The Don's Craptastic World A meta-level binary dude embedded to a multimedia proxy world!

1Mar/0989

VirtualDub 720p HD settings for YouTube! [Good quality, small file size]

youtubeI 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!

VirtualDub settingsBy 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.

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".

VirtualDub: 3D acceleration enabled

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 27.01.2011:
Updated Setting Screenshot

Related posts:

  1. Fraps & VirtualDub: How to save disk space and enjoy good quality, small file size HD video clips
  2. VirtualDub: How to use mkv, mp4, flv, mov and other file formats with VirtualDub
  3. VirtualDub: How to prevent asynchronous sound
  4. VirtualDub: How to split and merge video files
  5. VirtualDub: How to watermark your videos

Posted by Don Salva

Filed under: Software, Tips and Tricks Leave a comment
Comments (89) Trackbacks (2)
  1. Dexter
    January 7th, 2010 - 23:19

    you swhould include the config file

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  2. Don Salva
    January 9th, 2010 - 16:06

    No can do, because my pc hard- and software setup aren't the same as yours. Therefore the config file is specifically made for my pc. Won't work with others.

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  3. Utzu
    January 18th, 2010 - 23:06

    i did follow your steps. (thanks a lot btw, the quality is really great), but youtube says it can't process it….(saved .avi and .mkv…tried both)….did i miss something?

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  4. Don Salva
    January 18th, 2010 - 23:17

    YouTube should've no problem processing .avi. But how you managed to save .mkv with VirtualDub is beyond me, since VirtualDub doesn't support anything other than .avi .

    Try the newest VirtualDub 1.9.8

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  5. Winnie
    February 21st, 2010 - 17:17

    Hiya, I followed your tutorial, used the newest VirtuablDub, and tried to compress some fraps clips of Bad Company 2. However the compressed video blinks, like a broken light bulb. I have compressed 3 different videos so far and all of them have the same corruption. Do you know what is it happening?

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  6. Don Salva
    February 21st, 2010 - 20:34

    No idea, sorry :( . But do tell when you’ve reached a solution! If I had the problem I'd do this, it'll be a chore and pain in the a** but this way I'll know what's wrong:

    Activate 1 option, compress, activate next option, compress, activate next option, compress, change value, compress.

    You can take a small video, about 30-40 mb, 10 sec or something, and check after each compression. Until you've found the problem that's causing the blinking.

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  7. Winnie
    February 23rd, 2010 - 10:40

    Okay, finally, I've found out the problem. It's due to Max consecutive B-frames, had to set it to 0 (default value) in order to get rid of the blinking. I'm using i7 920, 6GB of RAM, ATI 5850 and Windows 7 Ultimate. Thanks for the suggestion :D

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  8. Kajover
    April 15th, 2010 - 00:39

    Did you use the same settings for your Fear 2 Mission 1 gameplay as well?
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPCyNTY_wh4

    Because after Youtube’s post processing my upload looks a lot more pixelated than yours. Your crosshair although really slim looks sharp enough.

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  10. Don Salva
    April 26th, 2010 - 21:02

    @Patrick: Seriously? Have you even read this article? This article is precisely what you need in order to reduce your filesize ;) .

    As for your question about how to merge 3 files into 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9eM7ikdwjU !

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  11. Patrick
    April 26th, 2010 - 22:35

    Hello, i recorded a video with Fraps, my problem is I dont know how to upload it correctly, the clip got split into 3 different (about) 3minute clips which are roughly 4Gb each, do you have any tips on how to getting down the file size or what format i should upload them, or maybe how to get them into ONE film clip that still matches youtubes restrictions?

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  12. Don Salva
    May 12th, 2010 - 22:17

    @Yarska: To get better quality, experiment with the quality slider. 1 is best, 51 is worst.

    To get 1080p you need to change the 1280 and 720 into 1920 and 1080. But because you are recording in 1440*900 it would mean quality-LOSS to go to 1920x1080p. You’ll have to expirement again with the slider and the sharpen filter. Section “Upscaling and Sharpening”.

