Rendering in Da Vinci resolve 18.6 - free version

[B.Vation]

Hi, video question: I have just got a GoPro Hero 9 and I’m getting into a bit of a muddle over settings in Da Vinci Resolve 18.6 free version. The first video I took at 1080 @ 25 fps

but wasn’t that happy with the results. The next video I took at 2.7K @ 50 fps which looked great when editing in Da Vinci but wasn’t good after rendering, I uploaded it as private but just wasn’t happy. So I started playing around with settings on 1 min clips until I think I got the settings I was happy with: Using Quicktime

Quality automatic, key frames 1, using H.265, this resulted in a 35.5 GB file that took 16 Hours!!! To upload:

I’m still not happy and know I’m doing something wrong but don’t know enough about all this stuff. Any helpful suggestions would be welcome. If you managed to get this far, thanks. Chris

 

[HippoDrone]

Stats on the last vid you linked are only at 1080/24fps but the description states it was recorded at 2.7k/60fps?

 

[B.Vation]

Stats on the last vid you linked are only at 1080/24fps but the description states it was recorded at 2.7k/60fps?

Thats what it was recorded at, rendered at 1920 x 1080 24 fps

 

[HippoDrone]

Thats what it was recorded at, rendered at 1920 x 1080 24 fps

Why did you do that?

 

[B.Vation]

Why did you do that?

To keep the file size down, but as I've said I don't really know what I'm doing which is why I thought I'd try the forum

 

[L. Bilious]

When you upload to YouTube, it can take quite a while for youtube to do it's own processing. You are better leaving it a day or two before watching back on youtube.

 

[HippoDrone]

As has been discussed on the forum here a few times in the past, you are better off recording in 1080 and upscaling to 2.7k when editing than downscaling, what you have done by downscaling has told YouTube that your video is only in HD so they have given it their worst codec so it will be totally nerfed in playback on YouTube. If you want to keep the files smaller, record at 1080p and whatever fps you want to use, then upscale your edit to 2.7k maintaining the same fps as recorded on and also maintaining the same bitrate that you recorded the footage at. YouTube will treat it like a 2.7k video and give you the better VP9 codec which won't compress the bitrate so it will playback to your viewers at a much better bitrate/quality.
But TBH, if you are already recording at 2.7k/60 and like how that looks, carry on doing that, and just match your final render settings to be the same as the original footage. I have only ever had issues with the H265 encoding, I never record in it or render with it, and just run H264, which works fine still.

 

[B.Vation]

As has been discussed on the forum here a few times in the past, you are better off recording in 1080 and upscaling to 2.7k when editing than downscaling, what you have done by downscaling has told YouTube that your video is only in HD so they have given it their worst codec so it will be totally nerfed in playback on YouTube. If you want to keep the files smaller, record at 1080p and whatever fps you want to use, then upscale your edit to 2.7k maintaining the same fps as recorded on and also maintaining the same bitrate that you recorded the footage at. YouTube will treat it like a 2.7k video and give you the better VP9 codec which won't compress the bitrate so it will playback to your viewers at a much better bitrate/quality.
But TBH, if you are already recording at 2.7k/60 and like how that looks, carry on doing that, and just match your final render settings to be the same as the original footage. I have only ever had issues with the H265 encoding, I never record in it or render with it, and just run H264, which works fine still.

Thats helpful, thanks for replying I'll give it a go. Regards Chris

 

[B.Vation]

As has been discussed on the forum here a few times in the past, you are better off recording in 1080 and upscaling to 2.7k when editing than downscaling, what you have done by downscaling has told YouTube that your video is only in HD so they have given it their worst codec so it will be totally nerfed in playback on YouTube. If you want to keep the files smaller, record at 1080p and whatever fps you want to use, then upscale your edit to 2.7k maintaining the same fps as recorded on and also maintaining the same bitrate that you recorded the footage at. YouTube will treat it like a 2.7k video and give you the better VP9 codec which won't compress the bitrate so it will playback to your viewers at a much better bitrate/quality.
But TBH, if you are already recording at 2.7k/60 and like how that looks, carry on doing that, and just match your final render settings to be the same as the original footage. I have only ever had issues with the H265 encoding, I never record in it or render with it, and just run H264, which works fine still.

