I have a blog.

Nerd stuff, pictures, and videos of cats.

YouTube Encoding Info

Uploading to YouTube is incredibly frustrating. They claim they accept a wide variety of formats, but once you get that clip online, it could be jittery, the audio might be out of sync, or the video might completely turn to static. YouTube's various help pages will even directly contradict their own specs.

I encountered this recently on some videos for a client. They uploaded one of our H.264 Quicktimes as a test and got a jittery picture. We followed all the suggested specs on YouTube's help page. No dice.

Here's what I learned after encoding and testing several different formats.

Don't use Adobe Media Encoder. And don't export your H.264's right from AfterEffects. If you have Quicktime Pro 7, try that. If you upgraded to Snow Leopard and are stuck with the new Quicktime, I'm very sorry. Try using Compressor.

QT Pro 7 and Compressor allow you to change one important little feature – Fast Start. At least, that's the one variable that seemed to do the trick for me.

Here are the specs I used for the successful HD upload:

Video:
• Compression Type: H.264
• Framerate: use the native framerate for your project (not sure what the cap is, but I wouldn't go over 30fps)
• Data rate: Automatic (you may be able to play with this)
• Pixel Aspect Ratio: Square
• Size: 1280x720 actual

Audio: AAC, 44.1Khz

Set Streaming to Fast Start – Compressed Header.

OR, you could just upload to Vimeo.

Filed under  //   tutorial   video  

Rejected Easter Ad

Just found this in my video files from last year. This was a shot we grabbed at the last minute during a shoot for an Easter candy ad. The only difference was that I took the place of the 6-year-old girl in this take.

Filed under  //   video  

5 seconds in the spotlight

Here's my bit in the agency's holiday staff meeting. There was a talent show, and a video played of people who "didn't make the cut."

Filed under  //   lol   video  

Goodbye, 2nd Floor Kitchen

Today our kitchen closed forever (or until the renovations are done). This is for you, kitchen.

Filed under  //   video   work  

It’s Keyboard Matt! This one’s DEFINITELY going viral!

Filed under  //   video  

Have you seen this new hit viral video? No? That’s cause I JUST MADE IT!

Filed under  //   video  

Set up my camera on the light fixture over my desk and let it run on a timer all day.

Filed under  //   video  

Video I put together for Mustache May to remember just how stupid we all looked.

Filed under  //   lol   video  

Went for a ride yesterday evening on the scooter.

Filed under  //   video