# How do I make my youtube vids good quality?



## WolfoxOkamichan (Aug 2, 2008)

I mean, I already have ffmpeg and VirtualDub, which was able to make the size of the video decent without having to sacrifice quality. The resolution of the vid is also the one in the youtube uses (not the 320 x 240 crap they wanted you to upload).

However, when the vid loads, it looks crap. I have to add the &fmt=18 to make it look better. Case in point, take a look at this and this.

Compare those to this, which is high quality right off the bat.


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## Aden (Aug 2, 2008)

You converting to H.264?


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## WolfoxOkamichan (Aug 2, 2008)

???

I is clueless. X_x


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## Truhls (Aug 2, 2008)

H.264 is a slightly newer format used for High Def videos.


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## WolfoxOkamichan (Aug 2, 2008)

How do I use it in virtualdub?

Edit - I encoded again with that compression but still youtube makes it crap. =(


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## reigoskeiter (Aug 3, 2008)

do you have dvix player?


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## Rhainor (Aug 3, 2008)

By default, YouTube will always load the basic, crap-quality version of any video.  All the *&fmt=18* does is tell YouTube to use the higher-quality version of the video if one is available.

If you look at my YouTube profile, all the Rock Band/Guitar Hero 3 videos (actually a PC game called Frets on Fire) were uploaded in 640x480 H.264 mp4.  If you just click 'em, they'll look like crap, but add that little string to the end, and they get a lot clearer.

If you're logged in, there's a setting you can use to tell the site you prefer high-quality and to use it whenever possible.


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## Draco_2k (Aug 3, 2008)

It depends on the user preferences.

http://www.youtube.com/video_quality_settings

Most of the time you'll get a "Watch in Higher/Standard" quality line to the bottom-right of the video.


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## WolfoxOkamichan (Aug 3, 2008)

But how come that last link I gave has high quality without that &fmt=18


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## Draco_2k (Aug 3, 2008)

WolfoxOkamichan said:


> But how come that last link I gave has high quality without that &fmt=18


It doesn't.


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## WolfoxOkamichan (Aug 3, 2008)

The IU trailer? Yes it is. It has no square pixels at all.


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## Draco_2k (Aug 3, 2008)

Does for me.

I think it's something to do with YouTube's quality-picking algorithm, it seems rather random.


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## AuroraBorealis (Aug 4, 2008)

i think if you paid youtube money for a subscription, your videos can be longer and they are in much better quality. I have followed all of the weird tips and tricks for making a video look as good as it can get and it still turns out shitty when i upload it to youtube.

solution, either find another hosting site, or pay a subscription to youtube.


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## WolfoxOkamichan (Aug 4, 2008)

Argh. I guess he's paying then. >___<


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## Rhainor (Aug 4, 2008)

I didn't know there *was* such a thing as a paid YouTube account.  I think you're just not understanding the system.

The *&fmt=18* is not the only way to get high quality (henceforth abbreviated "HQ").  The "video quality" setting linked above will cause videos to occasionally or usually be displayed in HQ if HQ is available for that video.  However, sometimes it will display low-quality video even when HQ is available and you have it set to "always HQ".

*Whether HQ is available depends on the quality of the file that was uploaded.*

All the *&fmt=18* does is to _force_ the player to use HQ if the HQ is available.

Compare these two links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8BoOgay9qY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8BoOgay9qY&fmt=18

If they look the same, then good, your video quality setting is both set to HQ and is working properly.  If the first one looks lower quality than the second, then either the setting is set to low quality or it's not working.

If the _second_ one looks worse, then something's just plain f'd up.


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## Aden (Aug 4, 2008)

From what I understand, the whole high-quality H.264 conversion stuff happened because Apple paid off YouTube to get everything converted. _Any_ video that I watch on my iPhone over WiFi is has very high quality, and I doubt that everything I watch is from people with these paid accounts. By contrast, if I view a video over the EDGE network, it's that low quality that you're talking about.

So, what can we surmise from this? There has to be a way to access the high-quality copy of the video you've uploaded, because it is indeed there.


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