How to maintain the video quality when posting it

Juergen

Maybe someone with video experience can give me a simple advise.

I am not a videographer by any means and I do not attempt to become one. But I just don't want to forget about this little video button on my DSLRs. So when I am out shooting stills and the situation is right, I also want to record what I see on video.
Nothing fancy, no big video editing, no music, no bells no whistles.
Just pure and simple.
The quality right out of the camera is excellent. I load them to iMovie, and cut them a bit.
When I then post them to Youtube the quality becomes a disgrace. Flickr gives me an error, it can't process my format (it is .mov).
Here are two links so you can see for yourself.




So what do I do wrong, how can I maintain the quality?

Jürgen

Ade

What version of iMovie? The new version of iMovie ('13) has limited export options.

In older versions of iMovie there are three main options:

1. Menu > Share > YouTube
2. Menu > Export Movie…
3. Menu > Export Using QuickTime

I would suggest using method #3, which allows you to fine tune the compression parameters. Unfortunately I believe this function has been removed in the '13 version of iMovie.

Juergen

Thanks Ade.
I have iTunes '11, so I do have those options. I uploaded again to Youtube as a .mov file. The quality is a bit better.
Then I used "Export using Quicktime" and chose mp4 and H.264 and the quality is again very bad.
What would be better settings?

Jürgen

Ade

Does the video quality look poor right after iMovie export (on your local computer), or only online after YouTube processes it?

There are limits to what you can do in iMovie, and YouTube is known for aggressive compression. Personally I prefer Vimeo for videos. You may want to upload the same file to both for comparison.

For iMovie export I use these settings as a starting point:

Export: Movie to QuickTime Movie (.mov file format)

Options:

> Settings…
> Compression Type: H.264
> Frame Rate, Key Frames (leave as default / as shot in camera)
> Frame Reordering checked

> Compressor Encoding: Best quality (multi-pass)
> Ignore the Quality (Least--Best) slide bar, we will set Data Rate instead

> Data Rate:
> Restrict to 10000 kbits/sec (for 720p) or 20000 kbits/sec (for 1080p)

> Optimized for: Streaming

Under > Filter, I don't use any filter on export

Under > Size, be sure to change the size to 720 HD or 1080 HD as appropriate

Under > Sound, leave as is

Under > Prepare for Internet Streaming
> Check option and select Fast Start from drop down


These are good to start with. I usually create a 30-second test clip from the timeline.

For testing you can reduce the video bit rates a bit, maybe 6000 kbits/sec for 720p. People say even this is overkill for 720p but I believe that garbage-in == garbage-out. Also, YouTube will periodically re-encode your videos as technology improves, so you want to always upload the best version possible.

Alternatively, instead of QuickTime, you can select "Movie to MPEG-4" on export. The settings will be similar. Under File Format select MP4, not MP4 (ISMA). Under Video Format select H.264. Data Rate would be 10000 kbits/sec as before. Select 720 HD or 1080 HD for the Image Size. Click Video Options, change Encoding Mode to Best Quality (Multi-pass). You can leave the Audio and Streaming tabs as is.

After export, check that the video looks fine, then upload to YouTube.

YouTube will re-encode the video under different resolutions (240p, 360p, 480p, 720p, 1080p). It might take awhile (> 1 hour) for HD versions to be ready, nothing to do but wait.

If the video has a lot of noise, be sure to run the video through a good noise reduction software. I prefer to do noise reduction early in the workflow. (I use Neat Video.)

Juergen

After export from iMovie on my local computer the videos are very fine, as long as I am leaving them in .mov format. MP4 has been the worst among all I tried.

I will try your settings.
Thanks a lot for your help.
Jürgen

PB_PM

I would suggest using method #3, which allows you to fine tune the compression parameters. Unfortunately I believe this function has been removed in the '13 version of iMovie.

Sort of. If you use the "File" (in iMovie 13) option under share you get a high quality full resolution file, which you can then export as you wish through Quicktime, or a superior video encoder. Personally I hate using the old iMovie or Quicktime because neither will take full advantage of multi-core CPUs or GPU acceleration, so encoding is extremely slow.

Example a 8 minute 1080p video file will take over 15 minutes to encode with iMovie 09 or Quicktime. iMovie 13? 2 minutes. End result? Equally high quality .mov file.