The following are my notes on what I have found works best for posting videos to YouTube in HD on our YouTube channel, that after some processing on YouTube’s part will be available in HD. The below steps focus on Adobe Media Encoder, but there is nothing specific to that application, these settings would work for any encode.
These settings have been developed after a lot of trial and error, and I have found they produce great looking video that is not huge in file size.
Step 1: Upload a HD video to YouTube with the following specifications:
-When using Adobe Media Encoder -
Video:
Compression: H.264
Size: 1280×720 px (HD/High Definition)
Bit Rate: 3000-5000 kbits/sec (Most say 4000 Kbits is the sweet spot)
Deinterlaced
Frame Rate: 30
Field Order: Non (Progressive)
Pixel Aspect Ratio: Square Pixles (1.0)
Audio:
Apple Lossless 32Khz or 44Khz Stereo, or MP3 128kbps or AAC 128kbps.
Un-check everything else in Filters, Alternates and Others
After using those settings YouTube will take a lifetime to transcode. The first available video tends to look like junk, they are still processing the HD video in the background.
Step 2: Enable High Definition:
To enable HD viewing on a high definition YouTube video, just add to the end of the URL:
“&fmt=22″(without the quotes) or click the Watch in HD link below the video.
To enable HD embedding, first copy the video embed code and paste it to your web page. Then add
“&ap=%2526fmt%3D22″(without the quotes) at the end of the video URL in the embed code, note that you need to add it in two places (the lines with your video ID).
To get a widescreen embed player, just change the sizes values “width” and “height” to “595″ and “360″.
The above notes are for Adobe Media Encoder, but those generally settings will work for any encoding application, including ffmpeg and even QuickTime.
