Question / Help Why does the quality of my videos being reduced after uploading them to YouTube?

Grid4WillScot

New Member
Hello everyone,
The problem I am experiencing is that I am currently into making games and upload them to my channel on YouTube but I am facing a challenge.
No matter how many threads I read on how to deal this problem I simply couldn't.
I am recording my game on 720p, 8500 bitrate, N.264 codec and 16:9 aspect ratio. Rendering the video with Sony Vegas on the same settings and the video on my computer when I play it, it looks crystal clear but after uploading it to YouTube the quality decreases.
Well it pixelates to be honest.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 

koala

Active Member
Youtube recodes every uploaded video, this severely reduces quality. It's like rocket science to guess how the uploaded original video should look like to get the least quality impact. I propose that if you upload stuff and don't stream stuff, produce and upload 1080p content with a bitrate of 15000-20000 and let Youtube downscale on its own.

And be aware that Youtube processing your video after upload needs time. Not all resolutions are available immediately after upload. They start from the lowest quality and get better after 10-60 minutes. If you check your upload, check in the lower right corner of the Youtube player which resolutions are available. Your uploaded resolution (in your case: 720p) will appear last, which may take 10-60 minutes after upload.
 

Grid4WillScot

New Member
Youtube recodes every uploaded video, this severely reduces quality. It's like rocket science to guess how the uploaded original video should look like to get the least quality impact. I propose that if you upload stuff and don't stream stuff, produce and upload 1080p content with a bitrate of 15000-20000 and let Youtube downscale on its own.
Thank you replying
I have a video which is 1 week old but it still looks like crap
Did try 720p and 15000 video birrates but with no luck.
I cant upload 1080p because my monitor is a Dell P2210 1680x1050 pixel one.
I dont understand what I am doing wrong.
 

koala

Active Member
Please refresh the page and read my addition about the processing time in my previous post as well.
 

Grid4WillScot

New Member
Please refresh the page and read my addition about the processing time in my previous post as well.
I have read your edit on your post and yes I have noticed that it takes some time to display the 720p icon on the bottom right corner of the video.
It states 720p but it is pixelated. I will post the settings on my OBS 'cause I think I have messed up something.
Thank you.
 

Grid4WillScot

New Member
Please refresh the page and read my addition about the processing time in my previous post as well.
Please refresh the page and read my addition about the processing time in my previous post as well.
Well this is a video I recorded today (I have attached the OBS Settings) and directly uploaded it to YouTube.
Tis is the video itself: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36jNz5rqcmE
OBS.jpg
 

Unconquered

Member
@Grid4WillScot

I ran into the same problem. If you right click the quality icon on your youtube video and hit stats for nerds, it will show that it is using the AVC codec, which is terrible and seems to make everything grainy. Videos that reach high amounts of views (10k seems to be the estimated threshold) it will upgrade it to the vp09, which is far sharper and crisp.

If you want to trick youtube into making your videos vp09, either record in 1440p or rescale your video to 1440p with a program after. For some reason, this forces youtube to use it's vp09, and will not only use it on the 1440p resolution, but all available resolutions once the 1440p is processed.

I was pulling my hair out on that issue, after some extensive research, and trying it myself (making comparison videos), I found that it really worked. Go look at any big name YouTubers video, and click on the quality icon -> stats for nerds, and you'll see it's in vp09.
 

Grid4WillScot

New Member
@Grid4WillScot

I ran into the same problem. If you right click the quality icon on your youtube video and hit stats for nerds, it will show that it is using the AVC codec, which is terrible and seems to make everything grainy. Videos that reach high amounts of views (10k seems to be the estimated threshold) it will upgrade it to the vp09, which is far sharper and crisp.

If you want to trick youtube into making your videos vp09, either record in 1440p or rescale your video to 1440p with a program after. For some reason, this forces youtube to use it's vp09, and will not only use it on the 1440p resolution, but all available resolutions once the 1440p is processed.

I was pulling my hair out on that issue, after some extensive research, and trying it myself (making comparison videos), I found that it really worked. Go look at any big name YouTubers video, and click on the quality icon -> stats for nerds, and you'll see it's in vp09.
First of all thank you for taking the time to answer.
Well if this is actually the case YouTube is a dick to new creators and pretty much forces people away from their videos.
Upscaling the videos from 1050p (my native resolution 1680x1050) to 1440p will have an impact on video size and upload time but to be honest It's a hit I am wiling to take :).
I am going to try that after I get back from work and I will let you know.

Have a great day mate (you absolutely made mine).
 

Unconquered

Member
Well if this is actually the case YouTube is a dick to new creators and pretty much forces people away from their videos.

Yup! That was my first thought as well once I learned of this. If you just want to try it first, I downloaded the trial of Movavi video converter, it will watermark your videos, but if you just want to see if this fixes the quality to where you want it, I found it a useful tool. What I did was trim down a part from one of my current videos, convert + upload it, then play it alongside, the difference was honestly astounding.

Good luck, let us know how it goes :)

Edit: Just make sure to allow time for the 1440p to process. Your 1080p will process probably 10 minutes before the 1440p, and it won't upgrade to the vp09 until the 1440p is done. But once it does all of your qualities will be in that format.
 

Grid4WillScot

New Member
Yup! That was my first thought as well once I learned of this. If you just want to try it first, I downloaded the trial of Movavi video converter, it will watermark your videos, but if you just want to see if this fixes the quality to where you want it, I found it a useful tool. What I did was trim down a part from one of my current videos, convert + upload it, then play it alongside, the difference was honestly astounding.

Good luck, let us know how it goes :)

Edit: Just make sure to allow time for the 1440p to process. Your 1080p will process probably 10 minutes before the 1440p, and it won't upgrade to the vp09 until the 1440p is done. But once it does all of your qualities will be in that format.
I cant thank you enough mate.
It did work but with some issues :).
File size,upload time and render time just got enormous. Now I have to put twice the effort compared to when I was uploading 720p. I am currently recording at 8500 bitrates should I change that now that I am upscaling to 1440p?

You have been a great help mate thank you very much.
 

Unconquered

Member
Unfortunately I'm not sure on that and don't want to give you the wrong answer, but hopefully someone else can shed some light.

Edit: You could look into some compression software if you want to reduce your file size and upload times.
 
Last edited:

Narcogen

Active Member
I cant thank you enough mate.
It did work but with some issues :).
File size,upload time and render time just got enormous. Now I have to put twice the effort compared to when I was uploading 720p. I am currently recording at 8500 bitrates should I change that now that I am upscaling to 1440p?

You have been a great help mate thank you very much.

720p is about 900,000 pixels.
1440p is nearly 3.7 *million* pixels, an increase of 4 times, so you'd expect it to be larger files.

YouTube's suggested bitrate range for 30fps 2K is between 6,000 and 13,000, so you're in the range, just at the low end of their guideline for livestreaming. Usually for edited videos I would go higher.

https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/2853702?hl=en

Just keep in mind that your video will never, ever look better than it does when you record it, and no matter how much effort you put into it, once you upload it, it will most likely look worse, for one reason or another.
 

SuperMario2967

New Member
OK, so the thing is you can actually go on your editing software than go to settings and change the resolution to 2560x1440
and set the fps to 60 and there you go no more buffering!
 
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