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  13. yarska
    May 13th, 2010 - 00:09

    Hey thank you for this tutorial, I've been looking for one working on my computer for some time.

    The K-Lite Mega Codec Pack didn' t show me the codecs needed in the options settings so I downloaded each separately.

    The first time I clicked on "save as AVI" it didn't work well: it took a second to get the file and it wasn't readable by VLC. I don't know what happened but I tried again and it worked.

    Then the first time I tried to upload on Youtube it gave me an unknown error message, second try it worked.

    So thank you again I'm now able to put some vids on Youtube :)

    Do you know how I could change the settings to get a better quality video on Youtube ? (I already have 720p but maybe better 720p or 1080p could be possible)

    I record the game with fraps in 1440*900 resolution and I don't mind about the time needed if I can get better quality.

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  14. Don Salva
    May 17th, 2010 - 21:19

    So what’s the problem? 51 gave you the “strange” video, because 51 is the WORST quality.

    25 looks better because it’s about the middle. 1 looks even better, because 1 is the BEST quality.

    And why are you using sharpening? If you record in 1440*900 then you don’t need to sharpen anything, since resizing from 1440*900 to 1280*720 doesn’t “lose” any quality.

    If you were to record in half-resolution, meaning 720*450, then and only then, in my opinion, should you use the sharpening filter if you resize from 720*450 to 1280*720, because UPSCALING, that’s what it’s called, is always linked with loss of quality.

    But you’re not UPSCALING, you’re downscaling from 1440*900 to 1280*720. You actually “put in more quality” this way.

    Let me try to explain it. For example in 1440(*900) to 1280(*720), looking at the width, you have 160 (1440-1280) pixels worth of redundant information which can be used any way you see fit. Whereas in 720(*450) to 1280(*720) you’re actually MISSING 560 (720-1280) pixels worth of information which have to be interpolated (equals loss of quality) by algorithms.

    All you have to do with your 1440*900 raw footage is resize DOWN to 1280×720, move the slider to your convenient quality (I’d recommend 23-25), use the VirtualDub settings I provided and that’s it.

    Ultimately YouTube WILL lower the quality of your video, even if you upload your videos in the best possible quality there is. There’s nothing you can do about it. It’s YouTube fault, because they re-encode the whole video with their own settings.

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  15. yarska
    May 17th, 2010 - 23:06

    So i tested the quality slider first.

    51 gave me a strange video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bd8DMb__Rxg

    However I didn't notice much difference between 25: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-lNDp6PDfM

    and 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AVsRDt_Fc8

    Then I tested the sharpening by 64 filter and I noticed a difference between quality slider to 25: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeguo4v5MW4

    and 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWHbQwnus8I

    The sharpening seems to improve some graphics but also decreases others which look more blurred than without sharpening.

    Quickly looking at these videos, would you have any other ideas of Virtual Dub settings that could give me a better quality ? (at the moment I only record this game with these resolution/graphic settings)

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  16. yarska
    May 17th, 2010 - 23:34

    You talked about the slider and sharpen filter, so I thought I should use the sharpening filter.

    But if I already have the best quality possible on Youtube, it's fine.

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  17. dragonkryn
    July 12th, 2010 - 15:58

    quote:

    "Utzu January 18th, 2010 at 09:06 PM

    i did follow your steps. (thanks a lot btw, the quality is really great), but youtube says it can’t process it….(saved .avi and .mkv…tried both)….did i miss something?"

    quote:

    "

    Don Salva January 18th, 2010 at 09:17 PM

    YouTube should’ve no problem processing .avi. But how you managed to save .mkv with VirtualDub is beyond me, since VirtualDub doesn’t support anything other than .avi .

    Try the newest VirtualDub 1.9.8"

    I'm having VirtualDub 1.9.9 and having the same problem as Utzu is… :(

    Any help?

    Thank you

    PS: Otherwise great tutorial, videos are awesome!

