High Definition is all the rage these days. We've got HD TVs, HD DVDs and now consumer grade HD camcorders. It wasn't too long after the introduction of these new camcorders that online video services, such as YouTube, jumped into the High Definition game by offering HD uploads for their video sharing sites.
Before rushing out to film your animals in funny costumes and then throwing them up on the web, take a few moments to ensure that the video is optimized for a YouTube HD upload.
Capturing the Footage
Before the HD footage can be uploaded to YouTube, you first have to capture it. Depending on your HD camera, you can do this either by connecting a Firewire cable to the input on your camera, or simply by popping out the SDHC card and inserting it into your computer.
If your camera needs to be connected to a Firewire cable, you will need a video capturing program in order to to import the footage. Most operating systems now come with editing software built in as standard.
Edit & Export the Footage
No point in putting up Fido posing in a Fireman costume if he's not looking at the camera half the time, right? To help cut down the side of your YouTube HD upload, cut out any footage that you don't need. Use this time to add titles, music and other effects, if needed.
YouTube reccomends that HD videos be encoded to 1280 x 720 pixels. Change this in the "Export Settings" portion of your editing software. Newer software packages may have these presets already loaded in your encoding screen automatically.
Choose a compact codec (Compression/Decompression) to encode the video, otherwise it'll take hours to upload. One of the most popular HD video codecs is the H.264 mpeg codec. The framerate of your video should also be optimized for YouTube HD upload. Choose the 30 frames per second option in your video editing program, which should work in most cases.
YouTube HD Upload
Once the HD video has been optimized and exported, it's time to share it wtih the world. Login to a YouTube account and click the "Upload" button at the top of the screen. Use the explorer to locate the file on your computer and click "OK". YouTube will provide you with feedback on the upload progress, as well as allowing you to add tags, description and a title.
Depending on the size of the video, it could be as little as a few minutes or as long as an hour until your HD video is ready to share with the world.
Scott Calonico - Scott Calonico holds a BS in Communications from the University of Texas at Austin and an MA in International Journalism from City ...
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