How to export movie to Youtube without loosing HD quality?

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How to export movie to Youtube without loosing HD quality?

I shot a video on my Sony Action Cam AS100 t and have been editing the video on Final Cut Pro X. Original video from my camera is in perfect HD ! Problems starts here: FCPX exports files in MOV format which is according to youtube itself is not youtube friendly. Is there any way to export movie in MP4 from FCPX?

I've tried "share" option on FCPX too, most of the time there would be an error or youtube user credentials not matched, which I am sure was right. And even if this option does work- the final shared video quality is horrible as if it was shot 15 years ago with a flip phone. I chose for the highest quality options possible and also the 'Better quality' rendering option rather than the 'Faster encode'' option.

I figured out the way of doing my videos this way: I Edit the movie in FCPX and export it in the best quality possible in MOV format. Then I use Quicktime Player to "export for web" which transfers my videos from MOV to MP4 format and uploads to YouTube faster but still it is just an OK quality.

I've noticed major differences viewing my video on FCPX itself and on YouTube. Even though the video is set at 1080p on YouTube, it still looks much worse quality compared to its original content.

Is there any way that I can upload my YouTube videos in the best way possible without losing quality? I mean, what's the point of buying an HD quality camera if you can't even upload to YouTube in its original quality? Doesn't make sense to me.

You probably would say: You absolutely should not expect your YouTube video to look the same as your original. YouTube is going to recompress you video and optimize it for playback on their servers and to make it take up less space.

But How about all other youtube videos crisp, high def, TV like quality? My original footage looks just like that... So it is possible, its just the matter of HOW...

Does any one know a solution?

MacBook Pro, iOS 7

Posted on Oct 4, 2015 6:25 PM

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Answer 1

Russ H

Level 7

22,432 points

Oct 4, 2015 6:46 PM in response to nkochkin

nkochkin wrote:

FCPX exports files in MOV format which is according to youtube itself is not youtube friendly. Is there any way to export movie in MP4 from FCPX

There are multiple ways to get mp4 – one of which is to export Master File>Format>Computer. But MOX is fine for YT. Have you tried it?

Is there any way that I can upload my YouTube videos in the best way possible without losing quality? I mean, what's the point of buying an HD quality camera if you can't even upload to YouTube in its original quality? Doesn't make sense to me.

You probably would say: You absolutely should not expect your YouTube video to look the same as your original. YouTube is going to recompress you video and optimize it for playback on their servers and to make it take up less space.

Yes. They will recompress it and you will lose quality; whether you can discern that loss is another matter.

The default video services encoding specs are very conservative: 20Mbps for a 1080 video. Many people consider those settings to be overkill, but it's done with the expectation that YT will discard much of the data.

Bottom line: the YT presets typically provide very good results. But…if you have the bandwidth and patience, export a Pro Res 422 master file and use the YT uploader. You'll be giving YT far more info and you can then review the encoded video to see whether it was worth it.

Russ

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Answer 2

nkochkin Author

Level 1

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Oct 6, 2015 9:33 AM in response to Russ H

Thank you for very informative answer

however; it raises even more questions

Russ H wrote:

There are multiple ways to get mp4 – one of which is to export Master File>Format>Computer. But MOX is fine for YT. Have you tried it?

I learned FCPX by "trial and error" method and watching YT tutorials so I may not know some things. And I wasn't able to find this exporting method you suggested : Master File>Format>Computer therefore I do not know how to export in any other formats other than MOV.

Russ H wrote:

if you have the bandwidth and patience, export a Pro Res 422 master file and use the YT uploader. You'll be giving YT far more info and you can then review the encoded video to see whether it was worth it.

I usually export my films in H.264! Would Pro Res 422 make any difference when uploading to YT? Again the final file format is MOV in both of these options.

I didn't use any uploaders besides FCPX itself or Quicktime (if they are considered to be uploders-the quality was horrible)

Any good uploaders you could recommend?

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Answer 3

Oct 6, 2015 5:21 PM in response to nkochkin

nkochkin wrote:

I usually export my films in H.264! Would Pro Res 422 make any difference when uploading to YT? Again the final file format is MOV in both of these options.

I didn't use any uploaders besides FCPX itself or Quicktime (if they are considered to be uploders-the quality was horrible)

I believe Russ means for you to use YouTube's file uploading function which should be available from your YT account when you log in.

YouTube processes the file you give them. A ProRes422 file is far larger and contains far more data than YT needs or can use. As YT encodes your file for their streaming servers, they're throwing away more of the 422 file to make it smaller but they're working from a better file than if you sent the mpeg4 version of the same file, which is already highly compressed.

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