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  18. Don Salva
    July 12th, 2010 - 16:03

    I’m guessing you’re using the Mega K-Lite Codec Pack 6.1.0? If so, go back to 6.0.4, if this error still appears try 6.0.0 or even 5.9.0.

    Apparently 6.1.0 has a faulty h264 codec. 6.0.4 works for me, but for some it doesn’t.

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  19. Control
    August 10th, 2010 - 18:05

    How do you change the h.264 options like you have them with Mega K-Lite Codec Pack 6.2?

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  20. Don Salva
    August 10th, 2010 - 18:23

    You don't. 6.2 has a new h.264 codec.

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  21. Control
    August 11th, 2010 - 03:29

    so i should get the same quality as your vids with the new codec?

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  22. Don Salva
    August 11th, 2010 - 14:15

    Yes, of course, IF you can figure out how to translate the settings I have in the screenshots to the new h264 codec settings.

    I personally stay with K-Lite 6.0.

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  23. Red Eye Jedi
    August 18th, 2010 - 13:10

    Worked great.

    Thanks for the help

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  25. Skylar K.
    August 19th, 2010 - 11:45

    I tried following your guide (think I have a new version of the codec as it doesn’t give me near as many options as the one in your screeenshot, but I matched the settings as best I could)), and the video ended up coming out gray and pixelated:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je4fFGiUnMs

    Do you have any idea how I would go about finding what the problem is and fixing it?

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    • Don Salva
      August 19th, 2010 - 11:53

      That’s strange. It’s the second time I’m seeing this. First my friend, McAkomx and now you.

      Try ditching K-Lite Mega Codec pack and get the VFW-version http://komisar.gin.by/ . The 1688 has the same UI like in the screenshot.

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      • Skylar K.
        August 19th, 2010 - 12:37

        I did that about 20 seconds after I posted the comment, matched all your settings, and it transcodes a bit faster (5FPS average to 7FPS) and shaved off about 25% of the file size, but it still does the same thing (just uploading a 3mb file to test).

        Did your friend ever fix this issue?

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        • Don Salva
          August 19th, 2010 - 12:41

          He did, I don’t know how. I’ll show him this comment when he’ll be around. I personally have no idea how or why it’s happening.

          But I do know it must be the codec AND YouTube. Something’s gone awry. Because I guess, you can watch the encoded/transcoded clip on your pc without any problems, just uploading to YouTube causes this.

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  26. Skylar K.
    August 19th, 2010 - 12:47

    Yeah, everything works on my PC, just not once uploaded.

    I’ll continue searching for a solution, thanks for your time!

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    • McAkomx
      August 19th, 2010 - 16:59

      Hello, Skylar K.

      I had the same problem as you have. The only solution that has helped me so far was to activate the option “Zero Latency”. I’m no expert but it has something to do with the B-frames in the compression of the video. Enable this Option and set the Speed in the menu “Basics/Presents” to Fast or Medium (less speed is better if you like to get smaller filesize). This has solved the problem for me. If it doesn’t work, enable in “Encoder&Avi Muxer” the “Disable decoder” option.

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  27. ahadhd
    August 24th, 2010 - 16:07

    Hello!

    Great settings for youtube HD Video!
    My first ever youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAbNk1PDJ0I

    I had to slightly modify your settings though, was getting only 4fps at first… now I’m getting about 10.5-12.5fps.
    With these modified settings my PC encodes 33.5GB – 26min 46sec video into a 905MB! Processing took about 1h 10min, not bad either.

    I do have some questions though, since been processing videos for 5 days now:
    1. Although I had enabled this in VDub; Video/Frame Rate…/Change so video and audio durations match.
    I still got video and sound unsynced in that near 30min video!
    How do I prevent this unsync from happening?? Why it happened in firstplace if I had that option checked?

    2. Why is this Format filter; 4:2:2 interleaved YCbCr (UYVY) needed, since video color depth remains unchanged?
    Let’s say I’d change vid output to 24bit RGB, do I need to add different filter or is this 4:2:2 interleaved YCbCr good?

