Premiere Export Settings for YouTube: The Ultimate How-To ...

What are the Best Premiere Pro Export Settings for YouTube? PremiereExportSettingsforYouTube:TheUltimateHow-ToGuide PostedonApril27,2021 Editing|YouTubeSEO CONTENTS WhataretheBestPremiereProExportSettingsforYouTube?PremiereExportSettings:BasicsandKeyTermsHowtoRenderandExportVideofromPremiereforYouTubeHowtoUploadaVideotoYouTubefromPremiereProFinalThoughts MakingYouTubevideosforyourbusinesscanbetedious.Thejobisdefinitelyeasierwhenyouusetherightequipment,includingvideoeditingsoftwaresuchasAdobePremierePro.Premieremakesiteasytofine-tuneeverypartofthevideotoperfection.Afteryou’veedited,though,youstillhavetheworkofexportingaheadofyou-anditcangetprettytechnical. ThisguidetoexportsettingsforPremiereProwillteachyoueverythingyouneedtoknowabouttakingyourvideosoutoftheeditingsoftwareandgettingthemontoYouTubewiththebestquality! WhataretheBestPremiereProExportSettingsforYouTube? We’llgetintothenitty-grittyofexportsettingsfurtherdown.IfyoualreadyknowadecentbitaboutexportingvideowithPremiere,youcanusethistableasareference.Thebestexportsettingsfor720P,1080PHD,and4Kvideoareasfollows:  Setting720pVideo1080pHDVideo4KUHDVideoFormatMP4MP4MP4CodecH.264H.264H.264FrameSize1280x7201920x10803840x2160FrameRateAsshotAsshotAsshotTargetBitrate5845BitrateEncodingCBRCBRCBR PremiereExportSettings:BasicsandKeyTerms Now,it’stimetodiveintoallthedifferentexportsettingswithinPremierePro.Ifyouhaveagraspofwhateachsettingoptionmeansandhowitcanchangethevideo’squalityonYouTube,you’llneverhavetoguessyourwaythroughsettingsinPremiereagain. TheImportanceofUsingProperExportSettings Therearetwothingstokeepinmindwhenselectingyourexportsettings.Thefirstisthepropertiesofthevideothatyoushot-framerates,resolution,etc.Matchingtheexportsettingstothesepropertieswillensurethingslookastheyshouldwhenyouexport. ThesecondarethesettingsthatYouTuberecommends.Stickingwiththesesettingswillmakehelpdeliveryourvideoinitsbestqualitywithouthugefilesizes. WhatHappensifIGetItWrong? ThegoodnewsisthattheramificationsofusingthewrongexportsettingsinPremiereareprettysmall.Youwillstillwanttoexportagainwithproperexportsettings;allwe’resayingisthatyoudon’tneedtopanicifyouaccidentallyusedthewrongsettings! Herearesomeofthethingsthatcanhappenifyouusethewrongexportsettings: Thevideofilesizewillbetoolargeandtakeforevertorender/export,andevenlongertouploadtoYouTube. YouTubewilloverlycompressthevideotoreducethefilesize,resultinginalowervideoquality.Thevideowilllook“choppy”orblurrybecausetheframerateisincorrect.PremierecancrashifyourcomputerdoesnothaveenoughRAMorsystemresourcesInrarecases,YouTubewillnotacceptthevideoifthefiletypeorcodecusedisn’tsupported. Again,noneofthesethingswillcauseacompletedisaster,andtheeasiestfixissimplyre-exportingthevideowithdifferentsettings.However,usingthebestexportsettingsthefirsttimeletsyouexportfromPremiereanduploadtoYouTubewithouttheheadache! FormatsandCodecs WhenyouexportthevideofromPremiere,youwillneedtochooseafileformatandacodec.ThesearetwointerlinkedsettingsthatguidePremiereProasitexportsyourvideo.ForYouTube,therecommendfileformatisMP4.It’sefficientandhigh-quality,lettingyouuploadquicklywithoutlosinganyresolution.  Codecsareabitmorecomplex;theydescribethewayPremiereProwillcompressanddecompressthevideofile.Themoreefficientthecodec,thehigherthevideoqualityafterexport(withoutcreatingmassivefilesizes).ThebestcodecforYouTubeisH.264.ItefficientlyencodesandcompressesthevideointotheMP4videofile.YouTuberecommendsthateveryvideousesH.264encoding,thoughitstillacceptsothertypes.  