Uploading widescreen recordings to YouTube

Soundbox · 08-12-2011, 11:45

Your help would really be appreciated.

I have some anamorphic 16:9 footage I want to upload to YouTube, but as youtube sees just a 4:3 input it puts black bars either side. I want my 4:3 footage to be uploaded so as to fill the 16:9 YouTube box.

I can find no user upload settings in YouTube to allow me to override the 4:3 input priority. Any assistance on how this can be done welcomed.

2Bdecided · 08-12-2011, 12:08

For many formats, YouTube ignores the Pixel Aspect Ratio, and treats all footage as square pixel. So 720x576 SD video often gets displayed at 600x480 by YouTube - that's narrower than 4x3.

One answer is to resample it to 1024x576, or 1280x720 or whatever, upload that, and you'll be fine.

The other is to upload a video format where YouTube respects the PAR, having set the PAR correctly. I have no idea which formats YouTube respects in this way, because I always upload square pixel 1280x720p25 H.264 in mp4. Even from SD sources - because YouTube SD is far lower quality than PAL SD, so it makes sense to upload it as "HD" to get the best possible result.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,
David.

08-12-2011, 11:45	#1
Soundbox Forum Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: The garden of earthly delights Posts: 4,509	Uploading widescreen recordings to YouTube Your help would really be appreciated. I have some anamorphic 16:9 footage I want to upload to YouTube, but as youtube sees just a 4:3 input it puts black bars either side. I want my 4:3 footage to be uploaded so as to fill the 16:9 YouTube box. I can find no user upload settings in YouTube to allow me to override the 4:3 input priority. Any assistance on how this can be done welcomed.

08-12-2011, 12:08	#2
2Bdecided Forum Member Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Yorkshire Posts: 4,391	For many formats, YouTube ignores the Pixel Aspect Ratio, and treats all footage as square pixel. So 720x576 SD video often gets displayed at 600x480 by YouTube - that's narrower than 4x3. One answer is to resample it to 1024x576, or 1280x720 or whatever, upload that, and you'll be fine. The other is to upload a video format where YouTube respects the PAR, having set the PAR correctly. I have no idea which formats YouTube respects in this way, because I always upload square pixel 1280x720p25 H.264 in mp4. Even from SD sources - because YouTube SD is far lower quality than PAL SD, so it makes sense to upload it as "HD" to get the best possible result. Hope this helps. Cheers, David.

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Uploading widescreen recordings to YouTube