So while D.Tube is relatively easy to use, it's player is a little picky when it comes to the videoformat you upload.
In this guide i will show and tell you what container and codec works best and how crossplatform compatibility stands for each codec. Also how to convert them to the desired format.
First what is a container and a codec?
A container is most commonly known as the "ending" of a videofile like:
- .mp4
- .mov
- .mkv
Those containers determine how subtitles work, how many audio-tracks you can have in one file and all that kind of stuff. The codec is the algorithm that compresses the visual data inside the container. The three most commonly know are:
- H.264
- H.265/HEVC
- ProRes
While there are many more, we focus on these today. As a rule of thumb, use .mp4 as the container and h.264 as the codec. While the codec is a little bit older (like 10 years old) it is the mostly adopted codec and will work on nearly every platform. It will look pretty good and 480p as well as source quality are working without a hitch.
H.265/HEVC is the newer version of the H.264 codec and has the same picture quality while reducing the filesize by quite a bit. But because it is so new, it is not wildly adopted as of right now
It will work on DTube, but you will get something that looks like this:
The 480p version does work fine but when you switch to source quality, it will say that the format is not supported or will play the audio, but not the video.
And last but not least ProRes. It is the codec with the best picture quality, but that quality comes with a price and that is size.
A 35 min. long h.264 video, which is roughly 3GB in size
would be about 41GB in ProRes. So for DTube this is definitely not suited. I would only use ProRes if you are a professional filmmaker and have a ton of space on your drive.
So TL;DR use .mp4 with h264 codec!
But what if you recorded in HEVC or ProRes and want to convert it into h264?
There are many options out there to convert videos into the aforementioned codec. Many are also free.
For Mac there are:
- iMovie (Free with every Mac)
- Final Cut Pro (330€)
- Handbreak (Free)
For Windows:
- Handbreak (Free)
- StaxRip (Free)
- Adobe Premiere Pro (Subscription, varies)
For Mac i would opt for iMovie or Handbreak. Final Cut Pro is just too expensive. Handbreak also works on Windows and Linux, so if you decide to switch operating systems down the line, you already know what you are getting with this little program.
As for Windows, i also woud go for Handbreak or, if you have a discrete graphics card, staxrip. It is similar to Handbreak but it can use the graphics card to accelerate the encoding process, so that you save quite a lot of time.
I hope i could help you get your videos on DTube. I would appreciate a thumbs up. Let me know if you want an in depth tutorial to handbreak or staxrip. Thanks for your time and as always, greetings from germany
-Arvarad