VirtualDub 720p HD settings for YouTube! [Good quality, small file size]
I often record gameplay clips from video games I'm playing with FRAPS. Usually in 1920x1080 resolution depending on the game and the FPS I get with FRAPS running. For transcoding the raw footage to something bearable to upload I usually use only VirtualDub.
Lately I've experimented with settings, and I think I found some good ones. Good video and sound quality with small file size were my goals. I think roughly 100 mb for a 5 min. clip and about 300mb for the full 10 min. in full 720p HD quality is awesome.
I'm still experimenting with sound compression but I think with 192 kb/s AC-3 ACM I have a good start.
Please bear in mind that the higher your resolution is the bigger your file size will be and vice versa. Those 100 mb respectively 300 mb are based on my 1920x1080 resolution!
This guide is intended for 16:10 and 16:9 resolutions. If you're playing on a 4:3 resolution, do not resize down to 1280*720p without maintaining aspect ratio, because the end-result will otherwise look over-stretched/-squeezed.
My settings for VirtualDub are in the picture below. If you want a very detailed explanation what each option does, check this out!
By the way, you have to have the H.264 codec installed to get it working. Download and install the latest VFW-version build here. PAY attention which version you're downloading, x86 (=32bit) or x86_64 (=64bit).
A warning about the Option "Multithreading" -> "Threads" don't set it higher than [# of your CPU Cores * 1.5] because then your whole system will start chugging. For example a Core 2 Duo would be 2 Cores * 1.5 = 3, a Q9550 would be 4 Cores * 1.5 = 6 and an AMD Phenom II X3 would be 3 Cores * 1.5 = 4.5 4.
This is by no means a guarantee that it will or will not work on your system. Each system, its components and its software are unique. You'll probably have to experiment a bit on your own. But those mentioned numbers are a good start.
It also might be necessary for you to adjust the audio volume to your liking. I have -10 dB, because the sound I record is terribad. My onboard sound sucks, period. Some people also experience asynchronous sound, here's how you can fix it.
Edit 30.05.2012 - FFDSHOW Resize Filter:
There's an external filter, a better one in my opinion, available to use with VirtualDub. It's calle ffdshow and it provides amongst other things resize, watermark and sharpen functions. Here's the guide.
On a side note: When you have uploaded your clip on YouTube and YouTube processed it the quality then will be lowered again. There's nothing you or I can do about that, it's up to YouTube.
The whole tutorial is also available on YouTube as a video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9XOgnaJ_Hs
A few links to my own HD clips:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxijbXfIs4A&hd=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yt35f2WFFY&hd=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oe4jCQ8zzz0&hd=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNLlobJbrm8&hd=1
Addendum 16.September 2009: Enabling GPU acceleration
Since version 1.9.4 it is possible to use the GPUs processing power (if your GPU supports it, which most modern GPUs do) as part of whole the transcoding process. This way you can speed up the transcoding process significantly (depending on your compression settings!).
On my computer this cut my transcoding time from an average 1h for a 10 min. clip down to some 40-ish minutes. Under "Options" -> "Preferences" enable "3D accel".
Addendum 23.10.2009: Crashes during encoding
There's currently a problem causing VirtualDub 1.9.4/5/6/7/8/9 to crash under Windows 7 while encoding sometimes. The culprit is 3D accel! Turn it off under "Preferences" -> "3D accel" and enjoy VirtualDub once again!
Addendum 16.05.2010: Option "3d accel" slowing down encoding
I've been getting mixed messages. Apparently using "3d accel" causes it to render slower than usual on some systems. I can confirm that. With 3d accel turned on, a 10min video takes about 1 hour 10-20 minutes, while turned off it takes about 1 hour max. You'll have to experiment on your system!
And if you are running on a multicore cpu, don't forget to enable threading via "Option" -> "Preferences" -> set "Threading" to 1!
Update 30.05.2012:
Added link to ffdshow filter guide.
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October 8th, 2012 - 11:01
Great article!!!
I have 1 question:
the “ADVANCED ENCODING SPECIFICATION” for YouTube, recommended to use a “CLOSED GOP: GOP of half the frame rate.” What does this mean?
How can I set it with the x264vfw codec into Virtualdub??
Thnks
October 8th, 2012 - 11:48
No idea, I don’t follow YouTube’s specifics, I set my own. As for GOP, GOP = Group of Pictures. I don’t think the option is in Komisar’s version of x264vfw, however you can force command lines into it. I have no idea what the command is for Closed GOP and half the framerate.
Sorry I could not be of more help.
