The Best Compression Size for YouTube
If you have video clips you want to upload to YouTube, you might find that the file sizes are too large. Using software to compress a file not only enables you to upload longer videos while staying within the size limit, but also reduces the amount of time your computer needs to make the transfer.
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About Compression
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Compression is a process that reduces the size of files. This can be especially useful if you are uploading a large media file, which can contain a lot of data, to a website like YouTube. YouTube limits individual uploads to 100MB per video, and you can't upload clips that are larger than this. However, you can download software to help you compress the size of the files. Programs that can help include QuickTime, Blaze Media Pro and Prism.
Under Six Minutes
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When choosing your compression settings, try to choose settings that will take you as close to the 100MB limit as possible. The shorter your video, the higher your settings can be. The default screen size of a YouTube video is 320 by 240 pixels, so make sure your video is set to fit this ratio; otherwise, YouTube could automatically expand or contract the video to fit the screen size, affecting picture quality. Videos that are shorter than six minutes should have a data rate of 2000Kbit per second. The Mono audio settings should be at 64Kbit per second or, if you're using stereo, 128Kbit per second.
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Over Six Minutes
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To compress videos longer than six minutes, you need to know the length of the clip in seconds and use this to calculate the data rate. YouTube videos can be a maximum of 800Mbits, which is 800,000Kbits. Divide this by the length of your video in seconds. Subtract the number of Kbits you need for audio, either 64Kbit or 128Kbit per second, and the amount you are left with will determine the data rate setting you need to choose to stay within the 100MB limit.
Considerations
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Compression is a useful tool to help reduce the size of your movie files. However, you should never compress a file twice or more to try and fit YouTube's parameters as this produces poor quality videos. Many camcorders automatically compress their films slightly when recording so try to avoid compressing these files again unless they are too large to upload. If you are forced to compress the movie again, try and use the smallest amount of compression your camcorder or editing software can offer.
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