Vimeo/YouTube Settings

[BrandonChristensen]

I've found that my RED stuff doesn't look terribly sharp using the recommended Vimeo settings.

I see a ton of amazing looking films and music videos on Vimeo however, and they look incredibly sharp and the file sizes don't seem too high...

What's the secret? How can I retain the sharpness and detail in my footage?

 

[BrandonChristensen]

BTW, I'm talking about Final Cut 7.

 

[Andrew Gentle]

I like to upload ProRes when I can. YouTube reads it without issues, I think Video does too.

 

[Chris McKechnie]

Try not to export a 1080 file, but higher resolution, 4K/5K. You can still upload that file to vimeo/youtube even though vimeo for example, only supports 1080. When people scale it up on their computer, it uses the original file size, so it won't get soft.

Since you're in FCP7, create an MPEG 4 H264 at like 20MB/Sec via handbrake (free app).

 

[Dominik Muench]

all my vimeo stuff is 1280x720 in best quality ProRes LT.


you need to make sure your footage really is 720p, I had that issue a few times in the past where I uploaded files that were smaller or larger in resolution and then vimeo would automatically apply its weird up or downscaling conversion which is shocking.

 

[Paul Russell]

I always submit HD to Vimeo at 14-18Mbps encoding, two pass. I have a pro account and upgrade every video to full 1080p. It makes a difference.

 

[BrandonChristensen]

Those bitrates are so high compared to the 6500 or whatever Vimeo asks for.

I will have to try and render at those specs and test.

Thanks.

 

[Mark Phelan]

Brandon,

I've had good success with Vimeo and use FCP 7 with Compressor. I've made two custom settings in Compressor, one each for 1920x1080 and 1280x720. Here's the one for 720p which is what I use virtually all of the time because the 1920 settings are still a bit too much for the majority of my clients to view. Another thing I do is tell them to view the HD version which is located under the clip info / download button. That version plays very nicely and looks great. But here are the settings in Compressor I use:


Standard Video Compression Settings
Motion
Frame Rate: Current
Key Frames: Every 24 frames
Frame Reordering: checked

Data Rate: Restrict to 5000 kbps
Optimized for: Download

Compressor Quality: High
Encoding: Best Quality

Sound Settings:
Format: AAC
Channels: Stereo (L R)
Rate: 44.100kHz
Show Advanced Settings: checked
Render Settings:
Quality: Best
MPEG 4 AAC LC Encoder Settings:
Encoding Strategy: Constant Bit Rate
Target Bit Rate: 128kbps

Inspector:
Name: VIMEO 5000kpbs
Description: Makes 720p QT for Vimeo HD Service

File Extension: mov
Estimated size: 2.3 GB/hour of source
Audio Encoder: AAC, Stereo (L R), 44.100kHz
Video Encoder:
Format: QT
Width: 1280
Height: 720
Pixel aspect ratio: Square
Crop: None
Padding: None
Frame rate: (100% of source)
Selected: 23.976
Frame Controls On:
Retiming: (Fast) Nearest Frame
Resize Filter: Statistical Prediction
Deinterlace Filter: Better (Motion Adaptive)
Adaptive Details: On
Antialias: 0
Detail Level: 0
Field Output: Progressive
Codec Type: H.264
Multi-pass: On, frame reorder: On
Pixel depth: 24
Spatial quality: 75
Min. Spatial quality: 25
Key frame interval: 24
Temporal quality: 50
Min.temporal quality: 25
Average data rate: 5.12 (Mbps)

Geometry
Source Inset (Cropping)
Crop to: Custom
Left: 0
Right: 0
Top: 0
Bottom: 0

Dimensions (encoded pixels)
Frame Size: Width 1280 Height 720 1280x720
Pixel Aspect: Default for size
Output Image Inset (Padding)
Padding: Custom
Left: 0
Right: 0
Top: 0
Bottom: 0

 

[BrandonChristensen]

Awesome, thanks Mark! I'll test it out!

 

[stu aull]

Thx Mark!

Stu Aull
Alaska

 

[Alexander Mejia]

You'll want to make sure you're not doing a bilnear scale. Lancos4 method is a very sharp downscaling method if you want sharp footage.

I wouldn't trust Vimeo or Youtube to do any downscaling for me.