Bitrate confusion.

Diogo1123

Newbie Joined: May 24, 2017 16:50 Messages: 3 Offline

Solved by

May 24, 2017 17:01

Hi everyone.

I recently purchased PowerDirector 15, and after some time using other software like sony movie studio and Hitfilm, I'm having some trouble understanding how bitrate works here.

I'm mostly trying to produce video game videos to later upload to youtube, and from what I understand the amount of "action" on screen detrermines the bitrate I need for my video.

Youtube recomends 12 Mbps for 1080p 60fps, but whe I produce my file with this bitrate it comes out with double the size. Can someone explain to me how this works? Do I need to create costume settings depending on the video I'm trying to produce? if so, how do I find out what is the right bitrate for my productions without getting files larger than the original ones?

Thank you very much for your time.

ynotfish

Senior Contributor Location: N.S.W. Australia Joined: May 08, 2009 02:06 Messages: 9977 Offline

May 24, 2017 17:58

Hi Diogo1123 -

Far from being confused, I'd say your understanding is pretty good!

Action videos need higher bitrate (VBR). That's why action cameras (like GoPro) can record up to 100Mbps. Those high bitrates result in much larger file sizes.

Using a UHD source clip shot at 60Mbps, I produced to AVC H.264 MP4 at various resolutions and bitrates. You can see it's the bitrate, not resolution, that makes the most significant difference to file size.

The other complication you have (we all do) is what YouTube does when it processes the video...

Cheers - Tony


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This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at May 24. 2017 17:59

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Diogo1123

Newbie Joined: May 24, 2017 16:50 Messages: 3 Offline

May 24, 2017 18:18

Quote Hi Diogo1123 -

Far from being confused, I'd say your understanding is pretty good!

Action videos need higher bitrate (VBR). That's why action cameras (like GoPro) can record up to 100Mbps. Those high bitrates result in much larger file sizes.

Using a UHD source clip shot at 60Mbps, I produced to AVC H.264 MP4 at various resolutions and bitrates. You can see it's the bitrate, not resolution, that makes the most significant difference to file size.

The other complication you have (we all do) is what YouTube does when it processes the video...

Cheers - Tony

Thank you very much for your reply.

I noticed that if I right click the video in the timeline and select "view proprieties" it shows me a bitrate. Is this the bitrate of the original video and can I use this as a guideline to come up with the bitrate I want to produce as (like -10% bitrate for the smaller file size with decent quality still)?

ynotfish

Senior Contributor Location: N.S.W. Australia Joined: May 08, 2009 02:06 Messages: 9977 Offline

May 24, 2017 23:08

That's right. The bitrate under Video should help you determine a good setting for producing.

If it's screen captures you're editing, the VBR is likely to be fairly low, depending on your capture software settings.

Cheers - Tony
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Diogo1123

Newbie Joined: May 24, 2017 16:50 Messages: 3 Offline

May 25, 2017 08:10

Quote That's right. The bitrate under Video should help you determine a good setting for producing.

If it's screen captures you're editing, the VBR is likely to be fairly low, depending on your capture software settings.

Cheers - Tony

Yes I am editing screen captured footage and the nitrate is indeed low (this is what was confusing me the most) but since I've never worked with CVBR, I guess this is the nature of it.

You have been a great help thank you.