Youtube Upload, increase quality/control (HQ hack obsolete)

[crazymonk848]

Thanks a lot, i'm trying those first steps right now - hopefully it'll turn out alot better

i still don't understand this part tho

If your source is anything other than that, letterbox it before uploading. You can use VirtualDub for that by adding a filter under the Video menu. Add the "resize" filter, set the right values, like "Maintain aspect ratio", and then resize to (for example) 448 w 336 h. with letterboxing.
You can also add a Sharpen filter below that and preview and set it to what looks good, etc.
You can add the x264 video for Windows encoder to use within vdub, and then use x264's "singlepass lossless" for Compression under the Video menu in vdub,
then save your avi and make your FLV out of that.
I'd use mencoder for that myself, but you can try Any Video Converter instead, if a batch file is too difficult for you.

[crazymonk848]

This one is much better http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvLQBpS_hqY

but what else could i do to make it just a little better at 1:14 so you can read it? if its possible. i'd really like that to be better, i'm trying some other things tho also..but i'm mostly jsut guessing

[stsin]

Even though YT is going HQ, I still feel sick that it's worse than what we can do with the same bitrate. And even though forcing HQ will be selectable in our profile, I'm afraid it will be with the mono (FMT=6) version. Expecting viewers to type fmt=18 on every video is asking too much.

After saying that, I've been messing with what to feed YT to improve it's conversion. I've already noticed that some MP4s (h264) look much better than others using the same clip. My personal PS3 profile with all the bells and whistles look much worse than the default H264 HQ profile, after YT converted it. After 8 more uploads, I'm close to pinpointing which x264 setting is causing it. But that led me to think about the almost endless other comparisons to do with other file formats. I really don't want to use WMV, lol. I even uploaded a very high bitrate XviD from using the -sameq option of a high bitrate H264. Was almost 300 megs, and after it got uploaded, took forever to do it's conversion...just to put a 'failed' marker on it the next day Personally, I think 640x480 at a fair bitrate is good enough. Noticing no difference when going higher. Probably can go lower.

Has anyone tried uploading an H264 in an FLV container, and seeing if the fmt=18 conversion will leave it unaltered? Or even a high bitrate flv for fmt=6 conversion?

[bayme]

Has anyone tried uploading an H264 in an FLV container, and seeing if the fmt=18 conversion will leave it unaltered? Or even a high bitrate flv for fmt=6 conversion?

Yes, and I did not succeed. That is to say, it gets converted whatever I upload, is my impression. I'm afraid they knew about the bypass for the 350 flv1 and 'bank on that' by not even checking. It's weird though, because the 349 kbit/s FLV1 bypass still works. In fact, they've left all my old ones alone, and only added those format 6 and 18 versions to them, which tells me the new HQ versions come from an entirely different server-software setup/system command.

After trying many times as mp4, flv, 600 to 700 kbit/s (I even tried a hex-edited header that lied it was (C) 2007 Google Inc. v06.24.2007), the conversions still looked like crap. I tried on this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVCBSIn_1j0&fmt=18 and this is the best I can get out of it, pretty much. This upload was encoded as large singlepass lossless x264 avi and it's a really tough one to convert (for anyone, really), because it has so much noise in it (most of it got lost in the conversions by YT though). Check the weird blocks appearing here and there. All because their encoder doesn't understand the tiny pixels of noise moving around all over the place. It wanted to make sharp edges where it didn't have to. (Can't blame Google/YT for that, but it was a good one to test with..)

By the way, it seems the biggest culprit for quality on YT is the amount of pixels of your upload. Try uploading a really sharp 320x240 and all 3 versions look wonderfully smooth.

I've also seen some different results from people using pixel-resolutions that are out of the ordinary. If your upload is not 4:3, they always seem to make the fmt=6 version (or something weird like that)..

