PLEADE GOD HELP Imovie video quality bad blurry & pixelated on youtube

Question

Level 1

4 points

PLEADE GOD HELP Imovie video quality bad blurry & pixelated on youtube

Hey guys, I have been researching this for weeks, trying everything thats suggested online, and nothing is working.

My problem is when I load my video that I have edited on youtube, the quality is terrible (blurry, pixelated)

but this NEVER happened to me before when I was uploading clips from ishowu or from photobooth etc. Only now when I got video from my DV Camcorder.

From what I have researched, everyone is saying that it has to do with compression, but I have tried all sorts of options under 'expert mode' like suggested and they all turn out the same on youtube.

The video from my DV looks perfect on imovie, very sharp & clean. Once compressed, it does not look AS good in quiktime, but its still acceptable, I can still make out reactions in peoples faces in the movie etc. But once I load it on youtube, its blurry and cant make out peoples faces etc.

Steps I take - simply plug in my DV camera, load the clip, and go from there. Are there options I should be changing on the import? are there any? Is there something I should change on the file? like from .mov or to something else?

This is so frustrating!! I cant figure it out, nobody seems to have a straight answer on the web, im going a little crazy here, please help!

Macbook 2 GHz Core 2 Duo, Mac OS X (10.5.2)

Posted on Jun 16, 2008 1:26 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Klaus1

Level 9

52,779 points

Jun 16, 2008 3:03 AM in response to Myka

Panic not! 🙂

What I do, in order to get a video on to YouTube, is to import the footage into iMovie in the usual DV format.

After editing and saving the project, I export it to Quicktime in the format 'Web Streaming', and upload that Quicktime file to YouTube.

The first one I did was this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7yBWrhLTDA

(Don't bother telling me I should use a tripod, I KNOW!)

and I consider the quality 'acceptable'.

As a test it worked. Other YouTube videos I have made have been of the grandchildren to share with family who live in other parts of the world, and they are not in the public domain.

PS I should have mentioned that I use iMovie 6, not 5, which might have a bearing.

Message was edited by: Klaus1

Reply

Answer 2

Jun 16, 2008 4:58 AM in response to Myka

Myka wrote:
.. Are there options I should be changing on the import? are there any?

import your camcorder material into a DV project.
for export to YT, follow the hints on my site:
http://karsten.schluter.googlepages.com/youtubeuploadsettings

@Klaus:
.. you should use a tripod.. 😉

Reply

Answer 3

Klaus1

Level 9

52,779 points

Jun 16, 2008 5:08 AM in response to Karsten Schlüter

I KNOW!!

Reply

Answer 4

Myka Author

Level 1

4 points

Jun 18, 2008 4:23 AM in response to Karsten Schlüter

You said to import to a DV project.... what I do is I click 'import' once imovie sees that I have a camcorder plugged in, this is wrong what im doing?

Reply

Answer 5

Myka Author

Level 1

4 points

Jun 18, 2008 4:25 AM in response to Myka

Oh and I have macbook, not an xp like it said under my message above... to the other guy up top, yes I know it works for you, but I have tried all of those options and they come out worse than expert mode

Reply

Answer 6

Jun 18, 2008 4:25 AM in response to Myka

.. I usually choose 'New Project' for a .. ehm, new project.
then, iM offers me different 'formats': DV, mpeg4/iSight..

for best quality, choose DV as format for your project ..

Reply

Answer 7

Myka Author

Level 1

4 points

Jun 18, 2008 10:31 PM in response to Karsten Schlüter

This is driving me up the wall, I have done like 30 test video's on youtube with all sorts of settings and nothing is working... is there any way we could communicate over youtube and I can show you whats happening? maybe with visuals it would be easier to explain. I dunno, im at a loss here...im not one to ask for help unless I have explored as many options as possible...but I think im turning into the guy from the shining... All troubleshoot and no play is making me a dull boy 😟

Reply

Answer 8

Jun 18, 2008 11:49 PM in response to Myka

Myka wrote:
.. is there any way we could communicate over youtube and I can show you whats happening? ..

you see my public mail adress in my sig (the green line down below) .. don't hesitate, to send me the URL of your YT upload ..

Reply

Answer 9

Myka Author

Level 1

4 points

Jun 20, 2008 7:37 PM in response to Karsten Schlüter

I will just post it here, so that if any other people out there are having this same problem, they can watch the youtube video and hopefully the solution

I really appreciate you trying to help me out, I dont seem to be getting much response fromn others I am asking.

Here is the youtube link - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfC6bQG9Vl4

Reply

Answer 10

Jun 27, 2008 10:22 AM in response to Karsten Schlüter

Wow - your link has been a big help to me! However, I have a couple questions. I have iMovie 6.0.3 and my Quicktime is 7.4.5, so I don't know if I can use the same instructons:

Well, first off, I need to have something translated from German to English (I Babelfished the word 'Einstellungen', and the only thing that came up was 'attitudes'! - and that was the only word I could see). That particular word comes up in the 'Use' selection box. What is the proper choice for that box?

One more question would be for the Sharpness setting - should I put it at 7 - most?

Thanks again - the info is great!

Reply

Answer 11

Klaus1

Level 9

52,779 points

Jun 27, 2008 12:27 PM in response to Linda Schodowsky

Yes, Karsten is our expert!

While he is sleeping/taking videos, if my German (poor as it is) is correct 'Einstellungen' means 'Setting'.

Does that make sense? 🙂

Reply

Answer 12

Jun 27, 2008 12:43 PM in response to Klaus1

Ah... so that's what 'most recent settings is'? The choices are everything from Broadband to Streaming.

I want to select the proper one, because I noticed it makes a HUGE difference in my file size.

Funny what Babelfish interpreted the word to mean: attitudes!

Any further input would be appreciated. Like I said, the the choice in that particular box makes a big difference.

Reply

Answer 13

Jun 28, 2008 12:44 AM in response to Linda Schodowsky

Hi Linda,
reload my page.. (or, empty your browser's cache...) I updated my site, you shouldn't find any German on
http://karsten.schluter.googlepages.com/youtubeuploadsettings ..
the other screenshots will be updated as soon as my equipment is out of the cardboxes in the storehopuse.. 😀

and concerning Babelfish: Einstellungen has TWO meanings in German, so both is correct, attitude and settings , depending on context .. 😉

Reply

Answer 14

Klaus1

Level 9

52,779 points

Jun 28, 2008 2:19 AM in response to Karsten Schlüter

Of course!

The Danish word (Indstilling) also has those two meanings, but in the context of computers I forgot about 'attitude' and settled for 'settings'.

{Although I have known a few computers that definitely had Attitude!) 😀

Apologies to Linda. 🙂

Reply

Answer 15

Jun 28, 2008 5:51 AM in response to Karsten Schlüter

Thanks for the interpretation! Very interesting on how the word differs - I guess it's similar to us ('way', 'weigh'):P

However, the website is still the same - this, after I emptied my cache.

One issue is that I want to make sure I'm picking the right options - I have a more recent version of both Quicktime and iMovie so perhaps some options have changed. I've noticed they make reference to an older version of both iMovie and Quicktime.

Reply