    3. How do I “cut” my videos, say into 15min clips? With VDub or any other freeware program?
    Should it be done with raw video or can I do it after compression?

    Great guide! Keep up good work!

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    • Don Salva
      August 24th, 2010 - 16:24

      1. Most likely because your CPU is overwhelmed. I’ve had the issue in the past, but really couldn’t find the cause. So I’m only speculating.

      Think of it this way: The CPU has to process the images, compress it, etc. AND on top of that it has to match the sound to the exact image, process, compress etc. said sound. Most likely the CPU then is overwhelmed with the work and that’s when it becomes asynchronous. But like I said, just speculation on my part.

      How to prevent asynchronous sound? Process the video first, leave the sound (“Audio” -> “Direct Stream Copy”) intact. After you encoded the video, process the sound. Set the sound compressions, volume, etc. then “File” -> “Save WAV…”, save the compressed sound this way. Close VirtualDub. Reopen VirtualDub.

      Open your compressed video, go to “Video”, set “Direct Stream Copy”. Go to “Audio” and choose “Audio from another file…” and choose the compressed audio you previously saved via “Save WAV…”, then “File” -> “Save as avi” and you’re done.

      2. Obsolete settings, can be ignored. I was just experimenting back then, and thought it would make a difference size-wise, it doesn’t.

      3. Howto: Split a single video file into multiple video files with VirtualDub
      Howto: Add multiple video files into one single one with VirtualDub

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      • ahadhd
        August 24th, 2010 - 18:54

        It’s probably it (1.) Got AMD Phenom II X3 720BE and I set threads to 5 in order to get 100% CPU utilization, I’ll give a try with 4 threads, since 4.5 isn’t an option here :(
        If that doesn’t do the trick, I’ll try the workaround!

        Ohh, seems that I missed those videos totally :(
        You might want to add those links on that front page too!

        And what I experimented with sound… like you said about the volume setting: it’s individual, I had to add +28dB, and actually less would do too.

        One thing I don’t understand with sounds is that VDub says my recorded videos are Mono, which cannot be correct. I do use headphones though.

        Thanks for helping out so fast!

        ( REPLY )
        • Don Salva
          August 24th, 2010 - 19:20

          Yes, it can actually. When you’re using Xfire. Xfire only records sound in mono.

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          • ahadhd
            August 25th, 2010 - 12:34

            Thanks for sorting out how to split/add videos together, it’s incredibly easy!
            And if Xfire records it mono then there’s not much I can do about it.

            I’m still having problems to sync sound with video, even with your advice :S
            I did as following: I took this massive 33.5GB file, split it half (part 1&2 both 16.7GB), keeping both video and audio at direct stream copy (DSC).
            Then I took the part 1: processed the video, keeping sound DSC. Got 399MB file (with DSC sound).
            Extracted the sound: now I kept video at DSC, edited the audio and saved it as *.WAV (12.3MB).

            Then I merged A/V together as you said: opened compressed video (set the DSC), took audio from file. Saved as *.AVI and ended up asynced file 337MB in size.

            Note: my audio was already unsynced in the raw video! I’m now believing that’s the initial cause. So I guess I’ll have to sort it out before I can do anything.

            Solution I came up with:
            I’ll try just running whole 33.5GB file as: DSC for both A/V but I goto; Video//Frame Rate…//change so A/V durations match. I hope I get the raw video synced with sound then!
            If this doesn’t sync it for raw video then I’m lost :(

          • Don Salva
            August 25th, 2010 - 12:46

            Yes, if your audio was already asynchronous in the raw file, there’s not much to be done in VirtualDub. You’d need to match the Audio to the Video via more professional tools, like Sony Vegas Movie Studio or Adobe Premiere.

            I don’t know how do sync it in VirtualDub because I never had the issue with raw videos. I’ve had them with transcoded videos, which is how I solved it like I described it.

