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

[reez]

hi, can someone please help me. Sometimes when i encode a movie to upload on youtube, it goes out of sync. I'm using winff and the movie is in avi. how do i fix this?

[45tripp]

be
specific
be be
specific

one would need a lot more details to be able to help,
and
optimally a source sample file that presents the problem.


(if you upload a sample I probably won't be able to look at it for some time)

[reez]

the sound is just faster than the video, WB removed my crap already,
winff settings:
video bit rate: 900
Frame rate: 30
video size: 480/360
convert to: flv for web use 4:3
audio bit rate: 256
audio sample rate: 44100

vid to be converted:
General #0
Complete name : C:\Rez Music\Ratatouille[2007]DvDrip[Eng]-aXXo\Ratatouille[2007]DvDrip[Eng]-aXXo.avi
Format : AVI
Format/Info : Audio Video Interleave
Format/Family : RIFF
File size : 702 MiB
PlayTime : 1h 51mn
Bit rate : 883 Kbps
StreamSize : 7.40 MiB
Writing application : VirtualDubMod 1.5.10.1 (build 2366/release)
Writing library : VirtualDubMod build 2366/release

Video #0
Codec : DivX 5
Codec/Family : MPEG-4
Codec profile : Streaming Video Profile/Level 1
Codec settings/Packe : No
Codec settings/BVOP : Yes
Codec settings/QPel : No
Codec settings/GMC : 0
Codec settings/Matri : Default
PlayTime : 1h 51mn
Bit rate : 762 Kbps
Width : 664 pixels
Height : 274 pixels
Display Aspect ratio : 2.423
Frame rate : 23.976 fps
Resolution : 8 bits
Chroma : 4:2:0
Interlacement : Progressive
StreamSize : 606 MiB
BitRate_Nominal : 752841.880

Audio #0
Codec : MPEG-1 Audio layer 3
PlayTime : 1h 51mn
Bit rate : 112 Kbps
Bit rate mode : CBR
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Sampling rate : 48 KHz
Resolution : 16 bits
Video0 delay : 2s 472ms
StreamSize : 89.0 MiB
Writing library : Xing (new)


note that this works with most files its just a few files that it gives the sync problem
thanks again for the help

[45tripp]

that tells me almost nothing

which is why samples are good

standard procedure,
put it in vdub, direct stream copy video,
and use full audio processing to go to uncompressed

convert the new avi file to flv.


why are you encoding to a bitrate higher than the one of source at a resolution a lot lower??
why are you going to a framerate of 30 when source is 23.976??

gl
tripp

[reez]

AHHH..cuz im a f*ckin idiot..i will try this. thanks for the help man
do you OWN VIDEOHELP YET?

[MrE]

This would have made an excellent article in 2600 magazine.

[reez]

another problem...how do i get the video to display the ACTUAL time after the HQ hack
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bx-nam90054

i asked him but he doesnt ANSWER
thanks

[Cornucopia]

You don't (at least not in normal window).

Have your read the guide at the beginning? It's explained there.

Scott

[reez]

....are you telling me it's NOT possible..because i just gave you an example to show that it IS possible..did you click the link?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bx-nam90054
if you click the button next to the fullscreen button on the player..you will see it NOT in 320/240, which means he used th HQ hack

[mkochsch]

Thank you for the excellent post, it's working great for me.
I'm using mEncoder and the hex editor in VirtualDub to encode and mod playtime or duration time, respectively.

Question: I'm shooting video on digital still cameras at 30 fps "progressive" all the time (m-jpeg). What options can I add or drop (for example, I'm thinking I don't need to deinterlace the video.)
Also, I'm trying to figure what the "trell" and mdb=2 options do in the line:

trell:v4mv:mv0:mbd=2:cbp:aic:cmp=3ubcmp=3

One last thing, on one test I tried to drop my frame rate, as suggested, from 30 to 20 by using the options cited in the original post and when I played the resulting flv back on mPlayer the whole thing was "fast-forward", i.e. it was still playing back at 30 fps. I never bothered to upload to YouTube however. Thx.

~m

[Salva Veritate]

I'm using WinFF and SUPER to convert to 580 kbps (5:50 video), and I'm still getting significant blocking.

[bayme]

I'm using WinFF and SUPER to convert to 580 kbps (5:50 video), and I'm still getting significant blocking.

I've had this too. It's because ffmpeg uses 4:2:0. One way to avoid it causing blocking is to have double, or almost double, the resolution of the target one as your source avi.
So, let's say you want 448x336 FLV1 as your result. ffmpeg does best when you feed it double that, i.e. 896x672 pixel resolution (and let ffmpeg do the resizing). One way to get a source like that is to upscale it with virtualdub or whatever you use in the first stages of videocreation..

