Export settings for you tube

Question

I have a 32 minute 1080p  video that I would like like to upload to you tube. I have been told to ignore  you tube recommended target bit rate settings of 8 to 10 megabits per second. They say that was for another era when computers and the internet were slow as molasses. That will not provide good quality and that I should increase it to at least 25. Is the bitrate the key factor that will allow the video to play on all devices? I know it will increase my file size to 8Gb if I choose this bit rate.  I do have some animation on my video. So what is the real scoop on all this.  I just want to have it play smoothly on all devices smartphone computer tablet  at the high highest quality.  If a person has a dial up internet connection and a 10 year old computer I don’t want them to access the video if it means the other 99.9percent can have it play at a high bit rate and smooth delivery.

jasontcox · Accepted Answer

Hey there! Excellent questions. Bitrate is definitely one of the most important factors that influences QUALITY but not necessarily compatibility, at least not on modern devices. 25 is a decently high bitrate for 1080p on YouTube. If youre worried about file size, you could probably drop it a bit to 15-20 and 98% of people would never notice. Anyway, since youre a bit new to the world of video compression, Id read these two articles I wrote on the topic:

1. Fundamentals of Video Compression https://wipster.io/blog/the-editors-guide-to-video-compression-fundamentals

2. Compression settings in Premiere specifically: Bits and Bytes: The Simple Math of Premiere Pro’s Exports — Video Review & Approval

Warning, that second one is SLIGHTLY out of date, as it shows an old preset list in Premiere Pro (it's been updated and shortened since I wrote that) however, the math is the same.

One more note, since it's not mentioned in that second article (due to its age). The best catchall H.264 preset available in Premiere currently is called "Match Source- Adaptive High Bitrate." It'll look pretty good on all social media platforms and play on your iPhone, Android, whatever.

Hope that all helps!

jasontcox · Answer

Jim isn't wrong, just know that his option will produce a MASSIVE file at first, at least in comparison to the H.264 options. So it might take a while to upload. But he isn't wrong, it'll produce a very nice quality file. Counterintuitively this will only impact you, not the end user, since YouTube will compress it down to H.264 anyway, so it still will stream quickly for most viewers.

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