            Maybe you can try to fiddle around with “Audio”->”Interleaving”.

            You could try a sound editing software like Audacity, but I doubt it’ll solve anything, I’m sorry not to be able to help.

  28. ahadhd
    August 25th, 2010 - 13:11

    That’s too bad :(
    I’ll give a try to a solution I came up with – before abandoning all my hope…

    Also half-size recording is worth a try. Since these files I have are super-massive!
    Maybe it can reduce or perhaps prevent async completely.
    If not, it’s either Xfire, its setting or my PC. – I have to do some experiments then..!

    Thanks for helping out Don!

    ( REPLY )
      • ahadhd
        August 25th, 2010 - 14:39

        Yeah, FRAPS crossed my mind, but its free version has record length limitation.
        Besides Xfire can do those short recordings without problem too!

        And YES! Solved my problem partially with VDub!
        Solution for syncing A/V for raw *.AVI video:
        In VDub goto Video//Frame Rate…//change so A/V durations match and set “Direct Sream Copy” for both audio and video!
        This helped to keep audio synced over 50% of the video (33.5GB and ~27min). After that audio started to come before video, in the end of the vid difference was about 1-2 seconds in favor of sound.
        Note: this works only once, running the procedure after you’ve completed it once seems to do absolutely nothing.

        By what I have learned now, I’m better off by keeping maximum file size less than 3GB – no perceivable async!!!
        And btw didn’t FRAPS automatically split recordings into 2GB files? I remember reading something like it somewhere… o.O

        ( REPLY )
        • Don Salva
          August 25th, 2010 - 15:08

          Fraps splits files after 4GB, FAT32 max. size, because apparently not everybody has switched to NTFS.

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          • ahadhd
            August 27th, 2010 - 11:48

            I’m afraid I have to bother you again!

            I have this older game which max resolution is 640*480, and I’d like to maintain the quality also on youtube. So, I re-sized raw video into a 480p (854*480 – since 16/9 * 480 = 853.3333), I’m aware that I lost some quality in the process BUT on my screen it was still crystal clear after re-size!!! However after youtube finished processing the video was pixelated beyond my wildest dreams!

            Question is what I did wrong here?
            Is that correct (exact) resolution for 480p?
            Should I’ve gone for 360p?

            Aren’t youtube’s definitions following:
            1920*1080 for 1080p
            1280*720 for 720p
            854*480 for 480p???????
            640*360 for 360p
            428*240 or 426*240 since (16/9 * 240 = 426.666667) for 240p????

            What would be correct re-sizes for each lower definition IF I can’t provide the HD footage 720p+?

            Help appreciated!

          • Don Salva
            August 27th, 2010 - 12:41

            You didn’t do anything wrong. After you upload a video YouTube re-encodes the whole video again, it’s like running VirtualDub a second time over the video.

            There’s nothing you can do about that. You can try lower or original resolution of course and hope YouTube doesn’t f’k it up.

            Generally 480p, 360p and 240p videos have miserable qualities on YouTube with a few exceptions for which I have no explanation.

  29. TheBascotie
    September 9th, 2010 - 04:30

    Thanks for the info but after working through it and converting a file (took a couple hours) then uploading it to YouTube I was met with the dreaded “cannot convert file” (and of course YouTube tells me this after taking 30-60 minutes to upload the file and more to process it lol.

    So if you’re gonna upload this to YouTube, be wary.

    ( REPLY )
    • Don Salva
      September 9th, 2010 - 08:19

      Must be something you did. Just yesterday, I uploaded two videos on YouTube.

      Have you got the newest x264vfw codec? 1713 according to Komisar. Latest VirtualDub? 1.9.10.

      ( REPLY )
      • TheBascotie
        September 11th, 2010 - 06:14

        I setup my settings just like yours except I have 3 cores select (since i have a dual core 1.5×2 = 3) and I avoided the other 3daccel settings you mentioned. Not sure what happened.

