FCP 7: Compressing Video For YouTube

Posted on March 3, 2011 by Larry

[ This article was first published in the January, 2011, issue of

Larry’s Monthly Final Cut Studio Newsletter. Click here to subscribe.
Updated Jan. 15, 2012 adding information about FCP X and Compressor 4. ]

NOTE: Of all the articles I’ve written, this ranks number 3 in popularity and comments generated. However, it illustrates using older software; specifically Compressor 3, to compress your video. The MPEG-4 compression in Compressor 4 yield better results. For an article on Compressor 4 and YouTube, read this.

One of the features in both Final Cut Pro X and Final Cut Pro 7 is the Share option. This provides a variety of different compression settings for your project, one of which is YouTube. Whether you use FCP 7 or FCP X, this option allows us to export a sequence from Final Cut, compress it for YouTube, then transfer it to our YouTube account automatically.

While this simplifies file compression and is a very nice addition to the program, I don’t use it. Mainly because I find it easier to export a master version of my program, then create all the different versions I need from that master. This means that I need to figure out how to compress videos for YouTube using Compressor. In this regard, Brian Gary provided some advice to me a while back that I found very useful.

The key thing, he told me, that you need to understand is that YouTube ALWAYS re-compresses your video. Regardless of how small, or gorgeous, your file is when you upload it. Therefore, our goal is not to match YouTube settings, but to exceed them, so that when the video is re-compressed, YouTube won’t make the image quality worse.

While YouTube supports a maximum image size of 4K, the data rate for really large images is ridiculously high. For most web videos, given current download rates, the preferred image size is 1280 x 720. This means that when I shoot for the web, I shoot a 720p image. (Progressive is ALWAYS better for the web than interlaced. The advantage of shooting 1080i for repositioning/reframing shots is far out-weighed by the problems interlacing causes web video. 1080p is an ideal format, but not all cameras support it.)

EXPORTING

To export a high-quality movie from FCP X, use Share > Export Media. Leave the Video Codec set to Current Settings. In most cases, transcoding to ProRes during export will not improve image quality, it will only make your file sizes larger.

To export a high-quality movie from Final Cut Pro 7, use File > Export > QuickTime Movie. Again, leave the Setting at Current Settings.

Also, while we can’t create or export chapter markers in FCP X, we can do so in FCP 7. To make sure chapter markers export with your movie, change the Marker popup menu to DVD Studio Pro Markers. This adds markers to your movie which can be accessed in videos destined for DVD or H.264 files compressed for the web.

COMPRESSING

There is an Apple setting for YouTube in both Compressor 3 and 4, which you can locate by typing “YouTube” in the search box. (This screen shot is from Compressor 4.) If you are in a hurry, use this. However, you can provide higher image quality with more options by creating your own compression setting.

This tutorial illustrates the compression settings I use when compressing a video for YouTube. All the screens below are from Compressor 3.5.

In Compressor, create a new MPEG-4 movie in the Settings tab.

Select the new setting to load it into the Inspector. Give it a name and description – something that makes sense to you.

Click the Streaming tab and make sure your settings match mine in the image above.

Click the Audio tab and match my settings. Again, remember, you want to feed YouTube MORE data than it needs, so that your audio sounds good when YouTube is done recompressing it.

Here are the Video compression settings. Notice that Job Segmenting is turned off. Job Segmenting only has a purpose if you are working with compression clusters. I have not found these reliable, so I don’t use them. You can turn this off. Even if you leave this on, which is the default, it doesn’t really make a big difference.

Notice that the compression settings are set as high as possible. This guarantees that as much of the clip’s image quality will be preserved before sending it to YouTube.

At this point you can add filters, such as watermarks, timecode, or gamma compensation to customize your final image. Here’s a link that explains how to add watermarks during compression.

Finally, change the Geometry tab to create the correct image size. In my case, I set this to 1280 x 720, with square pixels.

Save your Settings, then apply these settings to your file and compress. Or, for even faster results, create a droplet and simply drag files on top of the droplet to compress them. Here’s a link that explains how.

Experience teaches me that these settings will create a file about 2.5 times bigger than if I were optimizing my settings to post this file directly to the web. However, I’m not. I’m optimizing for YouTube. Big difference.

As always, let me know what you think.

