I was trying to output HD quality file for YouTube since the Youtube settings native to this program only upload with 320 x 240 quality.  So I opted for file save instead but some of the settings that is suggested for YouTube HD is nowhere to be found in Pinnacle 12.1 (patch included) Studio Ultimate at all.  YouTube HD suggest these settings:   

 

Video
Resolution	Recommended: 1280 x 720 (16x9 HD) and 640 x 480 (4:3 SD) There is no required minimum resolution - in general the higher resolution the better and HD resolution is preferred. For older content, lower resolution is unavoidable.
Bit rate	Because bit-rate is highly dependent on codec there is no recommended or minimum value. Videos should be optimized for resolution, aspect ratio and frame rate rather than bit rate.
Frame rate	The frame rate of the original video should be maintained without re-sampling. In particular pulldown and other frame rate re-sampling techniques are strongly discouraged.
Codec	H.264, MPEG-2 or MPEG-4 preferred.
Audio
Codec	MP3 or AAC preferred
Sampling rate	44.1kHz
Channels	2 (stereo)

And I cannot find these settings at all?  Could Pinnacle please update their YouTube uploader or give me these options in custom settings on File Save instead???

 I thought that Pinnacle was on top of YouTube stuff???  I bought this program mainly because it can upload to YouTube and whatever options YouTube has, including HD.

 

Please help or throw a patch up that fixed this problem and gives me a Video output of H.264, MP2, or MP4 with Audio Output of MP3 or AAC.

You can use the WMV 720/30p preset, the MPEG-4 High Def Preset, or MPEG-2 720p preset.

All will look great when uploaded to YouTube. It's up to you.

Here are some examples.

• MPEG-2, 1280x720
  
  
• Same video, WMV 1280x720p
  
  
• Different video, MPEG-4 1280x720p

 B

 

Yup all mentioned methods work great. I've tested this and it works. Merging this with the Youtube Sticky. I find that the older Youtube thread is a bit outdated. I'll make a new Sticky for this instead.

I think this is great that there are different options but could you please share to the users the experiences with each one??  Will one be a bigger file than the other, better quality than the other, therefore different results in showing quality, time uploading and overall space hogging.   Which is preferred?  I myself tried the MP4 and it seems to be the quickest but the quality is so so. 

 Also, I know that there are options but could we request Pinnacle to be on top of the game and update the software with a patch that gives us these options and explanations for each.  So to speak, be a "Pinnacle" player to the editing software and web apps??  MOre so because this version 12 is just fairly new so active support should be a priority to stay on top of the game.

A comparison of file size is here.

Quality is good with all of these formats. It's up to you.

 B

 

Sorry for the ignorance as I am fairly new to this HD formats as well as editing digital sources but on your comparison, you have H.264 but there is not H.264 option in outputting video in Pinnacle Studio 12.1, is there?  Please, if there is anything else that you can share with regards to HD formats and editing for YouTube, please feel free to share with us.

Thanks!!!!

I created the h.264 file using QT (Quick Time), not Studio.

The only way you can get h.264 from Studio is to create an AVCHD or BD (AVC) disc image, and then go to the Stream folder to find the file. These files would be 1440x1080 or 1920x1080, which would be overkill for YouTube, I think.

I would suggest going with MPEG-4 or WMV for Studio output for YouTube.

B

I've yet to venture into HD, but can you use one of the above tricks to fool YouTube into uploading better-quality video from mini-DV sequences?  I know it's not HD, but DV looks so much awfuler on YouTube than it does on my set- like you're watching everything under water.  I just use the "Upload to YouTube" option when making my movie (Studio 12), and then I watch it and go, "Ewww!"

MichaelFa:

... but can you use one of the above tricks to fool YouTube into uploading better-quality video ...

You need to read the posts more carefully. It's not "fooling" YouTube ... it's a new YouTube feature.

B

 

bhurst:

You can use the WMV 720/30p preset, the MPEG-4 High Def Preset, or MPEG-2 720p preset.

All will look great when uploaded to YouTube. It's up to you.

Here are some examples.

