Bitratewithouttheguesswork.
Pick a resolution, frame rate and codec and get a delivery bitrate, a mezzanine master bitrate and an audio target.
Video Bitrate Calculator
These are practical starting points, not hard rules. Motion-heavy footage — sport, gaming, fast B-roll — wants the higher end; a static talking head can sit comfortably below it.
Every platform re-encodes you
Whatever you upload gets transcoded again on the other side. Uploading a slightly generous file gives that second encode more to work with; uploading an already-starved file bakes the artefacts in permanently.
Motion decides the top end
Bitrate is a budget spent on change between frames. A locked-off talking head barely spends it; confetti, water, gaming footage and fast whip pans burn through it. Push above the recommendation when the frame never sits still.
Keep a mezzanine copy
Archive a higher-bitrate master separately from the upload file. Re-cutting from a compressed delivery file is how a good edit slowly degrades over a year of repurposing.
Don't starve the audio
Viewers forgive soft images and abandon bad sound. 320–384 kbps stereo AAC is inexpensive in file-size terms and consistently worth it.
What bitrate should I upload to YouTube at?
As a working baseline: around 8 Mbps for 1080p30, 12 Mbps for 1080p60, 35–45 Mbps for 4K30 and higher for 4K60. Motion-heavy footage benefits from the upper end of each band.
Does a higher bitrate mean better quality?
Only up to a point. Past the level where compression artefacts disappear, extra bitrate adds file size and upload time with no visible gain.
Should I use H.264 or HEVC?
H.264 for maximum compatibility and fast uploads — it's still the safest delivery codec. HEVC or AV1 give similar quality at roughly 35–45% less data, which matters most for 4K and HDR.
CBR or VBR?
Two-pass VBR for uploads: it spends data where the picture is complex and saves it where the picture is calm. CBR is mainly for live streaming, where the connection needs a predictable rate.
Letushandletheexport.
Every deliverable leaves our room already sized, encoded and captioned for the platform it's going to.