Introduction
You spent 40 hours editing. You confirmed the export. You watched it on YouTube... and the confetti looks like Lego blocks. Welcome to Compression Hell.
The Codec Triangle
- H.264 (The Standard): Compatible with everything. Good quality, decent file size. Use this for 90% of client deliveries.
- H.265 (HEVC): The successor. Half the file size of H.264 for the same quality. Great for high-res (4K/8K) delivery, but older computers struggle to play it.
- ProRes (The Editor): Massive files. "Visually Lossless." This is what you edit with. Do not email a ProRes file to a client unless they asked for a "Master."
The Bitrate Trap
"More is better" right? Not always. If you upload a 100 Mbps file to YouTube, YouTube's server says "Whoa, too big" and brutally compresses it down to 15 Mbps. This "double compression" often looks worse than if you had just uploaded a clean 25 Mbps file to begin with.
The Sweet Spot Settings (2025)
- 1080p Upload: H.264 / 15-20 Mbps / CBR (Constant Bitrate).
- 4K Upload: H.265 / 35-45 Mbps / VBR 2-Pass (Variable Bitrate).
4:2:0 vs 4:2:2 (The Color Depth)
If you are shooting Green Screen or heavy Color Grading, you need 10-bit 4:2:2.
- 8-bit (4:2:0): 16 million colors. Fine for viewing, bad for grading (skies will band).
- 10-bit (4:2:2): 1 Billion colors. Flexible. You can push the teal/orange look without the image falling apart.
Conclusion
Storage is cheap. Quality is priceless. Shoot in ProRes/10-bit. Export in H.265.
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