[atropine]

So I have my target subjects in 320x240 resolution, and background in 160x120 resolution(upscaled). I feather between the masking so that the difference doesn't really show that much.

i don't like the theory of it,
but feel free to share a practical example of this procedure so someone might try it out.


tripp[/quote]

hey, I never saw this request before. I dont' think it really matters now that HQ has arrived, and people prefer padding the end to get extra resolutinon.

This is an example of always keeping the singer at 320x240, but always keeping the background at low resolution so the available data always is left for the singer, unless the background is the focal point for a particular scene. It works especially well with this video because of the dark areas. You may say, well why bother, dark areas don't eat up much data, but they did in this video, so I experimented doing this dual resolution thing. I believe the outcome is good, the singer is always in high quality (well 320x240 HQ) and although you can see that the background is of lower resolution it really doesn't detract because the background is not the focus for the viewer.

I experimented with this video, found it helped me keep the fast movement and frame rate and the singer in high quality, but never bothered doing this again. I think I like that blank padding at the end technique the best.

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=E9i6HqSEcWg

[ricardouk]

Hi everyone!

just a question about optimizing FLV videos under 350k, ive been using Mencoder and the following script to convert to FLV:

mencoder 123.avi -o men.flv -af resample=22050:0:0 -sws 9 -vf scale=320:-3,expand=320:240 -of lavf -ovc lavc -lavcopts vcodec=flv:vbitrate=285:trell:v4mv:mv0:mbd=2:cbp:aic:cmp=3:subcmp=3 -oac mp3lame -lameopts abr:br=48:mode=3

from the one i tried on this thread i achieved the best results with one and i like the way Mencoder automatically adds the black bars to preserve aspect ratio, does anyone know any furthertweaks i can add to the bat to increase quality?

A few months ago i tested mencoder and ffmpeg and Mencoder and ffmpeg gave me blocky results, so i only used Mencoder, recently i came across a script for ffmpeg that produces better quality encodes(still testing) but i dont know how to add the black bars like Mencoder does:

ffmpeg -i 123.avi -pass 1 -s 320x240 -ab 48k -ar 22050 -ac 1 -vcodec flv -b 285k -g 160 -cmp 3 -subcmp 3 -mbd 2 -flags aic+cbp+mv0+mv4+trell -y out.flv 

ffmpeg -i 123.avi -pass 2 -s 320x240 -ab 48k -ar 22050 -ac 1 -vcodec flv -b 285k -g 160 -cmp 3 -subcmp 3 -mbd 2 -flags aic+cbp+mv0+mv4+trell -y out.flv

does anyone know how to do it?

also Bayme on another thread posted the following bat for mencoder but on running it it open a dos window and closes itself again.

"c:\megui\tools\mencoder\mencoder.exe" "s:\m_s448.avi" -o m_s.flv -mc 0 -ofps 25
-srate 44100 -oac mp3lame -lameopts vbr=2:q=8:aq=0:mode=1:lowpassfreq=16500
-ovc lavc -of lavf -lavfopts format=flv -lavcopts vcodec=flv:vbitrate=300:keyint=200:
mbd=2:trell:v4mv:aic:cbp:last_pred=3:predia=4:dia=4:preme=2:vratetol=900:vpass=1

"c:\megui\tools\mencoder\mencoder.exe" "s:\m_s448.avi" -o m_s.flv -mc 0 -ofps 25
-srate 44100 -oac mp3lame -lameopts vbr=2:q=8:aq=0:mode=1:lowpassfreq=16500
-ovc lavc -of lavf -lavfopts format=flv -lavcopts vcodec=flv:vbitrate=300:keyint=200:
mbd=2:trell:v4mv:aic:cbp:last_pred=3:predia=4:dia=4:preme=2:vratetol=900:vpass=2

what im i doing wrong?


Thanks

[45tripp]

@atropine

again i meant a show of method, not content,
interesting singer though.


@ricardo

that's the best i could squeeze of mencoder.

i managed a bit better with ffmpeg,
to close the gap on mencoder but i don;t have it handy.

run the bayme .bat from the command console so you can see where it is failing.


tripp

[ricardouk]

Found out what was wrong with te last script, i had to put the everything in 2 lines instead of copy/paste.