• MPEG-2, 1280x720
  
  
• Same video, WMV 1280x720p
  
  
• Different video, MPEG-4 1280x720p

 B

 

This is the "720p" Preset with a file type of MPEG-2? (Resulting in a resoluting of 1280 x 720)

 Many thanks!

bhurst:

You can use the WMV 720/30p preset, the MPEG-4 High Def Preset, or MPEG-2 720p preset.

All will look great when uploaded to YouTube. It's up to you.

Here are some examples.

• MPEG-2, 1280x720
  
  
• Same video, WMV 1280x720p
  
  
• Different video, MPEG-4 1280x720p

 B

 

By chance, would you recall the file size as output from using MPEG-2, 1280x720?

 Thanks!

720p MPEG-2 videos are about 100MB per minute.

B

 

bhurst:

You can use the WMV 720/30p preset, the MPEG-4 High Def Preset, or MPEG-2 720p preset.

All will look great when uploaded to YouTube. It's up to you.

Here are some examples.

• MPEG-2, 1280x720
  
  
• Same video, WMV 1280x720p
  
  
• Different video, MPEG-4 1280x720p

 B

 

B,

At the immediate onset let my say that I was stunned by the quality of your video, both aesthetically and in terms of quality of output.

 I am curious as to what settings you used for this video, both for Catpure and Output. Here is a video output at 1280x720p, using the settings per the attached screeen captures and you'll see a world of difference between your output and mine begining at 00:01:25. (Footage prior to that is a very long shot and I would expect to see such results).  Note the 'studdering' for lack of a better term as well as the overall quality of output. The system this was produced on is more than capable of handling any tasks associated with capture, output, etc.

Any input would be greatly appreciated! (NOTE: wherein I mentioned attachments...I see that I am only limited to one. Is there a way to post the other three?)

 

First ... thanks for your kind comments on my videos.

I capture MPEG-2 HDV2 as you appear to. My outputs use the Studio presets for MPEG-2, WMV, and MP4 720p ... nothing customized.

When I watch your video, the picture quality is very good, but as you say, it is very jerky. At first, I attributed this to by internet connection, but I have watched it from home (ISDN) and work (T1) and the jerkiness remains even when I let the whole video stream before playing.

I assume your 720p file plays smoothly when you play it locally, so I am not sure what the issue is.

It would help if you could describe your system and cameras in detail and also your workflow for editing the video.

Let's see what we can figure out. (I don't know any way to make multiple attachments. I have worked around this by "stitching" together multiple pictures.)

B

bhurst:

First ... thanks for your kind comments on my videos.

I capture MPEG-2 HDV2 as you appear to. My outputs use the Studio presets for MPEG-2, WMV, and MP4 720p ... nothing customized.

When I watch your video, the picture quality is very good, but as you say, it is very jerky. At first, I attributed this to by internet connection, but I have watched it from home (ISDN) and work (T1) and the jerkiness remains even when I let the whole video stream before playing.

I assume your 720p file plays smoothly when you play it locally, so I am not sure what the issue is.

It would help if you could describe your system and cameras in detail and also your workflow for editing the video.

Let's see what we can figure out. (I don't know any way to make multiple attachments. I have worked around this by "stitching" together multiple pictures.)

B

I profusely apologize for the delay in getting back to you and thanks for offering to help yet again.

The Camera is a Sony HVR-A1U 1080i HVD. The Tapes are Sony Digital Master HDV/DVCAM.

The system is a Dell XPS-435MT, Intel Quad Core I7-920 @ 2.67GHz. 750GB SATA System Volume with a secondary (albeit on separate Bus) Seagate 1TB (Barracuda) SATA. 6GB DDR3-1067 RAM. No RAID. Several External FW-400 / 800 disks but these are not written to for any Pinnacle Apps. O/S is Vista Home Premium 64-Bit, SP-1.

For Capturing, any / all external Disks are dismounted prior to launching Studio 12 Ultimate.

