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How to produce a streamable H.264 MP4 file compatible with YouTube?
noeld [Avatar]
Newbie Joined: Jan 07, 2012 06:46 Messages: 30 Offline
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Hello all,

I have now finally completed my video and I produced a MP4 file. In Produce tab, I used:


  • H.264 AVC (MP4 container)

  • Profile type: Default

  • Profile name/Quality: MPEG-4 1920 x 1080/25p (16Mbps)

  • Country/video format of disc: France (PAL)


Then I clicked Start and in less than 10 minutes, the produce.mp4 file was created. I casted it to my 40" TV set and the quality is just fine. If I could get the same quality on YouTube it would be perfect for me. So I tried to manually upload this mp4 file to my YouTube channel but after a few uploaded percents, I get the well-known message: "Video / Audio quality: Your videos will process faster if you encode into a streamable file format. For more information, visit our Help Center." (https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/1722171?hl=en)

This is also what I did get when I tried it with my previous videos in PD13, so I always ended up using WMV at that time. But quality is not as good as H.264. I don't see what else I can adjust from the PD14 Produce tab to make YouTube happy and not have my MP4 video recompressed on the server side.

When I compare the recommended settings at the URL above to the attached MediaInfo of my produce.mp4 file, I only notice that the frame rate mode is Constant while YouTube expect it to be Variable and I'm not sure about Closed GOP either, all the other parameters CABAC, High-Profile, 4:2:0, 48KHz stereo AAC-LC audio, etc. seem OK.

But I don't see any option to change CBR to VBR not even in a custom profile.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you.
 Filename
PD14 Produce MP4 output.txt
[Disk]
 Description
PD14 Produce MP4 output
 Filesize
3 Kbytes
 Downloaded:
337 time(s)
Best Regards,
-Noël
Dafydd B [Avatar]
Senior Contributor Joined: Aug 26, 2006 08:20 Messages: 11973 Offline
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Hi Noel,
25fps will give you a constant frame rate - it's an easy multiple whereas the 29.97fps is variable as it's the fraction/decimal that wont divide so easily as 25fps

Check it yourself.
Select MP4.
Alternate between 25 and 29.97fps,
select CAVLC and
change the Profile type to all three and see what you come up with.

I wouldn't fuss over the default GOP pattern. I have played with GOP and seen issues arise where the GOP has been tweaked badly.

Let me know how you get on.

Dafydd

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at Aug 12. 2016 03:27

Longedge [Avatar]
Senior Contributor Joined: Apr 28, 2011 15:38 Messages: 1504 Offline
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I'm surprised by your experience noeld because that is what I now produce almost all of my projects to including the ones that go on YouTube. I have made no changes at all to the default profile. I haven't had any such warnings and I always upload directly within YouTube. I reckon that with some very minor exceptions such as image stabilisation (it made a mess of overlaid titles in one of my clips) YouTube does a good job of processing uploaded footage.

I have seen advice given elsewhere to produce to .wmv and I used to use that format myself in the past, also without problems. It might be worth a try just to see if it makes a difference.
jujurightnow [Avatar]
Newbie Joined: Aug 12, 2016 09:39 Messages: 14 Offline
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Hello, I just bought Power director 14 software. I have a sony a68 with which I would like to film in AVCHD and upload it on YouTube. Do I have to convert the files before editing them in the editing software and if so in which format or do I first edit my movie and then convert it so I can upload it on YouTube, if so in which format? Thanks a lot.
Longedge [Avatar]
Senior Contributor Joined: Apr 28, 2011 15:38 Messages: 1504 Offline
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Hello Julien,

On this forum users are expected to start their own separate thread for each question to avoid the confusion you see elsewhere when you can't tell who is answering or commenting on what. However I can tell you that one of my cameras is a Sony and the AVCHD 1920x1080 50p files it produces are handled perfectly by PD14 and you need only read my reply above to see what I currently produce the edited results to for YouTube, although noeld seems to have a problem with that format for some reason.
jujurightnow [Avatar]
Newbie Joined: Aug 12, 2016 09:39 Messages: 14 Offline
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My bad sir, this was my first time here. I'll be more careful next time where I post my questions. Thank you for your answer though. I did attempt several times to upload short films on YouTube but with no good results. I lose quality each time and I can't have them in high resolution.
noeld [Avatar]
Newbie Joined: Jan 07, 2012 06:46 Messages: 30 Offline
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Hello and thanks for your replies.

