Youtube Compression Destroys Video

Hello guys,
I have been uploading GoPro Hero 3+ videos to both YouTube and Vimeo and have noticed that my videos look horribly compressed with lots of blocky artifacts during motion scenes. I have tried literally every single compression option FCP X and Compressor have to offer. No matter how good my source file is, it ends up looking horrible on the internet. I look at the videos that other people upload, and some are able to make the video look amazing. What am I missing? Any help is greatly appreciated. This has been driving me nuts.

An example of my problem is here in this video:


50 seconds in is the part that is unbearable it is so bad.

Your embedded video is not working. Are you uploading to Youtube via FCPX itself? If so, don't. FCPX gives Youtube a lower bitrate than it should and there's also a lot of other variables you can't control doing it that way. You want to give Youtube the highest quality source it can work with. Don't upload ProRes (though that will work) but a very high bitrate MP4 is usually fine (20-25mbps for a 1080p 30fps video). Some may argue that's way too much but they probably have really slow internet speeds.

That said, there are some instances where Youtube will indeed destroy the video and there's nothing you can do. Having a lot of detail and everything moving very fast in different directions etc can turn your video into a pixelated mess at that point. It's high time they improved their compression scheme. Still, I'd use Youtube over Vimeo any day of the week due to versatility, ease of use, speed and other reasons.

EDIT: Your video embed is now working. I'd just upload a higher quality version if you can. But keep in mind that driving scenes generally don't do well because there is so much quick-moving information.

YouTube's recommendations
support.google.com/youtube/answer/1722171?hl=en

You may want to try something extreme (don't all GoPro users want to )
1920x1080 50,000 kbps, High Profile CABAC (which is single pass) or High Profile CAVLC MultiPass. Some say High Profile CABAC is close to x264 codec quality.

That's what I don't understand. When I say I have exported in every format, I mean I have literally tried every format that FCPX and Compressor will output. No matter what setting I use, youtube destroys my videos. I always feed youtube high quality files, and it continues to spit out poor quality.
Thanks for the feedback guys

Please follow the settings. It's not simply "format"
YouTube makes recommendations.

Without mentions specific settings we have no idea what you've actually tried.

Alright, to be more clear, I have tried every file type with their respective qualities maxed out. (Bit rate always at the highest it will go). That youtube page was actually the first thing I tried before posting here, and the video I embedded on my first post reflects their recommendations. Sorry I was not clear before and thanks for the help.

I've looked at other recent GoPro motocross videos on YouTube and they show the same issues yours have looking at 1080p encodes.

Alright, at least it is not just me then. Now that I look at the videos that look great, they don't have much motion.

Definitely not you.

From the GoProMX channel. Set it to 1080 and play directly on YouTube. The dirt, the front of the bike, every things looks like bosky garbage in the first shot after, where he takes off his helmet and everything following is crispy sharp.

Wow, you are right. Wish YouTube would have just pumped their bitrate for everything up instead of adding 2k and 4k.

Checked to see how YouTube is encoding the 1080p files.
Looks to be about 4000kbps High Profile CABAC. That data rate seems low for this kind of action.

Definitely. Thanks for looking into everything and the help.

Also I have heard (not sure if true) that Youtube doesn't use any b-frames during encoding. If they did, the video would look a little better even at the same bit rate. They do need to get their act in gear but I think they're afraid of the bandwidth. And now with our lovely heroes the FCC allowing ISPs to charge places like Youtube lots of money for higher bandwidth, they're probably trying harder than ever to reduce the data they send through the pipe.