In that I am new to Studio 12 my workflow is very much straight forward. That is to say, I capture (FW) using the "Set From First Clip In Project" which defaults to 1440x x 1080, 29.97FPS, 16:9 Interlaced. Outupt I am still trying to tweak, hence theses posts. Unitl I learn my way around Studio 12 Ultimate I am dragging fairly simple Clips into the timeline and then outputting as mentioned.

 Thanks again for your help and as previously mentioned, it is sincerely appreciated.

 

Your system is more than powerful enough for what you are doing.

But you failed to confirm if your 720p output plays smoothly on your PC prior to uploading.

I played your YouTube video again this morning and it played smoother than the other day. My guess is that the stuttering is an internet issue and has nothing to do with your PC, Studio, or any setting.

B

 

bhurst, the quality of your video is great, thank you for the suggestions, it helped me figure out how to do an HD video for Youtube.

lgldsr73, I watched your video and do not believe the pauses are due to your file created by Studio.  If it was the file you created then the pauses would occur at the exact same spot every time (correct me if this assumption is wrong).  The pauses occur at random times.  I have just started experimenting with the HD Youtube feature and have the same problem.  I have found that it is very important to let the Youtube HD video fully load to your computer before playing it.  Even after fully loading it to the computer there is still some stuttering although not as much.  This weekend I uploaded my first HD video to Youtube, a dance performance that some friends did at my dance studio.  I sent out an email with the video anouncement that provided instructions with screen shots on how to let the video load from youtube before playing it.

 My first HD video at Youtube is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lH-tBXRUqt8&feature=channel_page

My camera is a Canon HV20 HDV, I captured in to a .m2v filed using Studio 12.1, computer is  HP dc7800 Intel Core2 Duo CPU E6750 2.66Ghz, 2G RAM (I may need more RAM?)  This was make movied with the Studio MPEG-4 high definition preset.  The file size was 140M   The .mp4 video file plays smoothly on my computer before uploading it to youtube.    How does it play back for you?

 

 

 

 

 

 

bhurst:

Your system is more than powerful enough for what you are doing.

But you failed to confirm if your 720p output plays smoothly on your PC prior to uploading.

I played your YouTube video again this morning and it played smoother than the other day. My guess is that the stuttering is an internet issue and has nothing to do with your PC, Studio, or any setting.

B

 

 Thanks again for the help! The videos do in fact play smoothly on the local system, so it apparently is a bandwidth issue. However and having said that, the bandwidth results are more than sufficient to display any video smoothly but it's just not happening and I am at a loss as to why. For instance, when I play the Dancing Video it is very jittery, displaying almost frame-by-frame. (Bandwidth results taken from the Argonne National Labs NDT Server. (Btw, if you want very accurate results as to what your Bandwidth is you'll fare better with an NDT Server than you will with many of the testing sites that have 'pretty' GUI's). The throughput I am experiencing is 8.83Mb/s Upstream and 6.63Mb/s downstream). So this is hard to figure.

jbeckner:

bhurst, the quality of your video is great, thank you for the suggestions, it helped me figure out how to do an HD video for Youtube.

lgldsr73, I watched your video and do not believe the pauses are due to your file created by Studio.  If it was the file you created then the pauses would occur at the exact same spot every time (correct me if this assumption is wrong).  The pauses occur at random times.  I have just started experimenting with the HD Youtube feature and have the same problem.  I have found that it is very important to let the Youtube HD video fully load to your computer before playing it.  Even after fully loading it to the computer there is still some stuttering although not as much.  This weekend I uploaded my first HD video to Youtube, a dance performance that some friends did at my dance studio.  I sent out an email with the video anouncement that provided instructions with screen shots on how to let the video load from youtube before playing it.

 My first HD video at Youtube is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lH-tBXRUqt8&feature=channel_page

My camera is a Canon HV20 HDV, I captured in to a .m2v filed using Studio 12.1, computer is  HP dc7800 Intel Core2 Duo CPU E6750 2.66Ghz, 2G RAM (I may need more RAM?)  This was make movied with the Studio MPEG-4 high definition preset.  The file size was 140M   The .mp4 video file plays smoothly on my computer before uploading it to youtube.    How does it play back for you?