45tripp do you know if its possible to scale the video( i think that mean preserve aspect ratio) in ffmpeg like with Mencoder? Or we can only do it by using an avisynth script ?

[45tripp]

Found out what was wrong with te last script, i had to put the everything in 2 lines instead of copy/paste.

i guessed that

45stripp do you know if its possible to scale the video( i think that mean preserve aspect ratio) in ffmpeg like with Mencoder? Or we can only do it by using an avisynth script ?

forgot to answer that.
no, you can't autoscale in ffmpeg.
you have to manually calculate.

you could probably create your own autoscale script, but why not just use mencoder.


tripp

[ricardouk]

thanks, im using Mencoder for my conversions, just wanted to test ffmpeg again and compare results.

ive made a avisynth script and upon looking at the 2 results with same settings i can see there are parts where Mencoder is better than FFmpeg and vice-versa, will upload those 2 samples tomorrow.

Once again thanks

[stsin]

A few months ago i tested mencoder and ffmpeg and Mencoder and ffmpeg gave me blocky results, so i only used Mencoder, recently i came across a script for ffmpeg that produces better quality encodes(still testing) but i dont know how to add the black bars like Mencoder does:

ffmpeg -i 123.avi -pass 1 -s 320x240 -ab 48k -ar 22050 -ac 1 -vcodec flv -b 285k -g 160 -cmp 3 -subcmp 3 -mbd 2 -flags aic+cbp+mv0+mv4+trell -y out.flv 

ffmpeg -i 123.avi -pass 2 -s 320x240 -ab 48k -ar 22050 -ac 1 -vcodec flv -b 285k -g 160 -cmp 3 -subcmp 3 -mbd 2 -flags aic+cbp+mv0+mv4+trell -y out.flv

does anyone know how to do it?

Can use -padtop and -padbottom.

So for 16/9 AR: -s 320x180 -padtop 30 -padbottom 30

(well, it's not autoscaling, but can have separate scripts for common ARs.)

[Koppel]

Need advice on how to use avisynt scripts with automen (mencoder) and avanti (FFmpeg).
My source is usually DV... sometime in near future HDV

What am I doing wrong?

- create new folder
- I put the file 001.avi in this folder
- I make a txt file which contains the script and name it 001.avs (assuming the script needs the same name as the input)
- change the input/output filenames in the script to match my filenames
- load the *.avs file into avanti or mencoder

Using ricardouk script:

mencoder 123.avi -o men.flv -af resample=22050:0:0 -sws 9 -vf scale=320:-3,expand=320:240 -of lavf -ovc lavc -lavcopts vcodec=flv:vbitrate=285:trell:v4mv:mv0:mbd=2:cbp:aic:cmp=3:subcmp=3 -oac mp3lame -lameopts abr:br=48:mode=3

Automen gives an error: Attention! Computed bitrate is less than 50...

Can anyone explain how to use these scripts properly with automen?

[ricardouk]

Hi!

Its not my script, its 45trip script.

You should name the file "something.bat" not "something.avs"

you've put a mencoder script on a avisynth script, thats why it gives out the error

1- put mencoder, the video source and the script on a folder, making sure the extension is "bat"

2 - click on the bat fie twice

3- thats it, just wait

[Hotcooler]

I tested some different FLV's and that's the best I can get out of ~340kbit limit on youtube. 480x360 @ 25fps, 264 video bitrate, 64 - audio.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUTVcRe6HnE

ffmpeg -i %input% -vn audio.wav

lame --abr 64 audio.wav --resample 44.1 -q0 audio.mp3

ffmpeg -i audio.mp3 -acodec copy audio.flv

ffmpeg -i %input% -pass 1 -an -vcodec flv -b 264k -r 25 -g 300 -cmp 2 -subcmp 2 -mbd 2 -flags aic+cbp+mv0+mv4+trell+umv+gmc+obmc video.flv

ffmpeg -i %input% -pass 2 -an -vcodec flv -b 264k -r 25 -g 300 -cmp 2 -subcmp 2 -mbd 2 -flags aic+cbp+mv0+mv4+trell+umv+gmc+obmc video.flv

ffmpeg -i video.flv -vcodec copy -i audio.flv -acodec copy output.flv

It's the best I can get out of it... P.S. For some reason cant change "-me". I believe it may help quality a bit.

