October 27, 2022

The Technical Know-How of YouTube Videos – All You Need to Know

With more than 2.5 billion active users, YouTube is the second most-used social media platform. And no matter what industry you belong to, if you want to attract new customers/clients and establish a strong online presence, producing high-quality YouTube videos is something you should seriously consider.

When we say high-quality – here’s what we mean:

  • Don’t post a poorly shot and edited video.
  • You should get the video resolution right – investing in high-quality camera and equipment that help you capture high-resolution videos is a must.
  • You should use the right aspect ratio – such that your YouTube videos look professional. 
  • Your YouTube video thumbnail should be click-worthy.
  • And more!

Following are the three important aspects that video creators should focus on:

  • Video Resolution
  • Aspect Ratio
  • Thumbnail

To help you build high-quality videos, we’ve put together this blog post where we’ll be shining light on these three important aspects. We’re so excited to share this with you.

First, let’s start with YouTube video resolution. 

YouTube Video Size – Focusing on Video Resolution

To explain how important video resolution is, we captured screenshots of a YouTube video in 8K, 4K, 1080p, 720p, 480p, and 144p. You may find the video here

Notice the difference between the 8K screenshot and the 144p one. Just compare the details and you’ll know how important video resolution is.

Video resolution, in simple words, is the quality of your video. Your YouTube video resolution determines how detailed your video is or how clear or realistic your video appears. Lower-resolution videos use less bandwidth. So, if you have a poor internet connection, you may not be able to watch your video at 8K or 4K, or 1080p resolution. But there are higher chances that you will be able to watch the video at 480p, 240p, or 144p. Alongside this, as the video quality goes up, YouTube consumes more data and CPU speed. 

Following is a table of supported YouTube video resolutions:

It’s highly recommended to upload a Full HD YouTube video – as people these days don’t really like watching videos at 144p or 240p or 360p resolution. And while you should obviously focus on the YouTube video resolution - An important point to note is that high-resolution videos consume more storage space. Also, YouTube takes too much time to process 4K or 8K videos. According to Google:

 

TextDescription automatically generated

So, you need to take these factors into consideration. 

BIGVU allows you to record videos at 4K, 1080p, and 720p – also depends on your phone quality. To change your video quality settings in BIGVU, head over to BIGVU camera settings. To adjust the front camera quality settings, click on “Front Facing Quality.” For rear, select “Rear Camera Facing Quality.”

You can also turn on the “Camera Stabilizer” to stabilize your videos in case of movement.   

Some important points to consider:

  • Maximum File Upload Size – 256 GB or 12 hours – whichever is less. The maximum video upload length for non-verified accounts is 15 minutes.
  • Accepted video formats: .MOV, .MPEG-1, .MPEG-2, .MPEG4, .MP4, .MPG, .AVI, .WMV, .MPEGPS, .FLV, .3GPP, WebM, DNxHR, ProRes, CineForm, HEVC (h265)

Alongside YouTube Video Resolution, the second aspect you need to focus on is the Aspect ratio. 

YouTube Video Size – Choosing the Right Aspect Ratio

On Desktop, the standard aspect ratio of YouTube videos is 16:9. In case your video has a different aspect ratio; let’s say it’s 1:1; then the YouTube Desktop video player will automatically change to the ideal size for matching the video as well as viewer’s device. 

For optimal viewing, YouTube may add additional padding – however, it may be frustrating for some users. 

On mobile phones, the YouTube video player (on application) adapts the player to the video size. No matter whether your video is square, vertical, or horizontal, the YouTube video player on the mobile application will fill the screen.

Here’s how a vertical video looks like on YouTube Desktop player:

Following are popular video aspect ratios you should know about:

  • 16:9 (Standard) – The standard and recommended YouTube aspect ratio. It’s also called widescreen and is recommended by YouTube for the best viewing experience. 
  • 1:1 (Square) – The length and width of the video are the same. Best for social media platforms like Instagram. 
  • 9:16 (Vertical) – Vertical videos (YouTube shorts) are growing in popularity. However, when you watch a vertical YouTube video on Desktop, it doesn’t result in a good experience. So, if your audience heavily consumes your content on Desktop, we don’t recommend creating YouTube Shorts. 

BIGVU allows its users to change the aspect ratio of the videos inside the “Video Maker.” 

Learn how to change the aspect ratio of your YouTube video on BIGVU Desktop here.

Learn how to change the aspect ratio of your YouTube video on BIGVU Mobile Application here.

Next that we’ll be talking about is the YouTube Video thumbnail.

YouTube Video Thumbnail – What You Should Know

YouTube video thumbnail plays a major role in whether your audience clicks through your YouTube videos or not. 

Let’s say you’re a real estate agent who’s looking forward to producing videos. Now, what you do is head over to YouTube and search for something like “how to create a video.” We did the same and here are the results we came up with:

Which one of the videos will you click through? A few relevant factors that’ll impact your decision will probably be relevancy, length, thumbnail views, video title, and others.

Of these, your video thumbnail is one of the most important ones. No matter how good your video is, it’ll never be watched and shared much if you don’t create high-quality thumbnails. 

At BIGVU, we genuinely want you to succeed – which is why we allow our users to create thumbnails within the application. To create a YouTube video thumbnail, head over to “Thumbnail Editor.”

 

You can even upload your own thumbnail; should you choose to edit a thumbnail outside BIGVU. Once you’re in BIGVU Thumbnail Editor, you can create an eye-catching thumbnail by selecting a template, colors, logo, and editing – as per your requirement. 

Learn how to add a thumbnail to your YouTube video here

Start Creating Professional & Engaging Videos with BIGVU Today!

Nobody likes watching a poor quality or a bad shot and/or edited video. Whether you’re a real estate agent or an online coach, if you want to attract and engage your audience via YouTube videos, you need to make sure that they’re professional and engaging. 

With BIGVU, you can record, edit, and post your videos – all under one roof. From writing a script to adding captions to trimming your videos and tapping into gazillions of other features, we want our users to knock their video creation + marketing journey out of the park.

Excited to try BIGVU? Sign up for free here.

PODCAST

Video Presenter Show

Be the best presenter you can be. Learn to excel in presenting. Join the Video Presenter's Show to watch live presentations by communication experts and entrepreneurs.