October 23rd, 2012 - 12:28
Thanks!!!!
here are all the details to upload the video with advanced specification:
http://support.google.com/youtube/bin/static.py?hl=en&page=guide.cs&guide=1728585&topic=1728573
August 22nd, 2012 - 08:37
Dude, I’m still messing with settings to best suit my needs, but I really want to thank you for saving my life. I use Sony Vegas Pro 11 and no matter settings/format I try there, my videos ALWAYS get out of sync on YT. The latest one was driving me nuts (not cool sending a full hd video over and over and over and over), so I followed your simple guide and voilá.. perfect sync!!! Thumbs up to you!
August 8th, 2012 - 09:03
I’ve used the exact same settings for my BF3 recordings. But no matter what I do I cannot get it to render it faster than 15fps.
I have an I7 3770K at 4.6GHZ – I’ve set the threads to 6 (it uses 65-72% of my cpu).
But still it’s too slow and a 15 minute clip takes 38! minutes to render. what’s wrong here?
It doesn’t use my GPU either (ATI 7970 with Opencl enabled drivers)
August 8th, 2012 - 18:07
VirtualDub doesn’t use GPU to render faster, unfortunately.
Your 3770k is a 4 core, 8 threads. If 6 threads only use 65-72%, try upping the thread number. I have mine at 10-12 with my 2600k.
Should be definitely faster than 15 fps, but not insanely faster. It depends what kind of scene you’re rendering. If there’s happening very much you’ll get low fps, if the opposite is the case, your fps will be much higher. In simple terms, many more factors attribute to higher/lower fps numbers.
May 30th, 2012 - 09:15
Hey, for some reason, whenever I create a new filter the input is always at 320×420. How can I change this?
May 30th, 2012 - 11:41
Never came across this problem. o.O
January 27th, 2012 - 03:31
Hello Don,
I have a really weird problem with virtualdub (used to be ok few days ago) maybe i have done something I don’t remember…
Anyways after encoding the movie my VIDEO is in .mp4 file as it should be thee is no sound… instead the AUDIO is in dummy .avi file which is created while encoding…
It is weird because couple days ago it was normal… after encoding the mp4 file had sound with it…
Any idea?
January 27th, 2012 - 03:41
Oh and btw it only happend when encoding in .mp4 when I don’t choose mp4 format and encode it in .avi there is only one output file with video and sound.
But when i try to encode it in .mp4 it finish with 2 files:
.avi- the dummy file with audio only
.mp4- video only without the sound
January 27th, 2012 - 08:51
I guessing you’re using either a modded VirtualDub or a plugin for mp4. Because the official VDub cannot handle mp4 output.
I can’t help you in this matter as I’ve never used a VDub other than the official one.
However there’s a workaround I believe. You got a mp4 with video and no audio, and you got an avi with sound.
Load up the avi, then “File” -> “Save Wav…” and extract the audio.
Load up the mp4, go to “Audio” -> “Audio from Another File” and select the newly extracted wav-file.
Then save as mp4 I guess. Should work then, I believe. If not then I can’t help you, because I don’t use a modded VirtualDub or a mp4 output plugin.
January 27th, 2012 - 17:02
Thx for fast reply Don!
I will try your idea next time when I will encode some video.
January 17th, 2012 - 09:53
Fixed it a little bit with the new version of Virtual Dub 1.10.0 and putting the same settings that were shown in the picture. I now do around 10min for a 6go file. But I am still running at 50-65% cpu usage. I am sure I could get more from my cpu, I have put the Multithreading – Threads at 8 in the video encoder settings. Any tips would be appreciated. Thanks!
January 17th, 2012 - 12:49
If you’re running at 50-65% CPU usage try upping the number of threads in the x264 codec.
Other than that, try playing around in Options -> Performance. Render pipelining, AVI output buffering, etc.
January 17th, 2012 - 09:39
Hey, I have a 2600k and I am wondering what I should change in the settings above to be able to encode faster. I mean a 6go video with the settings at the top takes around 25minutes to encode. I do not think that it should be slow like that, I was wondering what I could do to be able to encode faster. Thanks!
January 17th, 2012 - 12:54
No, 25 min. for a 6gb video is definitely way too much. With my current system, I’m doing average 25 fps during encoding.
Here is my experience with my 2600k in encoding.
January 1st, 2012 - 03:37
appreciate the help, i think right now i got the encoding dialed in, whether using virtual dub or cs5. The finished product quality is amazing, and what im posting on youtube now looks 10x cleaner. The only catch is, i still gotta figure out the initial project settings in premiere, since i have some preset limitations. Thanks a ton for your time. learned alot since yesterday.