        I recorded with FRAPS originally and the file came out as 5GB, uploaded it to youtube as less than 500mb which is awesome but it didn’t work =( I’ll have to check if I have the latest versions but I just got the codec a day or so before posting my earlier comment and just downloaded virtualdub like 2 weeks ago.

        ( REPLY )
      • Don Salva
        September 11th, 2010 - 10:10

        Can’t really help you. Not much information there to go on. No idea what’s happening, sorry.

        ( REPLY )
  30. shark87
    September 12th, 2010 - 20:02

    Dam, i always used the mpeg-4 to convert my videos, but the files were still to big. Now im converting with your tutorial… It takes fking long time but the quality and its size are quite impressive.
    After converting ill upload on youtube and i make here the link for u guys to see…
    Hope YT doesnt f**k my vid like i’ve read the comments above.

    ( REPLY )
  31. s3rius
    September 16th, 2010 - 16:56

    Hey there, I’m using VDub for a while already and wanted to try this out.
    I got the latest versions of vfw x264 and VDub, installed it and all works fine – until it hit the “configure” button.
    The window that pops up looks like this: http://i0.simplest-image-hosting.net/168bf183b2abe8bc9188aacc163dd507/unbenannt1.jpg
    As you can see there are no tabs for “Analysis & Encoding” or “Rate control & Other” so I can’t adjust these settings. Would you know any reason why?

    ( REPLY )
  32. deve
    November 14th, 2010 - 01:08

    I followed your tutorial with the exactly same settings n all. I resized my video from 1080p to 720p, its a 10 min video but the file is still way too big, 1.3GB! Am I doing something wrong?

    ( REPLY )
    • Don Salva
      November 14th, 2010 - 01:56

      I can’t answer this question. There’s too many variables to consider.
      - Sound uncompressed
      - You’re recording with more than 29.97 fps
      - You’re compressing a scene where a lot happens
      - Different codec, different compression algorithms

      This guide is a bit old, the basics though are the same. I too sometime get more than the size I wrote down in the tutorial. It’s normal. But 1.3gb for 10min. is definitely too much for my taste.

      Best compromise quality< ->filesize I get with my own settings are about 700-800mb per 10 min. clip.

      ( REPLY )
    • McAkomx
      November 16th, 2010 - 23:23

      There is a slider in the menu of x264vfw configuration for the quality of a video. The farther you move it to the right, the smaller your video will be. But it is also losing more and more quality. If your videos are too large with the donsalva.com standard settings for 720p videos, move that slider to the right (low quality) until you have found your desired size and quality.

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  33. zzz
    November 28th, 2010 - 19:25

    Thx man ! It’s work ! VERY GOOD !

    ( REPLY )
  34. Ninja Guy
    January 7th, 2011 - 11:56

    I having a problem uploading the tutorial video I wanted. The video size is about 5 mb and when I tried your tutorial and upload it in youtube, it became so choppy. But when I’m previewing it in my desktop, it still fine. Do you know what’s the problem. btw it is 480p. next time I’ll just put it in 360p.

    ( REPLY )
  35. deFt
    January 23rd, 2011 - 15:00

    Thank you, it’s a very nicely detailed and easily understandable guide. You should also add a sharpen filter to your screenshot. Before that guide I always wondered how people are making HD videos for youtube, I thought that they always downscale.

    My video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vv7YwTbH0so
    Black boxes at sides – I know but my resolution is 1400×1200.

    Anyway, Thank you again :)

    ( REPLY )
  36. eewokney
    January 27th, 2011 - 17:59

    hey man. the image isnt working. please fix

    ( REPLY )
  37. Halli
    August 3rd, 2011 - 09:01

    Hmm. I encoded with these settings a 20 min long video. I recorded at 1280×1028 and my overall size was 40gb. and after i encoded it. it was 2gb. and you said in the first post that 10min videos would net you around 300mb. i have lower res than you then how come my file is 6 times larger?

    I havent had the time to read over all the comments. Excuse me if you addressed this issue before.

