iMovie or FCPX exports for Youtube?

[Ifti]

Hi all,
I create videos for Youtube (using a Canon 650D DSLR) and tend to use iMovie as its quick and easy. Once created upload the video to YouTube via iMovie - so Share/Youtube.

This usually comes out OK, although when you have shadows or dark areas the quality is terrible. An example is here - look at the shows under my hands:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8jjDgUTLs8

Hence I have FCPX and am looking to move over to that for more advanced editing. I am also looking to hopefully achieve better quality projects.

Should I still be uploading directly from FCPX to YouTube, or should I first 'Export to Quicktime' and choose the H.264 format etc, and then upload to YouTube outside of FCPX??
What are the best settings to use (I generally upload in 720p)?

Thanking you in advance for any advice.

 

[Menneisyys2]

This usually comes out OK, although when you have shadows or dark areas the quality is terrible.

Dithering problems are common on YouTube - that's what to expect when using a relatively low bitrate. This issue is also very common with Apple's own iTunes movies - see the comparison pics at https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1340463/ (see the second pair of pics). And this is why there're ugly dithering effects on the top plate of the (rendered) iPhone around the speaker. You can't do much to this.

What are the best settings to use (I generally upload in 720p)?

For edited reviews of iOS stuff with comparatively small screen vids, you definitely should export in 1080p. (It won't fix your dithering problems though)

 

[daybreak]

The first thing you should do is plan your shoot and see what it looks like before capturing your image.
Your light setting with the hand was wrong as you well can see.
FCP-X will help with certain aspect of colour correction. It is a tool to achieve certain effect but very much misunderstood. Most people believe it can fix all problems.

 

[Ifti]

Thanks guys - yes I agree, my light setting was completely wrong, but I wanted to actually get the iPhone screen so didnt think the shadow on my hands would matter - just didnt think it would dither so much!

 

[Ifti]

Ok, so I had another go, and this time exported from iMovie via QuickTime.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ba8be3TDtoo
Results were much better (I guess my lighting was a bit better which contributed to the results).

However, which bit rate setting should I be using?? Ive been told I should be aiming for 10,000, but I selected 7,000 for the above video - is it a matter of the higher the better??

 

[nateo200]

Ok, so I had another go, and this time exported from iMovie via QuickTime.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ba8be3TDtoo
Results were much better (I guess my lighting was a bit better which contributed to the results).

However, which bit rate setting should I be using?? Ive been told I should be aiming for 10,000, but I selected 7,000 for the above video - is it a matter of the higher the better??

Video encoding is an art been doing it for 7 years. I really prefer Handbrake for lower bit rate encodes. I can throw in a bunch of more advanced x264 encoding settings along with a beefy bit rate and BAM it looks great. Also sometimes I use the H.264 for Blu-ray preset at about 8mbps in Compressor....7-10mbps for 720p is really good but it depends on how many reference frames and what settings were used, either way when you start going above 9-10mbps with H.264 720p the bit rate should help out. For YouTube uploads or Vimeo uploads I try and throw the biggest file I can manage at the uploader since its gonna re-encode the video AGAIN. I even uploaded straight ProRes 422 (HQ) to YouTube once.

Quicktime only does 1 or 2 reference frames in the encodes for compatibility but like I said before Handbrake really is more advanced and if you have Compressor thats great too. What I would do if you start to dislike Quicktime and exporting that way would be to download Handbrake. Now when you export, export as ProRes 422 (not Proxy or LT) and then make you encode off that file with the latest build of Handbrake. Depending on the content 1080p may be preferable to 720p especially as higher resolution devices come out. However don't worry TOO much about it just make sure to keep copy's of your edits in their master quality backed up.

 

[DisMyMac]

Now when you export, export as ProRes 422 (not Proxy or LT) and then make you encode off that file with the latest build of Handbrake.

I've been editing in ProRes then exporting uncompressed 10-bit. (No idea why, just figured big files are good.) Then encode using Handbrake presets.

Only glitch I've encountered is uploading to Facebook... videos get framed with black bars for some reason. Looks weird.