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

[mikejf]

same here, appears you have to wait 48 hours now, my vid that was untouched for 27 hours finally got re-encoded this morning

[frifox]

i guess youtube decided to cheat, make our waiting time for hq test results muuuch longer, and therefore giving them more time to patch the holes we found

[SpongeFreak52]

I need to stay more active on this topic.

I just found out that the "new" VMuTube method doesn't work anymore. Didn't last long. =(
Gonna give the 16x12 method a shot.

[frifox]

ok, i made 4 videos with:
- 1st frame - 480x360@25fps
- 2nd frame - 16x12@25fps
- 3rd frame - actual 480x360 video @ 10fps

all of them got converted, BUT they all stayed HQ for waaaay longer than the other test vids

times before going LQ:

• test vid 1 - 24hrs
• test vid 2 - 17hrs
• test vid 3 - 26hrs
• test vid 4 - 28hrs

other test vids which had first frame of 16x12 stayed HQ so this "dynamic resolution" / "w16" method works ONLY if the first frame is very small, like 16x12 or so... and that what makes the thumbnail so pixelated (16x12)

NOTE: i found first frame of 19x14 to work as well

[SpongeFreak52]

Can we get an "all-in-one" post to explain exactly how this trick is supposed to work?

I'm encoding FLVs with ffmpeg, but when I use the hexalter script that frifox gave, it doesn't do much different than having some gray blotches appear at the beginning.

[frifox]

if you are bad at HEX-ing, here's an alternative (which also does NOT produce gray-artifacts hehe):

• Make 16x12 black PNG image in Photoshop
• Save it as "16x12.png" to folder where FFMPEG resides
• Open CMD, and browse to the folder with FFMPEG and 16x12.png
• Run this command:
  ffmpeg -loop_input -f image2 -i 16x12.png -vcodec flv -r 25 -g 1 -t .04 -sameq pad-16x12.flv
  *** the code above, will make a 16x12 FLV video lasting only 1 frame (40miliseconds)
• combina that one 16x12-frame FLV video to your actual FLV video:
  FlvBind uTubeVideo-patched.flv pad-16x12.flv uTubeVideo.flv
  *** for the command above, you'll need "FlvBind" program... google for it and you'll find it, first link
• upload the produced "uTubeVideo-patched.flv" video
• uploaded video will have pixelated thumbnail, but it will stay HQ

[SpongeFreak52]

Alright frifox! Thank you very much. I never was one for hexing. Only seems to work for me on Nintendo DS ROMs. xD

Anyhoo, I'll give that a try and let you know how it goes.

[yeoz]

FlvBind uTubeVideo-patched.flv pad-16x12.flv uTubeVideo.flv
*** for the command above, you'll need "FlvBind" program... google for it and you'll find it, first link

Oh. I was already using flvmerge for something like this. Started using flvmerge back when the padding-trick still worked to pad stuff with smaller 8x8 frames instead of full frames. Wonder if flvmerge will work the same way that flvbind does. (Although, I usually run the entire file through a direct-stream-copy using mencoder anyway... and, i still had corrupt thumbnails when I did that.)

Edit: just tried the above, but, using mencoder + flvmerge instead of ffmpeg + flvbind and got a "Failed (unable to convert video file)" error from youtube.

[Golgota]

if you are bad at HEX-ing, here's an alternative (which also does NOT produce gray-artifacts hehe):

• Make 16x12 black PNG image in Photoshop
• Save it as "16x12.png" to folder where FFMPEG resides
• Open CMD, and browse to the folder with FFMPEG and 16x12.png
• Run this command:
  ffmpeg -loop_input -f image2 -i 16x12.png -vcodec flv -r 25 -g 1 -t .04 -sameq pad-16x12.flv
  *** the code above, will make a 16x12 FLV video lasting only 1 frame (40miliseconds)
• combina that one 16x12-frame FLV video to your actual FLV video:
  FlvBind uTubeVideo-patched.flv pad-16x12.flv uTubeVideo.flv
  *** for the command above, you'll need "FlvBind" program... google for it and you'll find it, first link
• upload the produced "uTubeVideo-patched.flv" video
• uploaded video will have pixelated thumbnail, but it will stay HQ

okay, i get u Fri, but how bout with 480x360 png? maybe for this one i need to HEX it right??

[si_edgey]

Fri...you are a gentleman and a scholar. Thank you so much for sharing your bountiful knowledge! I am finding that when I Flvbind my two videos together I am left with no audio...does this software support keeping the audio stream of the original video?

[Golgota]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=d49nXpw1tKg

Fri, what re the code to make the full png fully appear?

[frifox]

thumbnail is actually a 19x14 icon on top-left in the middle of the video...
i generate it by feeding this AVISynth script through FFMPEG:


AVISynth Script (for making "PNG+MP3" kind of videos):

# SCRIPT VARIABLES #
audiosource="audio.mp3"
videosource="video.png"
framerate=1
thumbduration=6

# SET AUDIO/VIDEO #
audio1 = directshowsource(audiosource)
duration1 = audio1.Audiolength / audio1.Audiorate
video1 = ImageSource(videosource, end=duration1, fps=framerate).ConvertToRGB32

# ADD MINI THUMBNAIL #
duration2 = (duration1 - thumbduration) / 2
thumb1 = imagesource(videosource, end=thumbduration, fps=framerate).ConvertToRGB32.lanczos4Resize(19,14)
thumb2 = blankclip(thumb1, length=duration2, color=$000000)
thumb3 = blankclip(thumb1, length=duration2, color=$000000)
thumb4 = thumb2 + thumb1 + thumb3
video2=Layer(video1, thumb4)

# RETURN FINAL VIDEO #
return(video2)

if you dont know how to use AviSynth, just use Sony Vegas or any other tool to add the small 19x14 thumbnail-icon to your video...

