fuzzy films

[TheMotoXP]

Okay so I am trying to figure out why all my youtube videos are kinda fuzzy looking. I will try to embed a youtube video from my channel on here so yall can see what im talking about. Im not sure how I can fix the problem though. I am using a drift ghost, recording in 1080p at 30fps. I am using a mp4 file extension and iMovie to edit the video. I then export the video using quicktime and then upload to youtube. The videos do not have this weird looking "fuzz" when I watch them on iMovie after editing them (I just checked). Any suggestions?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojH9p6vdycs[/youtube]

 

[BikerSpeedTriple]

It's possible that this is due to the compression that YouTube is doing when it processes your upload. If you watch the exported file from iMovie, does it look ok?
What I do, with both iMovie and Final Cut, is to export as a QuickTime movie at highest quality, then use Handbrake to convert to mp4 at 5500 kbps (try different values until you get a decent result, but with a reasonably compression to make uploading quicker).

 

[TheMotoXP]

It's possible that this is due to the compression that YouTube is doing when it processes your upload. If you watch the exported file from iMovie, does it look ok?
What I do, with both iMovie and Final Cut, is to export as a QuickTime movie at highest quality, then use Handbrake to convert to mp4 at 5500 kbps (try different values until you get a decent result, but with a reasonably compression to make uploading quicker).

The video is actually fuzzy when I watch the exported quicktime file. How do I fix that issue?

 

[TriumfAnt]

I do the same as you (iMovie & QT) but I only record in 720p. Try that and see if it's still fuzzy. Has your Drift always done this? If so it may be an issue with the camera, you may want to contact Drift or a more specific forum.

 

[TheMotoXP]

I do the same as you (iMovie & QT) but I only record in 720p. Try that and see if it's still fuzzy. Has your Drift always done this? If so it may be an issue with the camera, you may want to contact Drift or a more specific forum.

I dont think it is the drift. When I watch the videos on the drift and on iMovie, they seem fine. It is happening somewhere in the export using quicktime.

 

[BikerSpeedTriple]

If you are using "Share"->"Export using Quicktime" then try using "Share"->"Export Movie" instead (that's the one I've used in the past).

If that doesn't help, when using "Export using Quicktime", check your quality settings. Use "Movie to MPEG-4" and select "Options...". On my copy, the default data rate is 256 kbps which is a bit crap. Try around 5000 there instead and see what the result is like.

 

[thunderous71]

Yea its something to do with your exporting, most video codecs work via a key frame that all following frames are compressed from. Yours looks like its set to 1 sec/30fps. So frame one is perfect then the next 29 frames get more and more 'fuzzy' as you put it until it hits the next key frame at 31 and repeats.

Sorry don't use iMovie so cant tell you where to look but it is a compression setting you need to check.

This might be worth a look...

http://www.reely.com/darren/Guides/iMov ... ovieHDJump

 

[DodgeRider26]

Answer is simple... your bit rate is WAAAY too low. That "fuzziness" is actually called "blocking" and is a common type of video artifact from using too low of a bit rate for the frame size of the movie. It looks crisp when there is no motion, but as soon as anything movies it turns blocky.

YouTube recommends 10,000-30,000 for 1080p footage. I upload in 12,000-15,000 depending on how much motion (and what kind) was in my video. If there was more offroading then typically the grass/trees/scenery blocks very slightly during quick motion when I encode at 10-12,000 so in those cases I up the bitrate to 15,000. On 1080p footage on the street I've never run across any issues at 12,000 and often even 8,000-10,000 is still good quality.

 

[TheMotoXP]

Answer is simple... your bit rate is WAAAY too low. That "fuzziness" is actually called "blocking" and is a common type of video artifact from using too low of a bit rate for the frame size of the movie. It looks crisp when there is no motion, but as soon as anything movies it turns blocky.

YouTube recommends 10,000-30,000 for 1080p footage. I upload in 12,000-15,000 depending on how much motion (and what kind) was in my video. If there was more offroading then typically the grass/trees/scenery blocks very slightly during quick motion when I encode at 10-12,000 so in those cases I up the bitrate to 15,000. On 1080p footage on the street I've never run across any issues at 12,000 and often even 8,000-10,000 is still good quality.

If you are using "Share"->"Export using Quicktime" then try using "Share"->"Export Movie" instead (that's the one I've used in the past).

If that doesn't help, when using "Export using Quicktime", check your quality settings. Use "Movie to MPEG-4" and select "Options...". On my copy, the default data rate is 256 kbps which is a bit crap. Try around 5000 there instead and see what the result is like.

Thanks for the input. I will mess around with the settings some more this weekend and let everyone know what I find out. I'm just tired of putting in work making good videos only to have bad quality visuals.

 

[TheMotoXP]

As promised. These are the two videos that I have uploaded since changing the data rate to 10,000. The videos are much smoother and crisp. Thanks to everyone who gave input. Feel free to check out my channel too.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BcXq4gzAWM[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6WE59isO7o[/youtube]

 

[Radioreid]

As promised. These are the two videos that I have uploaded since changing the data rate to 10,000. The videos are much smoother and crisp. Thanks to everyone who gave input. Feel free to check out my channel too.

I think there is another way may get your videos much clarity - export your original mp4 files to .flv format that YouTube accepts well, so there will be no re-compress when YT processes your upload.

http://www.ilikemall.com/how-to/convert-flv-to-mp4-mac.html

Flash Video is currently the de facto standard for online video. Notable users of it include YouTube, Hulu, Yahoo! Video, and many other providers.