Constant or Variable Bit Rate - which one is better for gaming videos?

[ZombieBrain]

Hi,

I don't really know which one I should be using when encoding my videos, because some people say Youtube prefers CBR and others that VBR is better. What I would like to know is what will be better for gaming videos in terms of quality?

Cheers

 

[Jawad Soomro]

CBR encoding is used for RTMP videos streaming. VBR has the highest quality although it takes lot of time.
For more info visit this link
http://help.encoding.com/knowledge-base/article/what-is-the-difference-between-cbr-and-vbr-encoding/

 

[WolfWraith]

I always pick VBR. The quality difference between the 2 is nearly unnoticeable though.

 

[ZombieBrain]

I always pick VBR. The quality difference between the 2 is nearly unnoticeable though.

Okay, thanks! Can You share how do You set your bitrates when encoding Your videos?

 

[SlenderMan]

What software do you use? Sony Vegas Pro? I don't have an option to use "Variable Bit Rate" because I render my videos on AVC, not MainConcept. Mainconcept takes REALLY long for me to render considering that my GPU is horrible I guess

 

[ZombieBrain]

I am using Premiere Pro.

 

[WolfWraith]

Okay, thanks! Can You share how do You set your bitrates when encoding Your videos?

5mbps for 720P and 8mbps for 1080P are the minimums, sometimes I'll have an offset of .1-.3mbps to compensate for YouTube's own compression.

 

[ZombieBrain]

5mbps for 720P and 8mbps for 1080P are the minimums, sometimes I'll have an offset of .1-.3mbps to compensate for YouTube's own compression.

Okay. I'm encoding at 15mbps, no point in making it higher then.

 

[WolfWraith]

Okay. I'm encoding at 15mbps, no point in making it higher then.

Usually you'll want to record at 15-20mbps then export at around 8-9. Exporting at 15mbps won't help much though, it'll just create a bigger file, which is why it's better to pick a data rate to export at closer to the compressed rate. I have noticed though; that if you record at 8mbps for a 1080P vid, then export and upload at 8mbps it does look worse.

 

[Jums]

As far as uploading to YouTube, constant or variable really won't make all that difference. Rendering your vids at a 15mb bit rate again is more than high enough for YouTube. I usually have to make mine a little smaller to bring the total file size down otherwise uploading on my awful broadband takes an eternity.