Prep Video for YouTube (and other online video sites)

Almost all video that is ever on your computer is compressed in someway, the way in which it's compressed is the thing that most affects how it looks. YouTube doesn't share the inner workings of how they take what you give them, and make it what they serve.

Using iMovie or MovieMaker's built-in output options can easily create a video that is awkwardly large for uploading, or of too low a quality to look good after YouTube has converted it.

What's the solution?

A google search can make you drown in partial answers, but here's what I suggest if you have a Mac:

1. Tell iMovie to output your reel in Full DV quality. That probably means "sharing" it as quicktime, and choosing the full DV type of file (at least that is how is was on older versions of iMovie).
2. Then, use iSquint (which is free) and choose the default "optimize for ipod" setting. This should output a relatively good quality file of manageable size for uploading.
3. Upload the ipod optimized file to YouTube (or other online video site).