YouTube uploads take forever!

Compression Techniques

YouTube uploads take forever!

Posted by Chris Dolan on February 20, 2009 at 3:53 am

I searched through those threads here which mention YouTube but can’t find what I’m looking for. (It might be because my search skills suck…sorry.)

It seems like when I upload a full 720×480 clip, it takes forever to upload and become available… Sometimes several hours. Is there a specific format which YouTube will simply accept instead of re-transcoding?

Chris Dolan
Triple Three Productions
http://www.triple-3-productions.com

Chris Dolan replied 17 years, 5 months ago 3 Members · 9 Replies
9 Replies

Daniel Low
February 20, 2009 at 10:28 pm

“It seems like when I upload a full 720×480 clip, it takes forever to upload and become available”

Nothing unusual about that.

Have you any idea about the volume of transcodes Youtube is doing on a daily basis? Think of a number and multiply it by 1000 and you’re still not anywhere near close.

Then remind yourself that it’s a free service.

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Craig Seeman
February 21, 2009 at 2:06 am

I’ve uploaded HD files to Youtube. The low quality file will often appear within an hour. The HD version can take many hours.

Chris, when you upload the clip do you resize it from 720×480 to 640×480 first?
I compress everything to H.264 .mov first but other codecs work of course. If you’re handing them a DV file at a non square pixel aspect ratio that may be part of the reason.
Chris Dolan
February 24, 2009 at 7:28 pm

Daniel; That is why I asked the question.

I’ve heard that YouTube does not re-transcode specific formats which, theoretically, would be available immediately after upload.

If you are familiar with this formatting, please reply with your experience.

Thanks.

Chris Dolan
Triple Three Productions
http://www.triple-3-productions.com
Chris Dolan
February 24, 2009 at 7:34 pm

Craig,

Thanks for the reply.

I do not usually resize it. It is exported using one of the standard (Sorensen 3) codecs in Premiere Pro.

I imagine exporting it in YouTube’s preferred size and compression would be ideal but I don’t know what is the preferred format.

Chris Dolan
Triple Three Productions
http://www.triple-3-productions.com
Craig Seeman
February 24, 2009 at 7:55 pm

There was a time when if you uploaded an .flv file they’d accept it as is without transcode but they stopped doing that over a year ago I believe.
Craig Seeman
February 24, 2009 at 8:21 pm

YouTube’s own recommendations
YouTube’s encode recommendations
https://help.youtube.com/support/youtube/bin/answer.py?answer=132460&cbid=1u4kd6ityc5n8&src=cb&lev=index

YouTube’s statement on encoding time
https://help.youtube.com/support/youtube/bin/answer.py?answer=71674&cbid=1udc6stgufgx4&src=cb&lev=index

Hmm, for some reason the links aren’t showing up.
Craig Seeman
February 24, 2009 at 8:30 pm

YouTube Specs Part1
Craig Seeman
February 24, 2009 at 8:32 pm
Chris Dolan
February 25, 2009 at 3:22 am

Thanks for the links Craig!

Chris Dolan
Triple Three Productions
http://www.triple-3-productions.com

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