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92 Responses to FCP 7: Compressing Video For YouTube

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Bill says:

January 16, 2012 at 7:49 am

Thanks for posting this. It is an excellent resource that I am bookmarking. One thought of my own that I would like to add is this: Youtube is headed for Smart TV in the future so I think it is important to compress your files with the future in mind. Not really knowing where things will be, I always try to upload 1080p. When Youtube processes it, they will make an additional 1280 X720 version for you and you will have both formats covered.
Ron Robinson says:

January 16, 2012 at 8:32 am

This is really great! Thanks Larry. I notice in Compressor 4 there are four Video Compression choices — MPEG-4 Basic, Improved, H.264 Main Profile, Baseline Profile. Would you recommend using MPEG-4 Basic?
baspaul says:

January 16, 2012 at 9:23 am

Hi Larry,

Only recently Youtube has raised its upload limit to an almighty 20GB per video. Also there is now the option to watch in HD1080p.There for you need to upload in 1920×1080

I started converting using x264 ( settings downloadable) with variable bitrate. That way the colors look better and the picture is sharper. A 4min video is nearly 1GB. ( http://youtu.be/f3fFSj6KUWM )
I am very happy with these settings, but I will test your settings as well, larry, however 2048 kbps seems a bit low.
All the best,
Bas
- GottaRun says:
  
  December 24, 2012 at 12:30 pm
  
  Love the yoga vid Bas! Question which quality do u upload – 1080p x264? And does YouTube automatically create the other quality options? If it does, I may be moving to YouTube over Vimeo as we have clients that need the slow connection option 240p. Does compressor offer X264? /
  - Larry Jordan says:
    
    December 24, 2012 at 1:44 pm
    
    Compressor supports X.264, but you need to download and install it.
    
    Larry
    
    P.S. Yes, YouTube handles all conversions to other quality options automatically from your master file.
    - GottaRun says:
      
      December 24, 2012 at 2:03 pm
      
      sweet!
- Bas says:
  
  December 25, 2012 at 5:07 am
  
  I am uploading 1280x720p. You could get x264 here: http://download.cnet.com/x264-Video-Codec/3000-13632_4-10781355.html
  - GottaRun says:
    
    December 25, 2012 at 10:25 pm
    
    Thanks Bas
    – I’m on a Mac, link is for Windows
    – the Yoga vid you site has a 1080p option, it must have been uploaded as 1080p, right?
    - Bas says:
      
      December 26, 2012 at 2:22 am
      
      Sorry, wrong link.
      On my site I use 1080p / h.264, for YouTube 720p/X264.
Jesse says:

January 16, 2012 at 4:53 pm

Hi Larry,
Thank you for this tip.
In this example, what was the frame rate of the original footage?
I see you chose 30 fps for the compressed version. Was the original 29.97, or actually 30?

I shoot 720pN30 (actually 29.97fps), or 720pN24(actually 23.98fps) DVCPRO HD on a panasonic HVX200a. I edit in FCP7 using the default timeline for either of those frame rates. When compressing for youtube, should I use 30fps or 29.97fps (for the N30 footage)? Likewise, 24fps or 23.98fps (for the N24 footage)?

Thanks!
Ralph Chaney says:

January 17, 2012 at 10:34 am

Why use mpeg-4 instead of h264? I know the technical difference between the two, that h264 is a later iteration than mpeg-4 (“mpeg-4 part 2”) and that h264 is supposed to create better image quality, but WHY use mpeg-4 in this situation?

Thanks!
-R.
- Larry Jordan says:
  
  January 17, 2012 at 2:54 pm
  
  Ralph:
  
  As I understand it, there are two standards committees involved – one for MPEG-4 and the other for H.264. However, from what I read they work together to keep the MPEG-4 / H.264 spec in sync.
  
  MPEG-4 is the container of the video, which H.264 is how that video is compressed. MPEG-4 contains H.264.
  
  Larry
  - Craig Seeman says:
    
    January 19, 2012 at 10:05 am
    
    Larry:
    
    I believe Ralph is correct. MPEG4 Part 2 is much less efficient (lower quality at a given bit rate) that MPEG4 Part10 (AVC/H.264). See my posts further down the thread.
Larry Jordan says:

January 17, 2012 at 2:55 pm

Jesse:

In general, I compress at the same frame rate that I shot – it means smoother playback.