I created a short test project with one sample of each type of files I used in my YouTube project. The timeline is like this:


  1. .MTS sample from my camcorder

  2. .WMV sample from Screen Recorder (no audio track)

  3. .MP4 sample from Handbrake (Screen capture converted to MP4)

  4. .PNG image


In Produce tab, H.264 AVC format, I created a new "YouTube" custom profile, only changing 25fps to 29.97fps. GOP is probably OK as YouTube expects two successive B frames and that's what I see in details. Indeed the generated MP4 file is VBR but I still get the warning when I upload it to YouTube (MediaInfo1.txt).

I also created another sample project with only an excerpt from a MTS file from my camcorder (PAL 25fps VBR) on the timeline. When produced with the Default profile, the produced MP4 file is CBR (MediaInfo2.txt) but if I produce it with Custom profile at 29.97fps the output is VBR (MediaInfo3.txt).

But yet I still get the warning on YouTube whatever MP4 I upload from the tests I described above. Only when I upload a produced WMV file, I don't get the warning on YouTube.

By the way, why the samples from the camcorder can be 25fps and VBR and not the MP4 produced from my project?

I'm attaching an archive (MediaInfo.zip) with all the MediaInfo of the files produced in my tests above and the MediaInfo of the samples:


  • Published WMV file MediaInfo.txt
    MediaInfo of a produced WMV file, the only produced file that gives no warning on YouTube.

  • Sample from Camcorder MediaInfo.txt
    MediaInfo of a sample .MTS recorded with my PAL HD camcorder.

  • Sample Screen Recorder Clip MediaInfo.txt
    MediaInfo of a sample of WMV screen recording converted to MP4 using Handbrake.


Thanks.
 Filename
MediaInfo.zip
[Disk]
 Description
 Filesize
6 Kbytes
 Downloaded:
329 time(s)
Best Regards,
-Noël
jujurightnow [Avatar]
Newbie Joined: Aug 12, 2016 09:39 Messages: 14 Offline
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thanks a lot for all the infos!
jujurightnow [Avatar]
Newbie Joined: Aug 12, 2016 09:39 Messages: 14 Offline
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Hello, I'm trying to post a new question on the forum but I don't see where I can do this. If you can help, that'd be great.
tomasc [Avatar]
Senior Contributor Joined: Aug 25, 2011 12:33 Messages: 6464 Offline
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Near the top left of the Forum Index-PowerDirector 14 web page there is a new topic button for you to click with the mouse. Click on this link to get you back to the index page: http://forum.cyberlink.com/forum/forums/show/152.page .
jujurightnow [Avatar]
Newbie Joined: Aug 12, 2016 09:39 Messages: 14 Offline
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Got it. Thanks a lot!!!!
[Post New]
Don't use 25FPS for online video posting!
All the PC monitors are working at 60FPS, youtube will re-sample everything, with loss of quality.

PS: The idea that in this day, when all video is digital and HD, to keep converting into a frequency meant for an analog standard that is dead now it is just ridiculous. France's today TV transmission is fully digital, there is no more "SECAM" or "PAL".

Longedge [Avatar]
Senior Contributor Joined: Apr 28, 2011 15:38 Messages: 1504 Offline
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Quote: Don't use 25FPS for online video posting!


The 60Hz refresh rate = 60fps i.e. 1 frame per refresh ergo only 30p or 60p will work debate. I think we'd probably agree on steering clear of interleaving at any rate wouldn't we?

The only problem I've ever had was caused by frames being dropped. My source material at the moment is always 50fps and it makes more sense to me to render at a frame rate that is perfectly divisible into the original. I'm no 'evangelist' either way and my approach is to experiment and choose what gives you the best results. If you get an extra refresh cycle or two of the current frame, does that matter?

