at 2:26 PM on January 18, 2012

It's sports action--many short clips in real time, then slow motion, over and over.
posted by HotToddy at 2:40 PM on January 18, 2012

Uploading in a higher-quality is going to be your only option, then. Sorry. I'd try rendering them to 720p (HD) and 480p (DVD) and see how they come out. I did find a somewhat comprehensive article A/B'ing different encodings, which may be helpful.
posted by rhizome at 2:49 PM on January 18, 2012

I was afraid that would be the answer! Thank you for your help, at least now I won't feel I'm missing the secret to fast uploads. Is the large file size the reason they sometimes fail to process? Because that never happens when I upload them in lower quality.
posted by HotToddy at 2:55 PM on January 18, 2012

Is the large file size the reason they sometimes fail to process? Because that never happens when I upload them in lower quality.

It's hard to say. Is there an error message beyond "failed?"
posted by rhizome at 3:45 PM on January 18, 2012

It's because the high quality files are much, much larger than the low quality ones. What sort of internet connection do you have? Do you know anyone with a faster connection you could use for this? (cable, FIOS, etc)
posted by The Lamplighter at 3:46 PM on January 18, 2012

It's hard to say. Is there an error message beyond "failed?"

No, I can't remember the exact wording, but it doesn't convey any more information than that the video processing failed. And it doesn't tell you until after you've waited six blasted hours for the thing to upload.

What sort of internet connection do you have?

It's cable internet, I forget the upload speed but I tested it the other night and my husband said it's really pretty high "for residential." ??? I would test it again right now for you but I'm in the middle of trying to upload and I assume that would interfere with the test.
posted by HotToddy at 4:23 PM on January 18, 2012

I usually use:
Compression Type: H.264
Frame Rate: Current fps
Key Frames every 24 frames
[x] Frame Reordering
Data Rate: Automatic
Compressor Quality: High
Encoding: Best quality

rhizome's link is good too, if the above produces files that are too large to upload easily.
posted by nightwood at 6:10 PM on January 18, 2012

Thank you, I will try it next time. Can't be any slower than this.
posted by HotToddy at 7:50 PM on January 18, 2012

How large are these files, typically?
posted by The Lamplighter at 11:39 AM on January 20, 2012

It varies between about 300 and 900 MB. Most commonly around 500 MB.
posted by HotToddy at 3:06 PM on January 20, 2012

That's the size when exported to "full quality."
posted by HotToddy at 3:06 PM on January 20, 2012