FrameRates Theframerateofyourexportedvideoismainlydependentupontheframerateusedwhenyourecordedit.Thecameragearyouused(checkoutourrecommendationshere)willletyouselectaframerate;thatframerateistheoneyoushouldusewhenexporting.Herearesomeofthemostcommonframerates: 24FPS:inPremiereProandotherprograms,you’llseeitlistedas“23.976”,butit’smucheasiertosimplysay24.Thisistypicallyknownasthe‘cinematic’framerate. 25FPS:25fpsisrareinNorthAmerica.It’stypicallyonlyusedinEurope.30FPS:30fps(ortechnically29.97)istraditionallyusedinTVandbrodcast. 60FPS:60fpsismorecommonlyusedwithesportsandvideogamesbutisgaininguseinregularvideorecordings.Thehigherframeratewillproducemuchsmoothermotionanda‘hyper-realistic’look. Bitrate Bitratedescribeshowmuchinformation(measuredinbytesorkilobytes)istransferredineverysecondofvideo.Thehigherthebitrate,themoredatatransfer,andthehighertheoverallquality. “BitrateEncoding”isasettingthatdeterminesifthebitratewillremainconstantoradjusttocomplexsegmentsofthevideo.CBR(constantbitrate)isideal,asitkeepsthevideoqualityconstantandrequireslessworkforPremiereProasitexports. Theonlycaveatinbitratesettingsisthatraisingthebitratetoohighincreasesthefilesizeandcanbetoodemandingforpeople’sinternetconnections.Thelastthingyouwantistouploadavideothatbuffersincessantly! Thebestbitratesetting(the“TargetBitrate”inPremierePro)isusually8-45Mbps.Thiswillensurethatyourvideoisofthehighestqualitywithoutgoingoverboard. For720Pand1080Pvideos,stickwith8-12;4Kvideoswithhigherframeratesworkbetterwithatargetbitrateof35-45.  PictureResolution Mostpeoplehaveadecentworkingknowledgeofpictureresolutionssowe’lltakealookatthisfromaYouTube-specificangle.Pictureresolutiondescribesthenumberofpixelsusedtodisplaythevideo;thehigherthenumberofpixels,theclearerandsharperthepicture. Youraudience(withfewexceptions)willbewatchingthevideoinoneofthreeways:eitherontheirmobilephones,theircomputers,orincreasinglyontheirTV.Youraudience’sviewinghabitscanhelpinformwhichpictureresolutionisbestforyourbrand’sYouTubevideos.  720P:Thisresolution,whichwasthestandardforHDvideobefore1080Pwasadopted,looksexcellentonphonesbutnotonlaptopsorTVs.Ifyouraudienceisheavilyonmobile,youcancutfilesizesanduploadtimesbyshootingandexportingin720P. 1080P:Thisisthestandardforalmostanyvideobroadcast,whetheritbeYouTube,TV,orstreamingapps.Thisresolutionshouldbeyourdefault.4K:Alsocalled“UHD”or“Ultra-HD.”It’sgreatforbrandsthatareheavyonvisualsbutusuallyunnecessaryotherwise.Ifyouraudienceiswatchingontheirphones,4Kwillbeoverkillbecausetherearenophoneswith4Kscreens.Mostphonescreenscanreplicatea“UHD”experience,buttheactualnumberofpixelsinthescreenisfarlowerthan4K.  WhatisEncoding? EncodingdescribestheprocessbywhichPremiereProwilltakeyoureditedvideofiles,compress,andconvertthemtomeetthestandardsyouhavelaidoutinyourexportsettings.TheimportantthingtorememberaboutvideoencodingisthatitcanbeaverycomplextaskforPremiere(andyourcomputer)toexecute.  Thatmeansyoushoulddoeverythingyoucantomakeyourexportsettingsmatchthoseofthesettingsyoushotthevideoin:resolution,framerate,etc.DoingsoensuresthatPremierewillhavelessworktodoasitencodesandexportsthevideo,savingyoutimeandavoidingcrashes.  