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"I've uploaded lots of videos to YouTube in the past, but now I have a new HF100 HD camcorder and uploaded my first video to YouTube, However, when I went to view the video on YouTube, it showed black bars around the uploaded video. So, I made the video private while I try and figure this out. Can someone please tell me the proper settings to get perfect 16:9 widescreen video for YouTube?"

Content Creators tend to have pride in getting the format and presentation layer correct. Now YouTube has apparently changed all videos on its site to play in widescreen format. Most videos are playing with horizontal black bars on the side. This is probably because letterboxing is added to create 4:3 video from 16:9, meanwhile, pillarboxing is also added by the widescreen player. So you are recommended to upload original 16:9 video to YouTube.



As you could see in the above figure, the black bars around the video (windowboxing) ruin the view experience completely.

The key for YouTube to display your video the best possible way is to make 16:9 widescreen video for YouTube and upload the best possible quality 16:9 widescreen video that meets or exceeds their requirements. That is by encoding videos the right way. Here I'll show you how to encode, compress or optimize your videos before uploading them to YouTube with iFunia Video Converter for Mac.



YouTube (newest) recommended settings are:

H.264, MPEG-2 or MPEG-4 format
640x480 (SD) or 1280x720 (HD) for 4:3 & 16:9 aspect ratios.
Frame rate should be the same as original video
Sampling rate: 44.1KHz for MP3/AAC audio

Step 1: Adding video to Video Converter for Mac

First you need to download and install iFunia Video Converter for Mac, after that click on the "Add Files" button to add the videos which you want to upload to YouTube. You may add as many videos as you want for batch conversion.



Step 2: Edit to output videos in real 16:9 widescreen

It's very important that you keep an aspect ratio of 4:3 or 16:9, otherwise the quality of your video will be degraded. If you want to output videos in real 16:9 widescreen, you can use the edit option of this program to customize the frame size (16:9, 4:3 or Keep Original) and cut off black margins. To personalize your video, you can also try to add picture or text watermark with customized transparency, size and position in your videos.



Step 3: Set output format to get perfect16:9 widescreen video for YouTube

YouTube supports almost any video format for upload, but for most users we have found that H.264, WebM, MPEG-2 or MPEG-4 video format give the best uploading results on YouTube. Also, If you want to fit the player perfectly, encode at these 16:9 resolutions: 1080p: 1920x1080, 720p: 1280x720, 480p: 854x480, 360p: 640x360, 240p: 426x240.



Step 4: Upload videos in Real 16:9 to YouTube?

Finally, you can convert you videos for YouTube by hitting the "Start" button. The convert progress bar shows you how much of the encoding is completed. To upload your video in Real 16:9 to YouTube?, follow the instructions on the YouTube? site. iFunia Video Converter for Mac guarantees that your video is now in a compatible format and proper settings for uploading and sharing on YouTube?.