[Salva Veritate]

Ohh, I think I gotcha. I've been feeding it 320x240 files (sourced from 720x540 I think) and it spits out at the same size. Which is stupid, I guess. Youtube is 448x336? I guess I'll try 896x672. Thanks!

[Salva Veritate]

D: Still getting blocking with both WinFF and SUPER, and a lot of it!

Converting from an XviD 896x672 1200 bitrate, 29.97 fps, 160 kbps mp3 audio to Sorenson H263 FLV 448x336 589 bitrate, 29.97 fps, 128 kbps mp3 audio.

[bayme]

Converting from an XviD 896x672 1200 bitrate, 29.97 fps, 160 kbps mp3 audio to Sorenson H263 FLV 448x336 589 bitrate, 29.97 fps, 128 kbps mp3 audio.

Try the source as is, so 720x540(?). As long as it's much bigger, close to double, of the target resolution, it should do fine. Converting from the same resolution seems not to be the best idea (or so I've learned in the ffmpeg users mailing list).

By the way, the reason I mention 448x336 is because it's a multiple of 16;
http://www.flashsupport.com/books/fvst/files/tools/video_sizes.html

What would be best for YouTube is a matter of what you create it for;
Current YT embed code uses 420x315, so if you use the FLV total user control option (hexedit etc.), in theory you should use that (except ffmpeg doesn't support it). If your viewers all look at it using the YouTube page of the video itself, I think it's 480x360. But, as you know, YouTube upscales from 320x240.

Here's a YouTube targeted ffmpeg commandline I use (without the linebreaks of course):

"c:\path.to\ffmpeg.exe" -i "d:\input_big.avi"
-acodec libmp3lame -ac 2 -ar 44100 -aq 8
-vcodec flv -s 448x336 -r 24 -qscale 12 -g 180 -cmp 3 -subcmp 3 -mbd 2
-flags aic+cbp+mv0+mv4+trell "d:\output.flv"

( this way you can use the latest ffmpeg compile from http://ffdshow.faireal.net/mirror/ffmpeg/ which also might rid you of some blocking.. )

I no longer use passes for a target bitrate, I let ffmpeg make its decisions based on the source-video, and use -qscale 11, 12 or 13. Also, -aq 8 creates VBR audio of around ~100 kbit/s, which is way sufficient.

[Salva Veritate]

I forgot to mention I have no idea what to do with code and I rely on GUIs for everything. =\

I used the source MPEG-2 lossless video and still got the same blocking. D= I'm using footage a friend shot of a band, and it's a 5:55 song so I can't encode to a much higher bitrate, because I won't clear the 350 kbps maximum after the cheat.

[bayme]

I forgot to mention I have no idea what to do with code and I rely on GUIs for everything. =\

I used the source MPEG-2 lossless video and still got the same blocking. D= I'm using footage a friend shot of a band, and it's a 5:55 song so I can't encode to a much higher bitrate, because I won't clear the 350 kbps maximum after the cheat.

Not so hard. Make sure you know the locations where your files are.
Let's say you download ffmpeg.exe, which is what you need for this.
It's packed in a 7zip file, for which you can even get a TotalCommander plugin;
http://www.totalcmd.net/plugring/7zip_plugin.html

Put the files from the 7zip in a place like c:\somefolder\ so the path for ffmpeg.exe will be:
c:\somefolder\ffmpeg.exe

Know where your source avi is. Let's say it's here:
d:\moviesfolder\inputmovie.avi

Then run notepad and create a new text-file with it, and save it as something ending with .bat, like ffencode.bat
remember where you store this file.

Inside ffencode.bat, you put:

"c:\somefolder\ffmpeg.exe" -i "d:\moviesfolder\inputmovie.avi" -acodec libmp3lame -ac 2 -ar 44100 -aq 8 -vcodec flv -s 448x336 -r 24 -g 120 -qscale 12 -cmp 3 -subcmp 3 -mbd 2 -flags aic+cbp+mv0+mv4+trell "d:\moviesfolder\output.flv"

(all should be one long line!)

Replace the stuff between " " signs with the right names for your situation.
When done, just run/double click the bat file.