[SmashKing]

I've JUST uploaded an HQ Video using IMuTube:

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

Let's see how long this lasts.

P.S: I used the 16x12 trick. The thumbnail isn't pixelated. Not yet anyway.

[frifox]

why dont u just wait 24hrs and if its still hq, THEN post the link here?

[melpaik]

Hi, i'm not completely new to this but I really dont understand most of what everyone is saying.
Is it possible to tell me where to read to understand, would I understand if I read this whole topic. I want to experiment with the videos with hexing and other things, but all I know is the vmutube method with vegas.
Thanks.

[SpongeFreak52]

Is the FLV that's been combined with the 16x12 PNG supposed to be significantly smaller than the normal FLV? (27MB > 18MB)

And melpaik, exactly what are you not getting? Try reading Frifox's little step-by-step a little higher on this page.

[melpaik]

Is the FLV that's been combined with the 16x12 PNG supposed to be significantly smaller than the normal FLV? (27MB > 18MB)

And melpaik, exactly what are you not getting? Try reading Frifox's little step-by-step a little higher on this page.

Thanks, i'll try reading his steps more carefully.

[SpongeFreak52]

I'll be darned. The 16x12 method is working so far.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QP7beDK86l8

But it has a shockingly low bitrate (236kbps) for 640x480 resolution. Why is this?

[mikejf]

if you are bad at HEX-ing, here's an alternative (which also does NOT produce gray-artifacts hehe):

• Make 16x12 black PNG image in Photoshop
• Save it as "16x12.png" to folder where FFMPEG resides
• Open CMD, and browse to the folder with FFMPEG and 16x12.png
• Run this command:
  ffmpeg -loop_input -f image2 -i 16x12.png -vcodec flv -r 25 -g 1 -t .04 -sameq pad-16x12.flv
  *** the code above, will make a 16x12 FLV video lasting only 1 frame (40miliseconds)
• combina that one 16x12-frame FLV video to your actual FLV video:
  FlvBind uTubeVideo-patched.flv pad-16x12.flv uTubeVideo.flv
  *** for the command above, you'll need "FlvBind" program... google for it and you'll find it, first link
• upload the produced "uTubeVideo-patched.flv" video
• uploaded video will have pixelated thumbnail, but it will stay HQ

firfox, a few questions about this method:

1. will the 16x12.png 1 frame flv be joined at the front or at the end of the main flv?


2. does the main flv (when video) need any special processing, or can it be created in any flv maker? what specs?

3. when hex editing the resolution to something very small like 16x12, which I think you said also works, have you also tried a extremely large false resolution like 9999x9999?

[frifox]

1. will the 16x12.png 1 frame flv be joined at the front or at the end of the main flv?


2. does the main flv (when video) need any special processing, or can it be created in any flv maker? what specs?

3. when hex editing the resolution to something very small like 16x12, which I think you said also works, have you also tried a extremely large false resolution like 9999x9999?

1. in the beginning

2. no, but i make my FLV's with my imutube/vmutube script

3. no i havent tried that. try it and report back

[bayme]

works ONLY if the first frame is very small, like 16x12 or so... and that what makes the thumbnail so pixelated (16x12)

NOTE: i found first frame of 19x14 to work as well

I wouldn't be surprised if the limit is at 100x100, i.e. make sure your first frame-size requires only 2 digits in pixels for width and height. Currently miss the time to test this.

[NorskTorsk]

HI, I also use FLVMerge. Its so simple:

Command: FLVMerge video1.flv video2.flv

Thats it.

Oh, and video1.flv is more than one frame. Like 4 seconds with a sound effect added. res 16x12.
video2.flv is encoded with VMutube 1.1.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3I2uXIBkK9Q

edit: frifox, have you tried using flvtool2 to change metadata width and height back from 16x12 to 480x360 ?

[SmashKing]

why dont u just wait 24hrs and if its still hq, THEN post the link here?

Sorry, I forgot. I was just excited that I got it working. Won't happen again. :/

[SpongeFreak52]

Hey frifox, the script you provided for making the 16x12 FLV, I always get the error that .04 is not a valid time measurement, so I have to use a full second. Any reason why it would do this?

It's not a problem at all, only 1 second, I'm just curious.

[frifox]

frifox, have you tried using flvtool2 to change metadata width and height back from 16x12 to 480x360 ?

i had that idea for a while but havent gotten to test it... did you try it?

EDIT: tried padding the start with 16x12 and hexing it back to 480x360 - didnt work... uploaded 2 test vids and one of them went LQ after 1hr

[astin]

my hexalter video stays HQ more than 24 hrs.
some green noise in the beginning.

then I try the FlvBind tonight. all videos stay more than one hour.

[SmashKing]

Sorry for being annoying, but I can't find how to find Hex codes for time, resolution, and such. Like, why is 0A 10 00 10:59?

Thanks

[mikejf]

Sorry for being annoying, but I can't find how to find Hex codes for time, resolution, and such. Like, why is 0A 10 00 10:59?

Thanks

use a tool that converts between hex, decimal, etc. I use a free tool called Quick Number Base Converter:

http://www.sb-software.com/baseconverter/

[mikejf]

example, using Quick Number Base Converter, I enter 0A1000 in the hex box and it displays the decimal as:

659456

video runs in 100th/secs so 659456/60=10.990933 minutes

[SpongeFreak52]

Put up a video yesterday using the FLVBind tool, and it hasn't been degraded in quality. It's about 1:00, and it looks fantastic. Better yet, it's not even 300kbps! I think this tool is far more efficient than any other.