    ( REPLY )
  38. Graham
    August 19th, 2011 - 10:50

    Been uploading game vids to YT for a couple of years now. Tinternet (Yorkshire dialect) got slower in the last few months and uploads sometimes show a time of eighteen thousand minutes for 1.7GB files. Such large files often fail after a day or so of uploading. Used your method and the same file is now a third of the size and takes a lot less time so the upload is much more likely to succeed. After two weeks of failed uploads I decided to miss a vid out of a series, going from vid five to vid seven, but now vid six is on You Tube thanks to you.

    Thank you so much for all your efforts.

    Graham, from the United Kingdom’s beautiful Yorkshire.

    ( REPLY )
  39. mrsmith25
    December 31st, 2011 - 06:19

    Do you have any suggestions or FRAPS settings? my monitor is set to 1680×1050, and i have FRaps set to 30 fps and half size. loop buffer length 30 seconds. is that considered 4:3 ?

    ( REPLY )
    • Don Salva
      December 31st, 2011 - 09:33

      No, I don’t have any suggestions, as every computers has its own strength and weaknesses.

      4:3 has nothing to do with Fraps. 4:3 is the aspect ratio of your monitor. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Display_resolution

      Try around with Fraps until you find it to your liking. Though there’s not much to set up in Fraps. Whether you record in 30 fps or not, depends how much HDD you can hold. The more FPS the bigger the files.

      Loop is only important if you take frequent breaks and don’t want to waste HDD space. So you can loop it if you take a break and resume when you’re back.

      ( REPLY )
  40. mrsmith25
    December 31st, 2011 - 12:26

    Thanks for the response. I got a couple more questions if you don’t mind helping a noob.
    1.) If I understand correctly 1680*1050 is considered 16:10 ratio. the 1920* dimension doesn’t appear as a choice for me in either game or video card settings.
    2.) What combination of editor and virtual dub do you suggest for gaming videos? Do I record raw with fraps, put it in [Insert suggestion], then export full size, and use virtual dub as the final compression? I ask this because my slightly broken copy of premiere cs5 doesnt have hdv preset and anything i export from premiere craps out at 720×480. Any suggestions are much appreciated.
    3.) thanks for your time.

    ( REPLY )
    • Don Salva
      December 31st, 2011 - 12:38

      1) Yes, 1680*1050 is 16:10 aspect ratio. If you monitor can’t handle 16:9 then it can’t. I mean you could force a lower 16:9 ratio, but as long as the display resolution is not native the picture on your screen will appear blurred. Leave it at 1680*1050.

      2) I personally only use VirtualDub, because I don’t need to edit my videos a lot if any. My friend, McAkomx, swears by Sony Vegas Studio. He uses it to edit his videos and to encode it. He doesn’t use VirtualDub at all.

      If you have a video editing program, like Premier CS5 or Sony Vegas Studio, you usually don’t need Virtual Dub, as it’s redundant. Premier CS5 does what VirtualDub does, and then some. You can use this guide to set up your encoding in Premier CS5.

      Because Premier CS5 uses the same codec as VirtualDub does. The only questions is HOW, which I can’t help you with because I don’t use Premier CS5. You should have the option to choose an encoding codec. Choose the x264 and you should get the same options layout like above in the guide, set it up like described, and encode.

      ( REPLY )
    • Don Salva
      December 31st, 2011 - 12:39

      Addendum 2)

      I personally record with Fraps raw. Load it into VirtualDub, choose encoding codec and let it run.

      ( REPLY )
  41. mrsmith25
    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.

    ( REPLY )
  42. bambambigellow
    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!

    ( REPLY )
  43. bambambigellow
    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!

    ( REPLY )
  44. tgchan
    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?

    ( REPLY )
    • tgchan
      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

      :(

      ( REPLY )
    • Don Salva
      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.

      ( REPLY )

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Intel Core i7-2600K and encoding with VirtualDub | The Don's Craptastic World
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