Quick Guide to Upload 360 VR Video to YouTube Easily with High Quality

360 VR video is nothing new now, and it's been a while since Google turned on 360-degree video uploads for YouTube early in 2015 to give you access to the immersive video. But it's still a kettle of fish for someone to upload video in 360 degree to YouTube. Here are some problems from YouTube Help Forum:

1. "When uploading a 360 degree video to YouTube, I get the usual 360 controls until the video is processed by YouTube, at which point it is reverted back to a flat video."
2. "I can't post my 360 video files to YouTube. I'm using LG 360 Cam to make the 360 video and try to put the 360 video to YouTube from Mac… the result always failed when I upload to the YouTube."
3. "Mostly quality loss after posting."

Here's a compressive yet easy guide on how to upload 360 video clips to YouTube in HD with 360 immersive video effect and high quality remained.

Part 1. Things to Know Before You Post 360 Video to YouTube

To upload 360 video to YouTube smoothly without errors, you should know exactly the YouTube limits and requirements of 360 VR format, audio video codec, file size, length, frame rate, aspect ratio, etc. and then make your 360 video right. Below are the recommmended 360 degree video settings on YouTube
File size: 1GB.
Length: Maximum 10 mins.
Video codec: H.264, ProRes, DNxHR
Video format: MP4, MOV
Resolution: 5120x5120 or higher up to 8192x8192
Aspect ratio: 1:1
Bitrate: 150-360Mbps
Audio codec: AAC.
Resolution: 4K 2160p (35-45Mbps, 53-68Mbps), 2K 1440p (16Mbps, 24Mbps), 1080p (8Mpbs, 12Mbps).
Frame rate: 25, 29.97, 50, 59.95
Moov Atom: Write as start of file.
Compatible 360 cameras: Ricoh Theta, Kodak SP 360, IC Real Tech Allie
>> Click to see the best YouTube video settings

Note:
1. Make sure your VR video is over-under equirectangular format at an aspect ratio of 1:1.
2. No letter/pillarboxing is recommended, with all pixels used.
3. Be sure the resulting image is horizontally stretched.
4. Re-encode the VR video before uploading to YouTube at a higher bitrate (150mbps) when there are some artifacts.
5. Uploading VR videos to YouTube is something complicated than to Facebook as YouTube only supports 360-degree video containing certain metadata embedded therein for 350-degree playback. You have to download 360 degree video Metadata app on your computer first.

Part 3. Start to Upload 360 Video to YouTube without Losing Quality

After the 360 video is adjusted to be suitable, follow the step-by-step guide below to learn how to put 360 video clips footages to YouTube fast with high quality kept from PC/Mac.

Step 1. Free download 360 Video Metadata app for Windows or Mac and open it. Metadata will make 360 video playback enabled.
Step 2. Select the video file you want to share, and select the checkbox "Spherical" and click "Save as".
Step 3. Name the file and save it. A new file will be created for YouTube upload.
Step 4. Open YouTube video upload page, drag and drop the new 360 file to the main interface.
Step 5. Enter the description of the 360 video for YouTube upload, tags, etc. and click "Publish" to make the video live. It may take an hour to put video to YouTube in 360 VR.
Things are easier to upload video files to YouTube in HD but not in VR 360-degree.

Part 4. YouTube 360 Video Upload Issues & Troubleshootings

It's indeed a bit complicated to post 360 video clips to YouTube. We have a lot of things to consider, best YouTube video format, 360 video effects, 360 codecs, file size, length, image quality etc. Many users are bothered by various problems when uploading 360 footages to YouTube. We pick out some common issues and gives tips on how to fix YouTube 360 video sharing not working.

"360 video reverts to flat video after processing. When uploading a 360 degree video, I get the usual 360 controls until the video is processed by YouTube, at which point it is reverted back to a flat video." -- from YouTube help forum

Inject metadata using Metadata injector app and uncheck the 3D top bottom option. If this doesn't work, try to post 360 video to YouTube again. It's also important to know that YouTube supports puttting 360 degree spherical videos in Firebox, Chrome, Internet Explorer and Opera browsers. iOS users who share 360 video from YouTube from iPhone iPad app etc. may receive text "This browser does not support spherical video."

"Most quality loss. How can I share a HD 360 video to YouTube without decreasing the image quality?"
360 video is severely compressed because of its large file size. You can find a reliable online video compressor to shrink the 360 degree video without sacrificing too much video quality. However, if you want the 360 video for YouTube post in 4K UHD 1080p, you need good internet connection speed to guarantee a smooth upload process without waiting too much longer. It's a trade off.

Author: Bertha Miller | Updated on Dec 10, 2018