Larry
- Jesse says:
  
  January 17, 2012 at 4:31 pm
  
  Thanks, that’s what I’ve been doing and it’s worked well so far.
Randall Kowalik says:

January 17, 2012 at 4:27 pm

baspaul, thanks for the heads up on the new 20GB upload size! We were told that our K-State Research and Extension channel can have videos as long as 15 minutes, but this is the first I’ve heard about a 20 GB file size. We rarely go that long, anyway–most of our videos are five minutes or less.

I shoot with an XDCam EX, and occasionally a Canon Vixia HF R10, and I’ll even break out the Flip Ultra HD from time to time. Everything goes in as QuickTime files–my sequences are generally HDTV 720p, square pixels, ProRes 422 HQ compression. As Larry says, I export to a self-contained QT movie, leaving all the other settings as they are; then, I load that QT file into Streamclip.

Yes, MPEG Streamclip. I’m not sure if I had something wrong in my settings in the past, when working with Compressor, or maybe there was something wrong with my file… but I prefer Streamclip over Compressor. I understand the GUI better, it’s a well-supported program. Whenever I get questions about video production or editing from one of our local extension agents, I send ’em to Streamclip. Incredible piece of muscle for the time it takes to download and install… and you can keep that credit card in your purse or wallet until lunchtime. 😉

I export as an MP4, H.264 compression, two-pass, 100% quality, mpeg4 AAC mono sound 44.1 128 kbps. Field dominance is set at “Upper Field First.” “Interlaced Scaling” is checked, don’t know if it should be or not, but I get good results with this preset.

I’m willing to give Larry’s method a try, though. Thanks!
- Larry Jordan says:
  
  January 17, 2012 at 8:22 pm
  
  Randall:
  
  A few notes:
  
  1. Given the formats you shoot, you don’t need to convert to ProRes 422 HQ – ProRes 422 will be fine. Faster conversion, smaller files, faster renders, and no perceptible image quality difference.
  
  2. MPEG Streamclip is a great program.
  
  3. If you are shooting 720p, set Field Dominance to None and don’t check Interlace scaling — the settings you are using are for interlaced video.
  
  Larry
Craig Seeman says:

January 18, 2012 at 1:51 pm

Larry the .mp4 encodes in Compressor 3 are not H.264. They are an older less efficient version of MPEG4. I would not recommend using it. You can use a free tool such as MediaInfo to verify that.

One of the new features of Compressor 4 is that it can use H.264 .mp4.

H.264 is part of the MPEG spec. The older non H.264 form is spec MPEG4 Part 2. H.264 is MPEG4 Part 10.

You’ll have to wait until tomorrow for the Wikipedia link though.
Craig Seeman says:

January 19, 2012 at 10:03 am

Providing verification for my comments yesterday. Here’s info from Compressor 3 documentation on MPEG4 Part 2
http://documentation.apple.com/en/compressor/usermanual/index.html#chapter=19%26section=2%26tasks=true

Here’s MPEG4 Part2 from Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MPEG-4_Part_2

and MPEG4 Part10
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.264/MPEG-4_AVC
and in the Overview
“The intent of the H.264/AVC project was to create a standard capable of providing good video quality at substantially lower bit rates than previous standards (i.e., half or less the bit rate of MPEG-2, H.263, or MPEG-4 Part 2), . . . ”

MPEG4 with Standards (Parts) listed for reference.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MPEG-4
- Larry Jordan says:
  
  January 19, 2012 at 2:44 pm
  
  Craig:
  
  Thanks for all the links – this is very useful information.
  
  larry
  - Craig Seeman says:
    
    January 19, 2012 at 3:01 pm
    
    You’re welcome of course.
    This is only an issue with Compressor 3.x and earlier.
    The new Compressor 4 can encode H.264 .mp4.
    To me that’s one of the nice improvements with Compressor 4 that’s rarely noted.
    If you look at Compressor 4 HTTP Live Streaming presets, they’re all H.264 .mp4
    - Craig Seeman says:
      
      January 19, 2012 at 3:17 pm
      
      I don’t think this will embed here but this is the link to screenshot in Compressor 4 H264 .mp4 setting (Broadband High).
      http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7142/6727769491_07de6d0b13.jpg
      - Louie says:
        
        April 16, 2012 at 7:16 pm
        
        So then what should I choose if I’m using compressor 3? Thanks!
abi says:

February 5, 2012 at 10:13 am

thanks larry, this is the first piece of useful information i’ve been able to find and my video now looks like the original:)