I just tried your suggestion on my Blackberry way vlog#16, a lot better and clearer though I dont think YouTube used the codec you mentioned, rt clicking on video and getting stats for nerds it comes up - Codecs avc1.640028 (137) / opus (251)- but any way it's off in the right direction so thanks for your help, Chris

 

[HippoDrone]

I just tried your suggestion on my Blackberry way vlog#16, a lot better and clearer though I dont think YouTube used the codec you mentioned, rt clicking on video and getting stats for nerds it comes up - Codecs avc1.640028 (137) / opus (251)- but any way it's off in the right direction so thanks for your help, Chris

Just remember, YouTube takes a while to render to 2.7k I'll take a look over the weekend at your video when on night shifts at work.

 

[Drakhen99]

Yeah, @HippoDrone is right - YT takes their sweet time processing, especially if you're a smaller channel. As you grow, they give you priority in processing.

They process HD first, then 1440, then 4k. It can take DAYS to complete.

-John

 

[HippoDrone]

I just tried your suggestion on my Blackberry way vlog#16, a lot better and clearer though I dont think YouTube used the codec you mentioned, rt clicking on video and getting stats for nerds it comes up - Codecs avc1.640028 (137) / opus (251)- but any way it's off in the right direction so thanks for your help, Chris

I watched your most recent video last night and it was still only in 1080/24 and had the crap YouTube codec causing it to look very blocky and blurred through the trees especially as there isn't enough bitrate from that codec to cope. Am not sure what your editor is doing, have you checked that the edited video on your PC is at 2.7k/60 before uploading it to YouTube?

 

[Drakhen99]

Yeah, if you're using the built-in YouTube preset in Resolve, it defaults to 1920x1080, which is just HD. Resolve also defaults to the same resolution when you create a new Timeline, I think. So, what you want to do is right-click on your timeline and go into Timeline Settings, then change the resolution.

Then, when you render, go to custom and choose the highest/best settings for bitrate, and set the resolution to the same thing.

That resolution escapes me at the moment, but you can go into your Media Pool and scroll to the right on your GoPro clips to see what their resolution is.

-John

 

[HippoDrone]

I tend to render at 2704 x 1520 on my editor if upscaling 1080 footage. I'll match the raw bitrate which on my Hero 10 is around 100,000kbps IIRC. Upscaling doesn't really change the file size so if saving space is a concern, it shouldn't be an issue. I still say though, that if you are already recording at 2.7k/60 then carry on doing so and render at the same resolution, frame rate and bitrate you are recording at to get the best result on YouTube.

 

[Drakhen99]

I tend to render at 2704 x 1520 on my editor if upscaling 1080 footage. I'll match the raw bitrate which on my Hero 10 is around 100,000kbps IIRC. Upscaling doesn't really change the file size so if saving space is a concern, it shouldn't be an issue. I still say though, that if you are already recording at 2.7k/60 then carry on doing so and render at the same resolution, frame rate and bitrate you are recording at to get the best result on YouTube.

Yep, @HippoDrone is RIGHT! Also, I think that resolution you mentioned IS the GoPro 2.7k resolution, which would be nicer for BV - 1:1 pixel ratio.

Just remember to set the Timeline and Render to the same resolution.

-John

 

[Moto Mengy]

I render all of my vids out of Resolve at 2560 x 1440, which is the resolution size YouTube uses for it's 2K setting.

Is there some benefit to outputting 2704 x 1520 instead?

 

[Drakhen99]

I render all of my vids out of Resolve at 2560 x 1440, which is the resolution size YouTube uses for it's 2K setting.

Is there some benefit to outputting 2704 x 1520 instead?

It's a 1:1 ratio of pixels, if you're recording on a GoPro in its 2.7k resolution.

FWIW, YouTube will allow many different resolutions. If you watch Peter McKinnon, his stuff is super wide. Lazy Artist is 4:3.

It's the Wild West of resolutions.

-John

 

[Theodor]

Wasn't that resolution around the limit, where they started providing some other, better codec on youtube side? I never remember where the limit goes, so I upscale my render to 4k every time I remember

 

[Drakhen99]

Wasn't that resolution around the limit, where they started providing some other, better codec on youtube side? I never remember where the limit goes, so I upscale my render to 4k every time I remember

AFAIK, anything over 1920x1080 gets the VP09 codec, which is the mid-level codec above AVC1 but below AV01.

-John

 

[HippoDrone]

I render all of my vids out of Resolve at 2560 x 1440, which is the resolution size YouTube uses for it's 2K setting.

Is there some benefit to outputting 2704 x 1520 instead?

as @Drakhen99 said, it is the same resolution as I record 2.7k on my GoPro, so I stick with that to not distort it.