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 1920×1200 or 1680×1050 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, sometimes MediaCoder.
Lately I’ve been experimenting 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 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 1920×1200 resolution!
My settings for VirtualDub are as follows: Link
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.
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.
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=gIW6KsBTqVM&fmt=22
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6M737fwCxU&fmt=22
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCwECTbX_GU&fmt=22
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPCyNTY_wh4&fmt=22
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buGMBLejdQg&fmt=22
Addendum:
I’ve been getting emails asking me what kind of codecs I’m using and where to get it. Here’s the Wikipedia article for h.264 codec. I’m using a complete codec pack called “K-Lite Mega Codec Pack“. The h.264 is only contained in the mega version of it!
Addendum 16.September 2009:
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 whole 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 to some 40-ish minutes.
Under “Options” -> “Preferences” enable those settings:
And if you are running on a multicore cpu, don’t forget to enable threading!
Addendum 23.10.2009:
There’s currently a problem causing VirtualDub 1.9.4/5/6/7, crashing under Windows 7. The culprit is 3D accel! Turn it off under “Preferences” -> “3D accel” and enjoy VirtualDub once again!
Related posts:
- Fraps & VirtualDub: How to save disk space and enjoy good quality, small file size HD video clips
- Real-Time Screen capturing/recording easily done with VirtualDub and VHScrCap
- Demigod – Can you smell what “The Rook” is cookin’? [HD gameplay clips]
- The Hillbillies invade Fallout 3 – “Point Lookout” HD gameplay clips!
- ‘Dismembering for Dummies’ by X-Men Origins: Wolverine [HD gameplay clips]
Tags: 720p, good quality, HD, high definition, high quality, high resolution, HQ, screen capturing, screen recording, settings, small file size, transcoding software, vdub, video, video editing, virtualdub, youtube
you swhould include the config file
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.
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?
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
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?
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.
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