HowtoRenderandExportVideofromPremiereforYouTube 1.SetIn/OutPoints Thefirstthingyouneedtodoissetinandoutpointsforyourvideo.Forgettingtodothisisasimplemistakethatcancostyoulotsoftime.Movetheplayheadtotheexactpointwhereyou’dlikethevideotobeginandpress“I.”Then,dothesamethingwiththevideo’sendpoint,butpress“O.”You’llseeahighlightedgreyareathatconfirmsyourvideo’sinandoutpoints. 2.HeadtothePremiereProCCExportMenu Now,navigatetotheExportMenu.Press“File,”scrolldownto“Export,”andclick“Media”toopentheexportmenu.Youcanalsousethe“Command+M”(Mac)or“Control+M”(PC)shortcuttoopenthemenu.  3.ChooseaFormat,andNameYourFile H.264isthebestformattoexportfromPremiereProforYouTube.Selectitfromthelistofoptionsinthe“Format”bar.Next,clickonthe“OutputName”andgiveyourfileanamethatyou’llremember. 4.Configure“BasicVideoSettings” Resolution Choosearesolutionthatmatchestheresolutionofthevideoyoushot.Themajorityofthetime,thiswillbe1920X1080,theresolutionforHDvideo.Ifyoushotin4K,select3840X2160.Youcanalsochecktheboxthatsays“MatchSource”andPremierewillchoosetheresolutionforyou. FrameRate Ifyoushotthevideoatahigherframerate,youmightneedtoadjustto30FPS,60FPS,oranotherframeratethatfitstheframerateyoushotin.Premierewillautomaticallyhave“23.976”selected;unlessyouneedtochangeit,youcanleavethatalone. 5.Configure“BitrateSettings” BitrateEncoding:Select“CBR”,ConstantBitRateTargetBitrate:Clickonthenumbernexttothesliderandtypein“8”(or“45”ifyou’reexportingin4K).Ifexportingat1080P,60FPS,choose12fortargetbitrate.AlwaysCheck“UseMaximumRenderQuality”:Thiswillensurethatthevideoyouexportisofthehighestpossiblequality,withtheleastcompression. 6.AudioExportSettingsinPremierePro Wedidn’tspendmuchtimeonthisbecausePremiere’sdefaultsettingsworkperfectlywithYouTube.Click“Audio” inthemenubarandmakesurethatyouseethesenumbers/selections: AudioCodec:AACSampleRate:48000HzChannels:StereoAudioQuality:HighBitrate:256Precedence:Bitrate Ifyouseedifferentsettingsonyourscreen,it’slikelythatPremierehasautomaticallymatchedittothesourceaudio.However,thisisaprettyrareoccurrenceandit’seasytoswitchtheaudiosettingstotheabove,whichisbestforYouTube. 7.SaveYourExportSettingsforNextTime Beforeyoupress“Export,”scrollbacktothetopoftheexportsettingsmenu.Thereisabuttonnexttothe“Presets”barthatwillletyousaveyoursettings.Saveitwithanamelike“YouTubeStandard.”Then,allyouhavetodonexttimeyouexportavideoischoosethatpreset! 8.ExportandUploadYourVideo Yourexportworkisdone!Press“export”andletPremiereworkitsmagic!Whentheexportisfinished,thefilewillbesavedonyourcomputer’sharddrive,readyforYouTubeuploading. HowtoUploadaVideotoYouTubefromPremierePro AfterexportingyourvideofromPremiere,headovertoYouTube. Clickthecamerageariconinthetopright(Create)andselectUploadVideoDragyourvideofileorlocateitonyourcomputerFollowtheremainingstepstouploadandoptimizeyourvideo’smetadataClickPublish FinalThoughts ChoosingthecorrectexportsettingsforYouTubeinPremiereProCCiscrucialinthevideoproductionprocess.Ifyouunderstandthebasictermsandconcepts,youcanavoidtime-wastingmistakesandfocusongrowingyouraudienceandclient/customerbase!  DoyouhaveanyquestionsforusaboutPremierePro?Or,areyouinterestedintakinga“hands-off”approachandlettingushandleyourbusinessYouTubevideos?Leaveyourcommentsbelow,anddon’thesitatetogetintouchwithustoday! Getthelatestnews,tips,andinsightintheworldofvideoandmarketing GetMediaSignalssentstraighttoyourinbox-ourweeklyemailforentrepreneurs,marketers,andcreatorsfocusedonusingvideotogrowtheirbrand. 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