<p>I'm recording video game footage via lossless methods, after which I need to compress them and upload them to youtube. I'm not sure which format and/or codecs are best for this. I've been experimenting with various formats and I've found MP4 (and whatever Camtasia 7 uses as a codec for that) to be mostly effective, but the quality varies by game.</p>

<p>Particularly I've noticed that lower-motion games like platforming games (Super Mario) or RPGs (Final Fantasy) seem to be fine no matter what format they're in; few "blocky" compression artifacts, almost no issues due to how often key-frames are used. But higher motion games, especially First Person Shooters (Halo) and scrolling shooters (Gradius) suffer relatively severe issues with "ghost" images between keyframes and generally blocky or choppy video.</p>

<p><strong>Is there a generally acceptable video codec for high motion gameplay footage?</strong> I want to absolutely minimize compression artifacts like ghost images between keyframes, blocks of colors, etc. To maximize quality my recordings are at 30 FPS, 32 bit RGB at naitive resolution and file size isn't a major limiting factor (but I'd like to keep files under 1 GB due to low upload speeds). So assume the source file is basically pristine. How should I compress these high quality source files of full motion gameplay <strong>to be uploaded on youtube?</strong></p>

<p>To reiterate the general requirements:</p>

<ul>
<li>Lossless or high quality source file at 30 FPS, 32 bit RGB</li>
<li>Full motion recording, minimal compression artifacts wanted</li>
<li>Resolution only limited by the game's res; generally 480p, 720p or 1080p, occasionally weird resolutions when a game requires them (but if those come out less-awesome it's not a big deal, I accept that those are problematic).</li>
<li>Youtube will receive and process the final product, so their processing determines the final quality. I want something that Youtube will butcher the least (their videos do not always match my upload file's quality and I'm not sure why)</li>
</ul>

<p>If it matters I'm using Camtasia Studio to edit/render the video before uploading, and I use a combination of Camtasia Studio and Fraps to record videos. I have the K-Lite Full codec pack on my PC, so Youtube is the major limiting factor for codecs. Fraps records lossless, and Camtasia <em>can</em> be lossless but I've been taking to DivX for encoding the initial recording in  Camtasia. My videos are at the whim of Youtube's re-encoding process for the final product as well, but I'm not sure exactly what they use for that.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-06-22T12:53:34.903Z
Relevant: http://video.stackexchange.com/questions/5318/what-codec-will-my-youtube-uploads-be-output-in-and-what-codec-should-i-use-to-u
timonsku
<video><file-formats><codec><video-quality><youtube>
What codecs/formats are appropriate for full motion video recording for youtube?
Zelda
# What codecs/formats are appropriate for full motion video recording for youtube?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2012-11-13)

I'm recording video game footage via lossless methods, after which I need to compress them and upload them to youtube. I'm not sure which format and/or codecs are best for this. I've been experimenting with various formats and I've found MP4 (and whatever Camtasia 7 uses as a codec for that) to be mostly effective, but the quality varies by game.

Particularly I've noticed that lower-motion games like platforming games (Super Mario) or RPGs (Final Fantasy) seem to be fine no matter what format they're in; few "blocky" compression artifacts, almost no issues due to how often key-frames are used. But higher motion games, especially First Person Shooters (Halo) and scrolling shooters (Gradius) suffer relatively severe issues with "ghost" images between keyframes and generally blocky or choppy video.

**Is there a generally acceptable video codec for high motion gameplay footage?** I want to absolutely minimize compression artifacts like ghost images between keyframes, blocks of colors, etc. To maximize quality my recordings are at 30 FPS, 32 bit RGB at naitive resolution and file size isn't a major limiting factor (but I'd like to keep files under 1 GB due to low upload speeds). So assume the source file is basically pristine. How should I compress these high quality source files of full motion gameplay **to be uploaded on youtube?**

To reiterate the general requirements:

* Lossless or high quality source file at 30 FPS, 32 bit RGB
* Full motion recording, minimal compression artifacts wanted
* Resolution only limited by the game's res; generally 480p, 720p or 1080p, occasionally weird resolutions when a game requires them (but if those come out less-awesome it's not a big deal, I accept that those are problematic).
* Youtube will receive and process the final product, so their processing determines the final quality. I want something that Youtube will butcher the least (their videos do not always match my upload file's quality and I'm not sure why)

If it matters I'm using Camtasia Studio to edit/render the video before uploading, and I use a combination of Camtasia Studio and Fraps to record videos. I have the K-Lite Full codec pack on my PC, so Youtube is the major limiting factor for codecs. Fraps records lossless, and Camtasia *can* be lossless but I've been taking to DivX for encoding the initial recording in Camtasia. My videos are at the whim of Youtube's re-encoding process for the final product as well, but I'm not sure exactly what they use for that.

**Tags:** video, file-formats, codec, video-quality, youtube

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Relevant: http://video.stackexchange.com/questions/5318/what-codec-will-my-youtube-uploads-be-output-in-and-what-codec-should-i-use-to-u  

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## 0 answers

