What codecs work great for Virtualdub2 and Youtube?

[Guernsey]

I am trying to look for alternative methods to upload to Youtube without using Cyberlink but I want to also change the aspect ratio to 4:3 and make it in HD. PowerDirector is good for what it is but I need something that I use to able upload multiple videos directly.

I have a few questions:

1. How do I change the aspect ratio to 'fool' Youtube into making HD? And with losing the quality?
2. What codecs work best for having quality but low disc space? What settings work for Xvid or x264 10 bit/8 bit?
3. What size works for videos with black bars?

[manono]

1.Aspect ratio has nothing to do with whether or not you get HD on YouTube. Resolution does. To get Hi-def it has to be 720p or higher. You can pad it out with a letterboxing if you wish. However, if it's not Hi-def to begin with, I think you're wasting your time upscaling to Hi-def.

2. YouTube likes MP4 with H264 video and AAC audio.

3. That question makes no sense as written. Can you be more specific? Encoding black bars into the video is silly in my opinion, now that YouTube has its adaptable player. Crop them away, I say.

[Guernsey]

The third question is all about cropping the the black bars on the videos. I guess I wasn't clear when I wrote them.

[manono]

If it was about cropping away black bars, then crop them away before encoding. The question still makes no sense, though. What size is best? Whatever size results in the quality you want. That's what 1-pass quality-based (CRF) encoding is for.

[davexnet]

Similar question from two months ago
https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/390286-How-to-resize-and-upload-Youtube-Videos-in-HD#post2529541

When he says "size" does he really mean "resolution" ? It's hard to tell

[Guernsey]

Similar question from two months ago
https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/390286-How-to-resize-and-upload-Youtube-Videos-in-HD#post2529541

When he says "size" does he really mean "resolution" ? It's hard to tell

That is what I meant, I was referring to the video resolution where I can somehow get rid of the black bars from my video dumps