P.S. Tried to match youtube conditions to get video converted to HQ... Source: 1280x720 @ 60fps...

Got this : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRWgOMExd3w

Converted to FLV with that settings got this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jorHYP1bxaY

Pretty good. But it's good conditions - really low motion.

[ricardouk]

ive been experimented for months with this scripts and 45tripp mencoder script had teh best results for me, ffmpeg produces more blocks.

Animation videos/cartoons are easier to compress, less blocks, have you tried any other video source?

[Zfree]

Has anyone else found that the 350 Kbps re-encoding bypass no longer works? I just uploaded a 480x360 video that's 344 Kbps with static frame padding. For a few minutes it shows up fine without being re-encoded. After several minutes it gets re-encoded and the resolution is resized to 320x240. Funny enough the lower quality re-encoded file is larger and has a bitrate of 364 Kbps.

I haven't tested out 320x240 <350 Kbps videos and <350 Kbps videos without padded frames to see if they still work though.

My last working <350Kbps upload was 1 week ago. Maybe the change happened on the May 16th maintenance.

[k.]

[MyDanny]

Hey guys.

I got huge problems getting ANY quality changes uploading videos on youtube.
They ALL look horrible and i cant understand it.

I tried the method at the first side (ff and ME).

Also tred those:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=03p3UlvkAT4 (WMV Method)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1LuS2n9_c8&NR=1 (ANother WMV)
Also tried the VMUTUBE Method (Batch File using encoders to create a FLV).

Then i tried like 10-15 different own settings.
Like mp4,avi and wmv. Mostly used Xvid or h.264.
Used 320x240, also 448x336, sometimes 640x480.
I played with alle the friggin settings !

ALL my tests on Youtube looked as crappy as before !
There were huuuuge artifacts.
The only thing that looked like i want it were the pictures i used in my fast motion video.

I can tell you, my source file has a nice quality !
Also most of the FLV files with your method here looked very nice when they came out !
But when they were uploaded they sucked.
They all had under 350K and i used also the HEX Editor.
I read every Tip. My CAM is recording with 4:3, i checked that also out !

Im really sad and im not an idiot ... It cant be that hard ! 10 year old kids upload better stuff with Windows Movie Maker. Is Vegas 8 the matter ?

Or is there a bug with the Youtube-Uploader ?
(I use this 2nd Uploader, cause the FLASH doesnt work - the one youtube offers if the other does not work).
Or isnt it possible to load videos with a good quality up ? Did they completely fix it ?
I dont wont HD mega clear videos, i want a normal quality !

[connect]

Hello,

I haven't gotten time to scan all the posts in this thread but as i see youtube updates it's quality settings quite often and i can't keep in pace... My best quality i've gotten is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9oVWbf4Jl8&fmt=18

What are good settings currently? I have tried so many different things, programs, encoders.. but no good... could anyone help me out? What settings to use converting uncompressed avi? Could anyone quote some tutorial if it's posted some pages before in this thread or something.

cheers!

4

[Zfree]

You guys probably want to look at this thread. They talk about uploading non-FLV video files to get the higher quality option. The thread here is mostly about uploading FLVs that's under <350Kbps. It won't work with wmv, avi, etc...

I can tell you, my source file has a nice quality !
Also most of the FLV files with your method here looked very nice when they came out !
But when they were uploaded they sucked.
They all had under 350K and i used also the HEX Editor.

The hex method hasn't been working for a while. Look at the 1st post. Recently the <350Kbps method no longer works for me but I'm trying to see if anyone else has the same problem. Anyone successfully or unsuccessfully uploaded a <350Kbps after May 16th and didn't get it re-encoded?