Personally using terminology from the days of analog systems doesn't upset me. What's important is that we understand what we are talking about when we exchange information and experiences.
jujurightnow [Avatar]
Newbie Joined: Aug 12, 2016 09:39 Messages: 14 Offline
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Hello again. I still got one question and this is about what you just said Longedge "The only problem I've ever had was caused by frames being dropped. My source material at the moment is always 50fps and it makes more sense to me to render at a frame rate that is perfectly divisible into the original." Is this Something that can be done on Pro Director 14 and how? Thanks a lot.
noeld [Avatar]
Newbie Joined: Jan 07, 2012 06:46 Messages: 30 Offline
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Hello all,

Thanks for your replies and suggestions.

I tried many output formats from 25fps to 60fps with a single MTS file from my camcorder in the project: all produced MP4 are progressive, CABAC, AAC stereo audio, only 29.97fps and 60fps give VBR, but yet I still always get the warning when I upload on YouTube.

I am attaching a screen capture of the message just to make sure that we're all talking about the same issue.

Could you possibly share the MediaInfo of a MP4 file that you can successfully upload to YouTube without the above warning?

I understand about PAL and SECAM modulation and indeed it's not related here, I guess PD14 uses this parameter for another purpose.

My camcorder can record at 50p as well, I will have to try that. If that ever works my other concerns will be the size of the produced file and also the performances during editing, even at 25fps some actions are a bit slow even with an i7 @4GHz. Also I've got a 16-minute 25fps video that took me 18 hours to upload so at 50fps it will be a pain even though cancel and resume work fine. But that is another story.

Thanks,
[Thumb - YT warning.PNG]
 Filename
YT warning.PNG
[Disk]
 Description
YouTube A/V format warning
 Filesize
60 Kbytes
 Downloaded:
44 time(s)
Best Regards,
-Noël
Longedge [Avatar]
Senior Contributor Joined: Apr 28, 2011 15:38 Messages: 1504 Offline
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...............

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Nov 09. 2016 10:38

jujurightnow [Avatar]
Newbie Joined: Aug 12, 2016 09:39 Messages: 14 Offline
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Everything is working well for me now so thanks a lot!
noeld [Avatar]
Newbie Joined: Jan 07, 2012 06:46 Messages: 30 Offline
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Hello @longedge,

The last time I tried to continue, there was indeed a delay before the file became actually available for online viewing, about the duration of the uploaded video IIRC, but most noticeably the picture quality was not as sharp as the original uploaded video. Since my videos usually require a lot of editing before I can produce them I'd really like to avoid this possibly useless level of recompression.

It's unfortunate that YouTube does not say what's exactly wrong in the uploaded format, most requirements seem to be met when I look at the MediaInfo of the produced MP4s.

Thanks for your support.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Aug 17. 2016 06:32

Best Regards,
-Noël
Longedge [Avatar]
Senior Contributor Joined: Apr 28, 2011 15:38 Messages: 1504 Offline
[Post New]
............

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Nov 09. 2016 10:38

noeld [Avatar]
Newbie Joined: Jan 07, 2012 06:46 Messages: 30 Offline
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@longedge,

When I publish WMV videos produced by PD14 on YouTube, I don't get the "Video / Audio notice" and there are no processing delay at all when the upload completes, the videos are immediately online and available (i.e. no recompression on the server side) but yet it's not that processing delay the actual issue for me.

I watch all the YouTube videos on my HD TV set and they are played in full HD.

When I produce MP4/H.264 files from my projects with PD14 and cast them from my PC to my TV set, the quality is just fine but after uploading the same MP4 to YouTube the video quality drops (i.e. the video looks more blurry) I'd say to the level of the WMV quality or possibly less in some cases. I won't say that the quality is awful no but not as good as what one can expect from H.264; and since some parts of my videos are recorded in less than optimal lighting conditions they seem more sensitive to compression artifacts.

Whether I cast a WMV file produced by PD14 from my PC or watch it from my YouTube channel, there are no difference in quality, I suppose the pictures are the same in this case. Since PD14 is able to produce WMV files from my projects that meet YouTube requirements, I'd have thought that it could do the same with MP4/H.264 since the MP4 format is more the standard nowadays.

For these reasons, my current online videos are all in the WMV format, I will live with it until I can find a solution to this MP4/H.264 issue.

Thanks for your suggestions and I appreciate your support. Best Regards,
-Noël
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