Again, many thanks for your time and input. The video is playing almost as if frame-by-frame and this is inconsistent with the Bandwidth results I am obtaining. And yet the video as previously provided by Mr. Hurst is pretty much what HD should be about. I really am at a loss here. I will check again later in the unlikely event Comcast is throttling back....

Not to belabor the issue, but the input is very much appreciated, it really is. Never easy getting a solid handle on a product new to oneself!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hello lgldsr73,  are you letting the video fully load to your computer before playing it?  When I sent out the email to my friends at the dance studio announcing this video I did up an instruction document to help.  Basicly in Youtube the red bar across the bottom is the play position, the pink bar is the progress of downloading the video file to your computer.  If the red bar is even with the pink bar then you will get this "frame by frame" effect.  Pause the video and let the video load so that the pink bar gets ahead of the red bar.  Better yet just pause it for a couple minutes to let the whold video load, then play it.

 

 

 

I did a new make movie and it is much smoother now.  I think the problem is with the file produced by Studio or interference from other programs. An associate of mine who also works in IT tech support at a local college suggested I turn off some of my Windows services that may be interfering.   I turned off my mail program (Outlook) along with the Blackberry software, in addition I turned off my Anti-Virus program, and also turned off my Remote Admin program (remote control similar to PCAnywhere).  They both load as a windows service so I disabled them in Control Panel->AdministrativeTools->Services.  I did the Anti-virus first and saw some improvement and then disabled the remote control program and saw even more improvement.

Following is the new file at YouTube:

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2n5q6Og_HQ&feature=channel_page

 

I also posted the same file to Vimeo.  Its evident to me that Vimeo is superior to YouTube:

http://www.vimeo.com/4571391

 

Turning off the programs you mention certainly might make a difference in the streaming video (real-time), but it should not make a difference in the file that Studio produces (non-real-time).

I tried viewing both sources using full-screen mode on a 24", 1920x1200 monitor, and I really don't see any difference. Both played smoothly and had about the same picture quality. I also don't see any difference between your first YouTube post and the second. Both play fine.

But what works best for you is what really matters.

B

 

Thank you for the reply.  Its helpful to get a second opinion.   I am particularly suspicious of the Remote Admin remote control program because it has a "hook" into the video adapter on the PC.  I had a tech support case open a few months ago at Pinacle on a different issue and it turned out that in Studio 12 they are somehow using the video adapter on the computer during the rendering process.   I don't know the details. 

Joe

jbeckner:

Hello lgldsr73,  are you letting the video fully load to your computer before playing it?  When I sent out the email to my friends at the dance studio announcing this video I did up an instruction document to help.  Basicly in Youtube the red bar across the bottom is the play position, the pink bar is the progress of downloading the video file to your computer.  If the red bar is even with the pink bar then you will get this "frame by frame" effect.  Pause the video and let the video load so that the pink bar gets ahead of the red bar.  Better yet just pause it for a couple minutes to let the whold video load, then play it.

Thanks. Yes, I am letting it load but as you can see this is still happening. This is a link to a test file that will show what I mean. Would you be able to take a look?

 Thanks!

jbeckner:

Thank you for the reply.  Its helpful to get a second opinion.   I am particularly suspicious of the Remote Admin remote control program because it has a "hook" into the video adapter on the PC.  I had a tech support case open a few months ago at Pinacle on a different issue and it turned out that in Studio 12 they are somehow using the video adapter on the computer during the rendering process.   I don't know the details. 

Joe

Hi Joe,

The RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol) Services such Remote Desktop and other Services within any Windows platform would not impact the playback of video whether directly on the local system or via Streaming, et al. The only Service that might - might - cause an issue would be any anti-viral software.

I looked at your Video on both YouTube and Vimeo and I am still getting similar results...and right now I have no clue why this is happening but I will find out. This is an issue that is local to my system either directly or somewhere within the network backbone of Comcast, albeit I have the Bandwidth. For starters I am going to disable this WiFi connection and hardware directly to the Router.

Many thanks for everyone's help!