[Koppel]

Anyone successfully or unsuccessfully uploaded a <350Kbps after May 16th and didn't get it re-encoded?

Yes I uploaded 448x336 flv files to certainly know if they get re-encoded or not. My first try was at 348Kbps or so, didn't pass. Next try was at a lower bit rate, 311Kbps and that passed fine.
Later I tried 346Kbps and that also passed without re-encoding.

So if the <350Kbps trick doesn't work, lower the bit rate just a little and it might pass.

[MyDanny]

1) How to create a file (batch i guess ?) that runs on click MEncoder with
the commands given on first side of the thread ?!

I tried some batch, but it never worked.
What to write in it exactly ?

Dont want to copy in CMD !

2) I use the MEcoder Script given ... vbitrate:400 <--- is this what sets the bitrate ?
Cause i set this to 310 and when i check my FLV file, MediaInfo says: over 500 Bit Rate ???
How to get exactly what i want OR at least around 310 ?

[frifox]

today i tried uploading a 140Kbps FLV file, and it got re-encoded to LQ 10 minutes after uploading. tried many variations of this trick, still same result...

uploading the "<350Kbps FLV" trick doesnt work anymore

[Koppel]

today i tried uploading a 140Kbps FLV file, and it got re-encoded to LQ 10 minutes after uploading. tried many variations of this trick, still same result...

uploading the "<350Kbps FLV" trick doesnt work anymore

It does work... just uploaded a 347Kbps 448x336 video, didn't get re-encoded. And it was instantly avaliable: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Hn8dMyvyV4
God damned... It was up at first, I was watching it and it stopped playing. When I tried to watch it again it was encoded to lower resolution.

The video I put up May 19-th is still 448x336, so it worked then... I'll do lower bitrate tests to confirm that it doesn't work anymore.
EDIT: Yeah, same shit with 307Kbps. Was up and not re-encoded at first but then got re-encoded. Youtube sucks!

[saberina]

I'm really sick to upload video to youtube, the video and audio is so bad. Can anyone tell me how can i get it works better?
i don't want u said before , it's really complax.
I just want the simple ways, please.

[mikejf]

it appears that beginning on May 20 youtube is re-encoding all uploads. My flv uploads that used to stay unencoded, are now being reencoded to LQ. However, this person on YT has managed to upload HQ STEREO even after May 20. Take a look at their recent posts (after May 20). What is the trick?:

http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=miraclemilktea

look at the three recent uploads- they are flv, but why did they remain in hq?

[MyDanny]

Please, i know it is not the "perfect" thread for this question (i already asked), but i would be so happy if you guys could answer it, since it is ecnoding-related (MEcoder):

---
How to create a file (batch i guess ?) that runs on click MEncoder with
the commands given on first side of the thread ?!

I tried some batch, but it never worked.
What to write in it exactly ? I also found an example somewhere on this forum, but there were placeholders (for the commands) and sometimes i did not know what to write in.

thx !

Dont want to copy in CMD !

[SpongeFreak52]

Well, I'm gonna see if uploading through "jp.youtube.com" will make a difference. I will seriously leave YouTube if I can't upload in high quality anymore. I'm so fed up with YouTube right now.

[mikejf]

Well, I'm gonna see if uploading through "jp.youtube.com" will make a difference. I will seriously leave YouTube if I can't upload in high quality anymore. I'm so fed up with YouTube right now.

that's a good idea, I was thinking of that...let us know if works. If there is no way to upload in stereo, I'm done with YT. A good alternative is dailymotion, which now allows HD video.

[SpongeFreak52]

Hm. So far so good. It's still in HQ, but it may be processing in lower quality. I'll have to wait a while...

Note that this video was uploaded through jp.youtube.com, with the name "get_video.flv".

EDIT: Did NOT work.

I've contacted the person who still manages to upload in HQ. Seems like they have a special method.