By far the most important parts in the command line are the "-r" and "-g" values (which none of the GUIs offer you to change much). For moving video I'd go with a framerate of 18 as the lowest and 25 as the highest rate (for FLV as your target format). -r 24 is my personal favorite. If you're just showing still images pasted together making a video, try -r 12. If you use only 1 image for the entire video, use -r 1
Then there's the amount of keyframes or intra frames to put in, using -g. This is the most influential setting with regards to the size (and bandwidth requirement) of the resulting FLV. A keyframe is heavy in size;
-g 24 with -r 24 would give you 1 keyframe each second. -g 240 with -r 24 gives you 1 keyframe every 10 seconds, which is the minimum I would recommend, so don't use a higher number as your -g value than 10 times the framerate (the -r value in the command line in the bat file).
Remember, the lower the -g value, the bigger the FLV (and higher the bandwidth it needs).

[Salva Veritate]

Holy crap it worked! Thanks!

....Damn it. I'm still getting very visible blocking even though I used the block-free source video and encoded to **900+ kbps** with your method. I tried it out with 3 other clips and I still get poor quality videos. It seems that for some reason it's just impossible to get good quality FLV's, at least on my computer. =\

[reez]

is it possible to locate the string for the BITRATE..just wondering..i mean thre must be a way to change those numbers and leave the duration alone

[bayme]

is it possible to locate the string for the BITRATE..just wondering..i mean thre must be a way to change those numbers and leave the duration alone

No, that's not what happens here. The hexediting trick is a cheat;
YouTube checks the filesize and the duration of the content you've uploaded.
Both together make up the bandwidth it will use when played from YT's servers.
If that calculation says it's over 350 kbit/s, YT will re-encode it.

You let YouTube think it's a longer video than it actually is, so that their calculation comes up with a bandwidth use below 350 kbit/s. The calculation being done by YT is the same thing MediaInfo does (and shows). As explained in the first post..

[bayme]

....Damn it. I'm still getting very visible blocking even though I used the block-free source video and encoded to **900+ kbps** with your method. I tried it out with 3 other clips and I still get poor quality videos. It seems that for some reason it's just impossible to get good quality FLV's, at least on my computer.

This is why I explained how to use the commandline, so you can do a lot more with it than with the GUIs.
First, try and lower the framerate, but raise the amount of keyframes. Might rid you of blocks (but it all depends on what kind of video material it is). For example, use -r 16 -g 16 (a keyframe every second).

If you need lower bandwidth overall, change the -qscale 12 to -qscale 13, or 14, or 15.
With "-qscale" 1 is excellent quality and 31 is worst quality.

For more questions and solutions, do check the reference http://ffmpeg.mplayerhq.hu/ffmpeg-doc.html and the ffmpeg users mailinglist archives: http://news.gmane.org/gmane.comp.video.ffmpeg.user

[reez]

thanks for the info...BUT..i have a problem see when you watch this video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bx-nam90054
and then click on the resize button located next to the fullscreen button on the player...you will notice it doesnt go DOWN to 320/240 and it is still 2:18mins...YET, if i DOWNLOAD it and check it with medainfo, then it gives me 320/240 and even displays in 320/240 when playing it. so what gives

[ricardouk]

...you will notice it doesnt go DOWN to 320/240 ..

it does resize here using Firefox 2.0.0.11 and IE 7

[reez]

yes but NOT to 320/240
check any OTHER video and then recheck THIS one ...you will see it's a bit bigger

[bayme]

yes but NOT to 320/240
check any OTHER video and then recheck THIS one ...you will see it's a bit bigger

Can you please post this elsewhere? It has nothing to do with this thread.
By the way, it works fine here. The crappy cartoon sizes down to 320x240.

[reez]

thats just not possible..it doesnt go down to 320/240..more like 420/340. my browser is fine, its just THAT GuY'S VIDS THAT DO THIS. It has to do with manipulating the flv for youtube..which is what this thread is about...if there's a better place to post this please tell me.

[bayme]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bx-nam90054
and then click on the resize button located next to the fullscreen button on the player...you will notice it doesnt go DOWN to 320/240 and it is still 2:18mins...YET, if i DOWNLOAD it and check it with medainfo, then it gives me 320/240 and even displays in 320/240 when playing it. so what gives

If the video is 320x240 when you've downloaded it, it is also being played by YouTube as such. In fact, when I check this video in cache (from what YT actually plays back on their site) it IS 320x240.

Better check your eyesight, it looks as small as all the other videos.

[Spritemoney]

vp6 worked for me! (i like H.263 better), and I went over 350 Kbps and it still worked!

[bayme]

vp6 worked for me! (i like H.263 better), and I went over 350 Kbps and it still worked!

Show us the money, then.

[ricardouk]

link?